He called the rest around him and made them all make a note of the trail they were taking. So they all jotted down, “Due west from cedar by river until you come to another; then turn south.”
And right in the path, a few steps ahead, was a soft, muddy place and in it there was a fresh footprint, which was just like those made by the moose on the river bank.
“He is around here!” cried Sahwah excitedly. “Maybe we’ll see him yet if we keep going.”
They picked their way carefully, avoiding the swampy ground and pretty soon they came to a third cedar, just as tall as the other two, and also the only one in sight.
“Another guidepost to remember,” said Uncle 57 Teddy, and made them jot it down. Just beyond this tree the swamp made them turn to the left. Several times more they saw the footprint of the moose in the soft mud near the path, but never a glimpse did they get of him.
Some distance ahead stood a fourth big cedar and ten minutes’ walk beyond that a fifth.
“It will be as easy to find our way back as if we were walking down a street full of signposts,” said Gladys, who had become fascinated with this method of looking for guideposts through the woods. “All we have to do is walk until we come to a cedar tree. It seems almost as if they had been planted that way on purpose. Let’s keep on and see if there are any more.”
Sure enough, in about ten minutes they came to another one, and there the trail through the woods ended at the foot of a rocky hill.
“That makes six cedar trees we’ve passed,” said Gladys, jotting down the fact in her notebook.
“Uncle Teddy, won’t you please call the moose again,” pleaded Sahwah. “Maybe he’d come again.”