"B-r-r-r! Isn't it damp!" shivered Joan.
"Yes, and it will be worse before we get home," added Judith.
They retraced their steps, but the fog came thicker and heavier all the time, and before they had gone more than half the way back, it was necessary for the scouts to go single file in order to keep in the footpath that ran along the top of a high grassy bank beside the narrow road.
"It would be so much simpler to hike along the road, Verny," suggested Hester.
"But there are so many machines traveling back and forth, and we'd have to scramble up this wet slippery bank to get out of the way every time one rushed past," explained Julie.
Julie was in front, heading the line. Being Scout Leader of the Troop, she naturally led in most things. Suddenly she stopped short and warned those back of her:
"Look out for this big boulder right in the pathway—have to detour towards the fence!"
"Boulder! Why, there wasn't any boulder here on our way over," argued Ruth.
"The fog's in Julie's eyes," laughed Joan.
"Maybe we didn't notice a rock before," ventured Amy.