“Let’s follow and find out where he goes,” proposed Penny, stealing from her hiding place.
None too eager for the adventure, Louise nevertheless kept close beside her chum as they followed the stranger. Instead of returning to the main river, he chose a trail which led deeper into the woods. Coming soon to the ark which loomed dark and mysterious against a background of trees, he paused for a moment to gaze at it. Then he veered away from the well-trampled path, keeping on through the dense thickets.
“Don’t you think we should turn back?” Louise whispered anxiously. “There’s no guessing where we’ll end up. We easily could get lost.”
Penny was plagued by the same worry, but she bantered: “Why, Lou, your Scout leader would blush with shame to hear you say that! The woods stretch for only a few miles. We always can find our way out.”
“What if our folks come searching for us while we’re wandering around?”
“I try not to think of such unpleasant situations,” Penny responded cheerfully. “You may be sure we’ll have to do some tall explaining. But if this fellow we’re tailing should prove to be a saboteur, everything will be lovely.”
“That’s not the word I’d use,” Louise muttered.
The girls had fallen many yards behind the head waiter. Failing to see the flash of his light, they quickened their pace and for a minute or two feared they had lost him. But as they paused in perplexity, they again saw a gleam of light off to the right.
“Let’s do less talking and more watching,” Penny said, hastening on. “If we’re not careful we’ll lose that fellow.”
Taking care to make no noise in the underbrush, the girls soon approached fairly close to the waiter. Apparently he knew his way through the woods, for not once did he hesitate. Occasionally he glanced overhead at dark clouds which were scudding across the sky. Reaching a small clearing, he paused to look at a watch which he held close to his flashlight beam.