He felt of the little hand where it lay upon the stones and it was cold. For a moment he hesitated, breathing in quick, spasmodic, panicky breaths. He was prepared for what he expected to see. But he must pause just a moment to calm his nerves and muster the courage to look—to face it. Then he reached down and lifted the mass of hair which rested like a clump of seaweed on the shallow water. Meanwhile, the friendly stars smiled down upon him.
CHAPTER XXIII
IN THE WOODS
They shone, too, upon the scouts who tramped through the woods that night. And the boys who had not compasses used the stars to guide them in their bee-line course northward. Most of these traveling units consisted of two scouts so that observation might be kept both to right and left as they trotted northward. Some of the parties, however, consisted of three, even four, scouts.
It was nice, skilfully geometric, how they made a sort of checker-board of the woods and covered the whole area. For almost a mile, which was the breadth of the wooded area, they moved in a score or more of straight lines, pausing here and there for incidental investigation, but for the most part keeping a straight course.
Neighboring units were always within call and the woods echoed with cheery, hopeful voices. Now and again a sudden shout far to east or west brought all searchers to a stop; there would be a moment of suspended elation, then the parties would trot on again. Every hubble of the ground, every object apparently foreign to the woods, every stump and rock was noticed, and investigated. There was probably not a yard of territory in those dark woods that was not seen that night by the prying eyes of scouts. The object of their quest made the work serious, yet there was much badinage back and forth between neighboring parties.
Roy and Connie, with their new recruit, Pee-wee, followed the woods path and their progress was easy. Now and then, as they went along, they could see a quick, brief light to east or west where other scouts were verifying their direction with compass and flashlight.
Pee-wee used both compass and flashlight in spite of the path; he was nothing if not thorough. The familiar path might change its mind and alter its accustomed course; Pee-wee was for safety first. He jogged along with his compass in one hand and Roy’s flashlight in the other, eating an apple (gift from Connie) which he managed to hold also, and talking volubly at the same time.
In addition, his frowning gaze penetrated the woods now to one side, now to the other, and occasionally he confirmed the accuracy of his compass by a searching look heavenward where one of his particular friends, the Big Dipper, resided. So it may be said that every movable part of Pee-wee was in action—particularly his jaws.
“Gee, I have to take the blame because he went back, that’s one sure thing,” he said. “Gee whiz, I thought he’d follow me.”
“You should have known him better than that, kid,” laughed Connie. “Can you picture him on a trip like this?”