LOST IN THE WOODS
Letty and Edith were soon considerably ahead of Ruth and Mary Lee who
stopped often at the many pretty spots along the way.
"Isn't it lovely the way the path trails and yet continues ever
upward?" said Mary Lee as the two made their way slowly ahead.
"It seems so far from the city and war and Liberty Bonds," replied
Ruth dreamily.
"But it's our country and it simply adds to our reason for being proud
of it," the other girl answered. "But you are right, it is far away
from things."
At first the voices ahead were clearly distinct but now they were no
longer heard. The road, too, in one or two places trailed into the
woods and Mary Lee and Ruth found that it was necessary to keep a
sharp lookout not to wander off on one of these side trails.
"Here's how we can tell," the former suddenly called to Ruth. "See
these trees. Someone must have marked them so as to show how to go."
"It's what they call a blazed trail, I guess," Ruth replied. "I've
often heard my brother tell how he and his guide had found it
necessary to blaze trails as they go."
"I wonder where Letty and Edith are," Mary Lee suddenly remarked. "We
haven't heard their voices for a long time."
The two girls called for their friends. But there was no answer.
"Let's hurry," said Ruth beginning to be alarmed.
They hurried out but found no sign of their friends nor any answer to
their calls.
"I wonder where they can be," said Mary Lee. "Do you suppose they
wandered off on one of these trails? I suppose that's what they have
done," she added, answering her own question.
"Let's turn back, Mary Lee," Ruth advised.
They did this at once. Mary Lee felt certain that the two girls could
not have gone much further ahead.
They came across one or two of the side trails but there was no sign
of footprints. At one of these narrow paths they did see the mark of
feet but after cutting into the woods for several hundred yards, they
decided it was the point where they had found themselves branching off
on their way up.
They did not cease their calls but were unable to get a response.
By this time it was midday and they were far from the camp. They had
lost considerable time in zagzaging uncertainly from one point to
another in their anxiety to locate their friends.
"I wonder, Ruth," Mary Lee questioned her friend, "whether you could
find your way back and get help. It's only about two miles from here."
"What will you do in the meantime?" Ruth replied. "I hate to leave you
alone."
"I shall try to locate them. But I shall be always coming back to
this point, so that you will know where to find me. See, I shall put
this branch in the middle of the trail so that you will know."
Ruth hurried off. Mary Lee tied her handkerchief on a small branch of
another tree so that there would be no mistake. She realized that Ruth
would not be able to bring help in less than an hour and so decided
she was going to study the number of trails within a half mile and
follow the one that seemed the most likely.
A little further up the mountain she found a path that seemed almost
as wide as the main trail and decided to follow it. She had gone but a
little way when she noticed that it cut directly to her right and
began to go down hill.
Now she hurried and began to call again. She received no answer but
decided to continue on her way.
The woods became thicker. The thorns and trailing branches scratched
her arms and her face but she was unmindful of this. She made sure,
however, of her way back. She had no wish to join the lost.
She had cut into the woods about a mile by now and had ceased her
calls. The woods were thick about her and almost inaccessible.
"I must turn back," she thought dejectedly. "They're not this way."
Her dress was torn, her hair too, was not in its usual neat order.
"Letty, oh Letty," she called with a last forlorn hope.
There was silence for a few seconds. Then from a considerable
distance, she heard an answering voice.
A little uncertain as to the location and inclined to believe that the
hail might come from Dr. Anderson and the rescue party, she called
again.
The answer was clearer and seemed to come from about a quarter of a
mile ahead of her.
She hurried forward. Soon she heard someone tearing through the brush
and finally Letty and Edith appeared.
As soon as the two girls saw Mary Lee they sat down and began to cry.
"Aren't we the sillies?" said Edith tearfully. "We didn't think of
crying until you found us."
"We're certainly glad you did find us," Letty added.
The two girls presented a sorry picture. Their faces and arms were
scratched even more than Mary Lee's. Their dresses, too, were torn and
one of Letty's stockings had a big hole in it.
The three hurried back to the point Mary Lee had marked. As well as
the two girls could, they explained how they had wandered off on a
side trail without being aware of it. Then they had suddenly realized
they were in the thick of the woods. They had halloaed, but could not
hear any answer.
Dr. Anderson and Aunt Madge were already waiting for them. The girls
could hear them calling their names and Mary Lee shouted in response
that she found the two.
When the party reached the camp, there were three girls who could not
decide whether they were too hungry to be tired or too tired to be
hungry.
After luncheon had been finished and the girls' scratches dressed,
Dr. Anderson joined his wife.
"Better not tell those children what a narrow escape they had. It is
best for them not to know that there have been people lost in these
woods who have starved to death."
"I think, too, we had better not let them go off by themselves again,"
replied Mrs. Anderson. "They're not all Mary Lees, you know."
So the Andersons made light of the fact that Letty and Edith had
strayed off.
By the next day, the girls had almost forgotten the incident in the
excitement of the pleasures and enjoyment of the vacation.