e search for Paul, who had been the
first to fall by the way. The four were a unit in believing that this
would be the most difficult task of all. Paul, although he had learned
much, was not a natural woodsman in the sense that the others were.
Henry had reckoned all the time upon certain laws of the forest which
Sol, Tom, and Jim would obey. He was with them like the skilled boxer
meeting the skilled opponent, but Paul might at any time strike a blow
contrary to science, and therefore unexpected. Although Paul had not
been wounded, Henry felt more apprehension about him than he had ever
felt about any one of the others, because of this very uncertainty.

They returned upon the back trail, and with four minds and four pairs of
eyes working, they had no great difficulty in locating the point at
which Paul had left them. Like most of the country it was heavily
wooded, and one could easily find a hiding place so long as the dark
lasted.

They located their own line of flight, not because any visible signs of
it were left, but because they remembered the region through which they
had run.

"Here is whar Paul turned away an' jumped into the bushes," said
Shif'less Sol, "an' he shorely didn't go fur, 'cause he wuz pow'ful
tired. I reckon Paul wuz tired enough to last him fur a month."

They turned to the eastward, and about a half mile further on, after
long search, they found a place in the densest bushes that showed signs
of crushing. Some twigs were broken, and several of the smaller bushes,
bent to one side by a heavy body, had not returned to their normal
position.

"Here is where Paul laid down to rest," said Henry.

"An' he wuz so tired he fell asleep an' slep' all night," said Shif'less
Sol.

"He shorely did," said Tom Ross, "'cause these bushes wuz bent so long
they ain't had time to straighten out ag'in."

"An' him with nothin' to eat the next mornin', poor feller," said Long
Jim sympathetically.

They were able to follow Paul's trail a rod or so by the bent bushes,
but then they lost it, and they stood conferring. Henry's eye fell upon
a mass of wild flowers on a distant hill slope, red, blue, and delicate
pink. He admired them at first, and then his eyes brightened with sudden
comprehension.

"Paul has always loved beautiful things," he said to his comrades. "He
does not forget to see them even in moments of danger, and he would
naturally go toward that slope over there covered with wild flowers."