"Maybe no one remembered the smoke idea," ventured Judith.
"And they'd have to be in the open, or climb a tree, to see it," asserted Joan.
"Maybe they made signals, too, and are waiting for us to answer them. Did you bring a rifle, Dick?" said Julie.
"No, none of us did. But I can climb one of these trees and see if the others made any smokes."
"Choose that towering pine, you ought to be able to see everything from that high top," advised Julie.
So Dick climbed the tall pine, but after he had reached the top he saw nothing that might lead him to find the other campers. He shouted and whistled as shrilly as he could from the lofty perch, but no answering sound came to his ears, so he slid down again.
"See anything at all, Dick?" asked Julie, the moment he came down.
"A great sea of waving green tops, one wave back of the other, without a break," said he.
"Well, what now? Shall we keep on hunting for the way back from this clearing, or just sit and let them find us?" asked Joan, despondently.
"You know they say a flock of ducks will always fly towards water. Now, I saw some ducks flying in one direction when I sat up in that tree," remarked Dick.
"Then you did see something other than waves of green! Why didn't you say so!" snapped Julie, impatient with his poor scouting sense.
"I thought they might be flying down towards Little Moose Lake, where Dandelion Camp is, and we want to find our party," said Dick, in justification.
"Anything to get out of this tangle. We'd just as lief wind up at Dandelion Camp as elsewhere," said Joan.
"All right then, follow me and we will go in the direction the birds flew," said Dick, and he started down hill.
Down and down they tramped, chopping away smaller obstructions, until they were stopped by a wide fen that belted the section. Advance was impossible, for every time one tried to step upon the ooze the foot would begin to sink in.
"Oh, how awful!" wailed Judith, ready to cry.
"How can we cross? If only we could find a fallen tree that happened to fall right across," sighed Joan.
"If only we had a drink of cold water I'd be thankful," declared Julie, mopping her warm face.
"That's the easiest part of the whole trouble," quickly said Dick.
"What do you mean? I wouldn't drink that slimy liquid for anything," said Julie, frowning at the water.
"Now, just wait a second and you'll see what I can do with that water!" bragged Dick, glad to redeem his reputation as a scout.
With hands and a stick he quickly dug a hole to the depth of the marsh. Then he squinted carefully at his well, then at the marsh, and back again. The girls watched him curiously.
"Guess I can go a few inches deeper, the well has to be about six inches below the surface of the nearby pool, you know."
He dug deeper and soon the well began filling with muddy water. "There, now I've got it!" said Dick.
"Do you expect us to drink that !" scorned Joan.
"No, but wait." Dick hurriedly baled out the well until it was almost emptied. Then he allowed it to fill again.
He baled it out a second time, and permitted it to fill again. The third time the water was almost clear, so he baled once more, and this time the water filtered in as clear as crystal.
He stooped, drank from it, and said: "It's cold and pure!"
Then the girls drank, and found it most refreshing to their parched tongues and throats.
"Well, I never knew that before! We've learned two things by being lost with Dick as guide," said Julie frankly, and Dick was delighted to hear such nice things about himself.
"Shall we try to circle this fen and get across, or go back again?" now asked Dick.
"It's hard to tell just what is best to do," murmured Julie, puckering her brow in thought.
Suddenly two shots echoed down the mountainside, and after an interval of six seconds a third shot rang out.
"There! Alec's seen our smoke. His signal means 'Where are you?' What shall we do?" cried Dick, excitedly.
"How can we answer them?" wondered the girls.
"We'll have to back-trail to our clearing. That's where the shots sounded from," said Dick.
"Dear me, if only we had waited there, they would have found us," complained Judith.
"But we didn't, so the next best thing to do is to get back as soon as we can, or they'll go away again," declared Julie.
They climbed, scrambled and tumbled up the rugged slope, keeping as far as they could to the rough trail they had made in coming down. When they thought they were near the clearing, they shouted with all their lung-power, and the welcome sound of answering calls soon greeted their ears.
"Oh, Dick, give that cat-call again so they will know we're on our way," asked Julie, anxiously.
So Dick gave his ear-splitting whistle by placing his fingers between his lips and blowing through the crevices. In less than ten seconds afterwards, two shots sounded in quick succession.
"That means they've heard us and are waiting," cried Dick. "Come this way, that echo is misleading."
So the girls followed their young guide, and soon they broke through the fringe of great trees into the clearing where the rest of the party stood. Alec gave them no time to explain. He was angry, and no mistaking it!