Evening star., 1940-01-07

wilderness Tor nine Gays 10
gain safety.-A. P. Wirephoto.
before morning. I was already get
ting stiff. I had to keep moving,
just to warm up. I shouted once
more, as loud as I could-then I
stood and istened-nothing but
that strange noise.
Finds Saddle Trail.
I turned slowly about so as to be
sure of my direction, and started
back the way I thought had come.
Pretty soon I ran right into a trail
marker. It said Saddle Trail"
Now 1 was in a fix. I had heard
about that trail. I had heard that
it wents far off into the woods and
was dangerous, full of landslides
and loose rocks. However, 1t was
a trail and 1t was marked, often
with blue daubs of paint. 1t would
lead me neutrality-suspicious. to
some lonely spot miles and miles
from camp. No, I mustn't take it.
(Although the Saddle Trail is ex-
tremely dangerous. had Dom been
able to follow it, it would have led
him down to Chimney Pond. where
Roy Dudleys camp is located and
which was inhabited that very
night)
The thing to do is to work OF at
right angles to it and cut across
the main trail. I started on. Right
away, ran into more pucker bush.
I climbed over 1t and fell through
and crawled under 1t. Guides have
said no one could crawl under it,
but I did-for long way.
Pretty soon, I was back among big
rocks again. Right here, I had a
funny experience. The cloud opened
for just an instant and far. far bel
low me I saw lake-I thought was
MISUNDERSTANDING in the sun.
The cloud closed and the lake was
gone and everything was dull gray
again. The sight cheered me some,
and I hurried faster than ever.
Yells and Screams for Dad.
I started to run and found I
couldn't, because of the boulders;
that made me frantic and climbed
over them like a cat and yelled and
shouted and cried all the time. I
yelled for my Dad. I climbed up
as high as I could on a big rock
and screamed for him-then I
waited. No answering shout
nothing-just the noise of that wind
and the purring sound Of fine sleet
driving against my clothes.
I just had to get out of there
and back to the trail. I started to
run again, as fast as I could. I
don't know how long I kept that
up, but a long time-over rocks
and sharp edges and things I
stumbled over and into patches of
pucker bush-sometimes falling and
then getting up again, and often
crawling under brush on my hands
and knees. Boy, it was awful! And
then, just when the cloud lifted
again and I thought sunlight might
break through, ran into another
trail sign. 1t said Saddle Trail
and looked like the sign had seen
before. was pretty scared by this
time and I wasn't sure about that
sign so I examined it closely. There
was a mark on it that I recalled
seeing before. I had come back to
the same sign.
For a second I was stunned. I
just stood there and looked at it.
Knew now, for sure, that was
lost. I was running in a circle. I
didn't know what to do, so I
stumbled along hunting for other
marks, on that same trail. I guess
I went a long way over rocks and
over pucker bush and sometimes
under it, too, searching and hunt
ing for another trail marker. I
didn't find any, but kept going
down. I remember that. After a
while, came to place where there
was lot of gravel, and boy, was it
slippery! That place was danger
Gus, for a slip might mean bad
fall-maybe a hundred feet or more.
I slowed down. I could imagine
myself lying there, in the cold and
dark, with a sprained ankle. Mean
while, the rocks were getting bigger
and bigger.
That Tree Looked Scared.
At last came to weather beaten
tree. The branches were all pulled
out to one side, as though the tree
were trying to get away from some
thing. That tree looked scared.
Beyond was another and another.
had reached the timberline, and
had to find a trail, because the
shrubs grew as thick as doormats
and, without trail, the going down
to camp would be pretty bad.
The sight of that tree Gained me
down a bit, for I began to think
more clearly. It's an awful thing
to get lost in the clouds. You see
things that aren't there at all.
Rocks look like people and shaggy
animals, and often you come to an
edge and think you are looking
down into space, and you draw back
and get. scared.
The hountain suddenly seemed
awfully big under me. I listened.
Only the whining noise Of the wind