"Here's a mess," said Dick.
"Where's the trail?"
"That is what I want to know."
"I think it is over yonder."
"I think it is in the opposite direction."
All of the boys began to talk at once, and then followed a dead silence for several seconds.
"One thing is certain—the trail can't be in two directions," said Tom.
"He can pe if he vos krooked," said Hans wisely.
"It was a fairly straight trail," observed Fred. "I can't see how we happened to leave it."
"I was following Sam," said Songbird. "You can't blame me."
"So was I following Sam," added several of the others.
"And I was having a good time on the horse," said the youngest Rover. "I thought in the bunch there would be at least one who would look after the trail."
"So it is really nobody's fault," said Dick quickly, to avoid a possible quarrel. "The question is: how are we going to find the trail again?"
"I know how," put in Hans calmly.
"How?"
"Look for him."
