Forest Footfalls 267 



" Then you will know that these gray and 

 brown streaks that you occasionally see flit- 

 ting across the path, or just gliding behind 

 some bush, are not fancies but real living 

 creatures, all eyes, ears and noses and quiver- 

 ing with alertness. Then every time that a 

 twig snaps, brake rustles, or a bough bends 

 you will know what it means. 



" It is little things and not large ones in the 

 woods that tell the wonderful story of na- 

 ture's secret. Any one can follow a track in 

 the new snow, but only the trained trailer can 

 follow it upon bare ground. 

 . " The things the trailer sees you would pass 

 by as unimportant. It may be a broken 

 twig, some moss brushed off a log, a bit of 

 bark from a tree, but these little things tell 

 which way the trail leads." 



" Looks to me a good deal like finding a 

 needle in a haymow," I ventured. 



Ben laughed. " It used to seem so to me," 

 he said cheerily, " but you see I am an old 

 man, and you are only a small boy. All 

 things come to him who waits, and a boy can 



