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." Shif'less Sol slapped his knee in approval. "You do reason fine, Henry," he said. "Paul would shorely make fur them flowers, jest 'cause he couldn't help it." They invaded the flower field, and, as all of them confidently expected, they saw signs that Paul had been there. Some of the flowers were broken down, but not many--Paul would take care not to injure them in such a way. But Henry's shrewd eye noticed where several had been cut from the stem. Paul had done this with his hunting knife, and probably he had thrust one or more of the flowers into his buckskin hunting coat. When they crossed the flower field the trail was lost again. "Now," said Long Jim, "how are you goin' to tell what Paul wuz thinkin' when he wuz comin' 'long here?" Henry and Shif'less Sol wrinkled their brows in thought. "Paul was not wounded," he replied. "After his night's sleep--and probably he did not wake up until long after daylight had come--he was thoroughly rested and as strong as ever. After making sure of his direction from the hill top here, he would go toward the river, thinking it his duty yet to reach the fort if he could."