And the first thing Giraffe noticed was the confident way in which the leader started out. Why, he never seemed to bother his head in the least as to what direction the cabin lay in. Giraffe marveled at this very much. He realized that if the task had been left to him, he would have had to cudgel his poor brains to remember all he had been told by Allan, as to the various methods whereby woodsmen know what is north, when in the dense forest, with the sun hidden from sight, and no compass along.
So Giraffe amused himself while he strode along as carefully as he knew how. He attempted to picture himself in the rôle of guide to just such an expedition, starting out to get to the cabin as quickly as possible, by taking a short cut through the woods, rather than by following the windings of the river.
What would he do first? Oh! yes, there was the bark of the tree to be observed, and the fine green moss that grew only on one side, never all the way around. He remembered that this moss was said to be almost universally upon the north side of the tree, and that if it varied at all, it leaned toward the northwest; because it was from that quarter most of the severe wintry gales came.
But trees differ; and to his surprise Giraffe failed to find this moss in the quantities he had expected. Evidently then pine trees are in a class by themselves, he concluded.
But there were other ways of finding this out. How about the general slant of the trees? Didn't his instructor assure him that it only needed one glance around, for an old traveler through the forests to tell where north was? He would notice the slant of the trees, and if there were any lying on the ground, observe the way they had fallen, when overturned by the fierce wind. Why, that ought to be the easiest thing in the world; and Giraffe was beginning to feel quite proud of the knowledge he possessed when suddenly a very disquieting thought flashed through his head.
He knew which was north, east, west and south all right; but how was that to tell him where the old cabin lay? He might guess that in all probability it was somewhere off to the southeast; but that was a pretty big region, and the chances of his finding it might be set down as ten against one.