Article June 10, 1944 Issue

"Nearest right"

[Of Special Interest to Children]

RUTH INGRAHAM

A merry party of children were going on a hike in the foothills with their aunt. They followed a winding road that led down into a pretty little valley, where the road soon became only a pathway, and then quite disappeared. Some distance up toward the rim of the valley they saw a rocky ledge which they thought would be a splendid lookout point if they could get to it. But how to do so was the question, for the hillside, as far as they could see, was covered with a dense growth of manzanita brush. After looking for a trail and finding none, the young hikers decided that the best thing to do would be to start right uphill toward the ledge, as straight as they could go. So up they scrambled through the scratchy brush, in the hot sunshine. It was a stiff climb, but they felt well rewarded when they reached the ledge, from which they now had a clear and beautiful view of the whole country, and could map out the rest of their walk to the best advantage.

Suddenly one of the boys exclaimed: "Why, look there! We came through the only patch of brush on the whole hillside! If we had gone a little farther forward or back, we should have missed it entirely, and our way would have been perfectly clear. Weren't we silly!"

Sure enough, they all saw that the manzanita thicket, which from below had seemed to cover the hill, really was not very extensive. They began pointing out ways they might have taken to avoid it, and blaming themselves for not having chosen an easier path.

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"Nearest right"

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