Page:Scouting for girls, adapted from Girl guiding.djvu/134

120 your way by night or in fog when other people are losing themselves.

Using your Eyes.—Let nothing be too small for your notice—a button, a match, a hair, a cigar ash, a feather, or a leaf might be of great importance, even a fingerprint which is almost invisible to the naked eye has often been the means of detecting a crime.

Not long ago a lady reported to the police that she was sitting in her room reading quietly in the corner when a ragged-looking man crept in at the open window, seized hold of a silver vase, and was in the act of making off with it when a sound outside disturbed him.

He put down the vase again, ran away across the lawn, jumped a low hedge, and got away.

Detectives came and examined the ground, but could find no footmarks even at the spot where the man had landed from his jump. Then they inspected the vase very carefully, and examined the fingers of the different people in the house.

They then reported that nobody except the maid had handled the vase and that nobody had gone across the lawn or jumped the hedge.

It was afterwards found that the lady was subject to delusions, and had imagined the whole thing, but the detectives had arrived at the same conclusion through examining the fingermarks and signs.

When out in the country you must keep your eyes about you and not merely notice small signs close to you, but other signs far away as well—such as dust flying, birds startled, unnatural movements of bush or grass,