Some people were born with an unfailing sense of direction. Even when lost in a forest, they find their way home as surely as a dog picks up the scent of a hunted man. The secret is probably that they never feel lost. Others,【B1】myself, can ever get lost in a department store. 【B2】the army there was nothing I disliked so much as the map-reading course, for the【B3】reason that I always feel lost—even with a map in my hand. For weeks I had lain【B4】at night thinking of the practical test I would have to face at the end of the【B5】. At last, the evil day【B6】. It was to be my responsibility to lead a small band of soldiers back to camp from the middle of【B7】. We were driven out in【B8】lorry and left in a ploughed field with instructions to get back to camp as quickly as possible. 【B9】my abilities, the soldiers smiled as they saw me【B10】at the map and they made ail sorts of helpful suggestions. I【B11】the map up, put it in my pocket, and said that we would【B12】east. After walking through cornfields for over an hour we came to a wide stream. I again looked at the map. It seemed to be【B13】with masses of thin blue lines, but which particular line was this stream?【B14】, we sat down in the cool shade and I【B15】throwing the map into the water. About fifteen minutes later, a boat passed and I【B16】the boatman if he could give us a【B17】to the nearest village. I pretended that we had been out for a walk and【B18】got lost. The boatman invited us on board and I felt very foolish when he told me that he had helped hundreds of soldiers to【B19】their map-reading test! Not long afterwards, we got off the boat and,【B20】the boat man's instructions, took a bus into the village. When we got back to camp, the commanding officer congratulated me on having led the men back so quickly. 【B1】