The sun was sinking low in the west, the shadows were lengthening, and I was considering the advisability of making camp for the night when Lobo uttered a sharp yelp, lifted his nose in the air, and rushed off diagonally through the woods. Feeling sure that something unusual must have attracted him and with a half-formed hope that it was a human being or an occupied habitation, I forgot my weariness and hurried after him.
The wolf was now out of sight, but I could hear him yelping a short distance away, and presently I saw him standing at the edge of the woods, wagging his tail and jumping about as if greatly excited. Beyond him was open sky and my heart beat fast with anticipation, for I knew that he was at the edge of a clearing which indicated the presence of man.
A moment later I was by his side and, looking from the woods, gasped in astonishment, for at the farther side of the open space stood my own log cabin!
For a few seconds I stood motionless, feeling as if I had taken leave of my senses, and I rubbed my eyes and stared again to see if my vision had not played me false. It seemed incredible that I should once more be gazing at the same spot from which I had departed so many hours before, but there was not the slightest doubt about it. There stood the hut I knew so well. I recognized the familiar trees and landmarks about it, and beyond, glimmering like molten gold in the rays of the setting sun, were the distant waters of the lake.
I was thoroughly discouraged, tired, and disgusted to think that I had merely traveled in a vast circle, that since early morning I had been tramping for many weary miles over the old road when by following the river down for an hour or two I could have reached the end of the road where it was barred by the stream.
Hungry, footsore, and exhausted, I reached the cabin, tossed my belongings on the floor, and threw myself on my bunk.
Then, as Lobo, whining, licked my hand and looked inquiringly into my face, I rose, started the fire, and cooked our simple evening meal. The food did much to revive my spirits, and I comforted myself by thinking that, after all, the cabin was a far better spot to spend the night than an open camp; that I was no worse off than before, and that, knowing it was useless to follow the old road, I could seek a spot to cross the river close to my hut.
The next morning I made my way to the river, which I now knew was the outlet to the lake. I examined it carefully for a spot at which I might cross, but at its narrowest point it was far too wide and turbulent. Then it came to my mind that I might be able to ford the inlet to the lake, but as I remembered the wild, rough country which bordered the lake on its farther side I abandoned this idea. The next instant Lobo leaped up with a startled growl as I gave a shout of gladness, for I had thought of a way to solve the difficulty.
It was so simple, now I had thought of it, that I marveled it had not occurred to me sooner, for my scheme was to finish the raft I had begun the preceding autumn, cross the lake near the outlet, and thus reach the farther shore of the stream.
So firmly had I been convinced that I could walk out of the wilderness by following the old trail that my original idea of a raft had been completely forgotten, but now that it had come to my mind, I lost no time in getting to work.