"And we ought to have been at the river some time ago," added Bert. "I wonder if we came right?"
Tom lighted a match, and set fire to a wisp of bark. It blazed up brightly, and as he held it to the ground he cried out:
"Fellows, we're off the main road. We must have made a turn in the dark. We're on some by-path."
"Then turn back right away!" exclaimed Bert.
They did, using the torch to see by. But, after they had retraced their steps for fifteen minutes, Tom again called a halt.
"Fellows!" he said, "there's no use going on.
"Why not?" asked Jack.
"Because we're lost. We've been going around in a circle. There's the same fallen beech tree we passed a little while ago. We're lost!"