“Oh, I’m sure we know the way,” replied Marjorie. “We’ll see you later.”
Reluctantly, they said goodbye to the other girls, and turned their horses in the direction from which they had come. But they were quiet now, missing the gay chatter of their companions, and thinking how hard it would be to be separated from them during the next three days.
“Well, I’m glad we’ll be back with the rest of the girls for lunch,” said Marjorie.
Little did she think, as she said this, that they had taken the wrong trail, and if they continued in the direction for which they were headed, they stood not a chance in the world of reaching their camp by noon.
But they rode on, blissfully ignorant of their plight.
CHAPTER XIV.
THE SEARCH.
The morning passed uneventfully for those at camp. With seven of the party gone, the place seemed almost deserted. Alice and Ethel insisted upon working off their energy by taking a walk; but the rest were content to remain inactive, except for the slight assistance they rendered to the men in taking down their own tents.
“We ought to be able to start by one o’clock,” remarked Mr. Hilton, consulting his watch. “At least, if we get lunch over at twelve, and Tom and Mike are back again.”
Mrs. Hilton, too, looked at her watch, and a worried look came into her face as she did so.