“I’m afraid we’re lost down here,” said Dave at last. “And if that’s the case, the only thing we can do is to ride back to where we came from.”
“Oh, let us go ahead a little farther. Maybe the road is at the edge of the woods yonder.”
“If we only knew of some miner’s camp or some ranch-house around here, we might get shelter, Roger. I don’t much like the idea of riding in such a storm as this is getting to be.”
“True for you! But I don’t think there is any kind of shelter such as you mention within a mile or two of this place. I didn’t see anything that looked like a house or a cabin when we came up the trail.”
Once more Roger went ahead, and with increased unwillingness Dave followed him, all the while thinking that it would be better to retrace their steps to the point where they had found the roadway covered with water.
“We might have skirted that pool somehow,” thought Dave. “Now we don’t know where we’ll land.”
The two riders found a slight rise ahead of them, and this encouraged Roger into believing that the roadway was not far distant. Less than a hundred yards further on, however, they came to a sudden halt.
“Well, I’ll be blessed!”
“I think we’ll have to turn back now, Roger.”
“I suppose so. Isn’t it too bad?”