The path through the woods was not well defined and at one place forked in several directions. Stuffer did not notice this and kept to the right when he should have gone to the left. Andy followed without question, and thus the two cadets, instead of nearing the old barn, plunged deeper and deeper into the woods.
“Say, Stuffer, this doesn’t seem to be right,” observed Andy, after a full mile and a half had been covered.
“Huh! I know I am right,” was the reply. “We’ll get to the barn in a few minutes.”
They continued to go forward, up a slight rise of ground and then down into something of a hollow. Andy was just about to say again that he thought they were on the wrong path when he caught sight of a small campfire.
“Hello, see that!” he exclaimed.
“They have arrived and lit a fire!” answered Stuffer. “I don’t blame them. It is pretty cold. But they are running the risk of being discovered.”
“Stuffer, this isn’t the location of the old barn. We are not near the lake.”
“How do you know?”
“The locality doesn’t look like it. These are hemlock trees, while back of the barn there are chestnuts and walnuts.”
“That’s so too,” and now Stuffer became doubtful.