"Are we lost?" asked Chunky solemnly.
"We are," answered Tad with equal solemnity.
[CHAPTER XXII]
LOST IN THE BIG WOODS
Tad Butler had often heard it said that a lost man was an insane man. He had laughed at this as he had laughed at the stories of men who have been lost for no longer than twenty-four hours, and who had come out gibbering idiots. Now for the first time the Pony Rider Boy began to realize what it meant to be lost. That feeling of utter isolation, of aloneness, of doubt whether they ever would find their way out, took possession of him and for the moment a panic threatened Tad Butler.
Then he recalled the advice given by Cale Vaughn: "If you get lost sit down and think it over. Don't run."
Tad was thinking it over. At last he said:
"Stacy, we got on the wrong trail somewhere. I have an idea it was not long after leaving town."
Chunky nodded his head slowly.
A strange feature of the situation impressed itself upon Tad at this particular juncture. He was unable to tell his position from the sun. He could not have told whether the sun was in the East, West, North or South, and his compass proved absolutely useless. He was interrupted in his thoughts by the voice of Stacy Brown.