“Is it then so dangerous?” asked Mr. Witherspoon; while Tom was saying to himself that perhaps the chance so ardently desired by poor Carl might be coming at last.
“There are places where it might be death itself to any one who got off the trail, and became bewildered. The mud is deceptive, and once one gets fast in it an hour or two is apt to see him swallowed up; nor will his fate ever be known, for the bottomless mire of the bog never discloses its secrets.”
Tom drew a long breath.
“If you will show us the way there, sir,” he told the naturalist, “we will certainly accompany you.”
CHAPTER XXIII
INTO THE BIG BOG
“Is it worth our while to bother with that crowd, Tom?” asked Josh, with a look approaching disgust on his face.
One lad waited to hear what reply the patrol leader would make with more or less eagerness, as his face indicated. Needless to say this was Carl Oskamp, who had so much at stake in the matter.