Fire in the Woods / Illustrated

by James De Mille

First, they had deluded themselves into the belief that they could go in a straight line. Now, in those woods, there had been incessant obstacles, in the shape of clumps of trees, underbrush, bogs, rocks, fallen timber, and a hundred other things of a similar character, which necessitated a departure from a straight line at every few steps. To suppose that they could walk on, under such circumstances, in a straight line, was absurd. The consequence was, that their course had, all along, been exceedingly crooked, leading them towards all the points of the compass in turns.

Another mistake which they made was, in the supposition that the river had any definite course. They had acted on the theory, not only that their own course was straight, but that the course of the river was straight also. Now, this river, like every other river, had a flow in one general direction, but its actual course was a winding one, and not far below the rock from which they had set out, it turned in a direction which was totally different from the one in which it was flowing when they left it.

Thus they had been wandering in a very irregular course ever since they started. They had gone onward for mile after mile, and every step had carried them farther and farther away from the places in the neighborhood of which they wished to remain, and now, at this bewildered halt, they were in reality far, very far, away from that river which they had believed themselves to be approaching.

Some such conviction as this came to their minds now,—that is to say, the conviction that they had wandered far away from the river,—but they had no idea how far away from it they really were, and they thought—that is to say, Bart and Pat thought—that their wanderings had begun only at their last change of course, near the wooded swamp.

Thus far, the weather had been warm, but not so sultry as on the day before. The air appeared to have become cooled by that gentle breeze which had sprung up in the morning. The sky, however, had been overcast as before, and all the view overhead was covered with those rolling smoke clouds before mentioned. They noticed this now as they sat there, and it seemed to them that the sky was more enveloped with this sombre covering, and that the light was dimmer, and the scene more gloomy. The birds also seemed to have all fled away from that smoky sky.

Their long tramp had sharpened their appetites, and they now began to think of lunch. Fortunately, Solomon, with his usual forethought, had saved the fish that had been left from their repast on the previous day, and these, with some sandwiches, furnished out a meal. They were without anything to drink, however; but a little search in the neighborhood revealed a slender rill of very warm water, which, warm as it was, they were glad to drink. On the whole, this frugal repast refreshed them and invigorated them; and after its conclusion, they began to consider once more the important question of the course which they should take next.

What perplexed them most was the impossibility of knowing anything about the direction in which they ought to go. The points of the compass were all unknown. North, south, east, and west were all alike a mystery. The smoke clouds that covered the whole sky made it impossible even to conjecture, with any approach to accuracy, the possible position of the sun.

Their situation was perplexing in the extreme. In fact, it was a double perplexity. They did not know where Phil was, and they did not know where they themselves were. They wanted to find Phil; but by reason of their loss of all knowledge of locality, they were unable to form even a theory of the particular direction in which it might be best to renew their search after him. And this it was that made any discussion particularly difficult.

Then, again, though they had a distinct remembrance of the river itself, yet they had formed no definite idea about its course. Bart thought it ran north. Pat thought it ran south. Why they thought so, neither could give any reason. But this mattered nothing now. Even if they had known most perfectly the actual course of the river,—nay, even if they had been perfectly acquainted with the geography of the district,—it would have availed them nothing whatever in their present position, nor could they have been in any better position to decide about the best direction which they could take.

“We ought to be moving,” said Bart; “but where? I’m sure I don’t know.”