“O, well,” said Bart, “we can’t come to any decision at all.”
“Surely no; not from thim clouds,” said Pat. “For afther all, I don’t think they’re movin anywheres. They’re jist rowlin round and round. Niver mind thim clouds.”
“But we must go somewhere,” said Bart, impatiently.
“Deed an so we must; an so I say.”
“Then where shall we go?”
“Jist wheriver you say. You laid ahead, an I’ll toiler till the wurruld’s ind, so I will, an that’s all about it.”
Bart now rose, and so did the others; and after a little natural hesitation, they all set out once more upon their journey.
This journey was thus resumed on the principle that it was better to be moving than to sit idle. Something had to be done, but what it was they did not know. Bart had formed some vague idea of his general direction from the clouds, and was trying now to find his way back to the neighborhood at least of the place from which they had set out. At any rate, he thought he would thus be more likely to come upon Phil’s track, for this was still the idea that was uppermost in his mind. The direction in which that place lay seemed to him to be west; and so, with this thought in his mind, he set out and led the way.
Of course, Bart’s idea about going west was of the vaguest possible description. Bart’s west was Pat’s east; and each of them was equally likely to be wrong. For it might have been either north or south; and in addition to this, there was the fact of their circuitous march, which set straight lines at defiance, and bore them along in a winding course, that might lead to every point of the compass in turn. However, there was actually no other course possible, and Bart and Pat were both satisfied; for while Bart thought he was following the course which seemed to him best, Pat thought that they were going in no particular direction at all, but were wandering at random. Of the two, Pat was far more in the right. As to Solomon, it was a matter of indifference to him, so long as Bart led the way, and so long as the aim of their march was a search after Phil.
They walked on now in silence for some hours. The woods were just the same as they had been all along. Sometimes they came to a wide extent of pine trees, where the walking was easy, and they were able to maintain some definite direction. At other times they came to woods filled with hard-wood trees, where the underbrush was thick and the obstacles numerous. Here they were compelled to wind along in a circuitous way, making numerous detours to avoid dense thickets or impassable bogs.