Fire in the Woods / Illustrated

by James De Mille

XI.

Where? O where is Phil?—The Wanderer in the Woods.—Struggles with Difficulties that always increase.—Approach of Night.—Gloom.—Despair.—Climbing a Tree.—No Hope.—Rallying from the Assault.—A Midnight Meal.—Overworn Nature seeks Repose.
WHERE, O, where was Phil?

Had he indeed fallen a victim to the vengeance of the Indian? or had he wandered away through those terrible woods to encounter the fires, and to perish by them?

While Bart is racking his mind with these anxious questions, and trying in vain to answer them, let us leave him and follow the fortunes of the wanderer.

The rock that had risen on the shore of the river extended for about a hundred yards. Phil could have crossed the river and gone down on the other side, but it seemed swampy over there, and he thought it would be easier to pass over the rock. He also thought that there might be some view from the top which would give him a general idea of the country.

He therefore started off, and clambered to the top of the rock. On reaching it, however, he did not find any view in particular, for the trees around it rose so high that they intercepted the prospect. He therefore went on, intending to reach the river again lower down. On traversing the rock and reaching its lower end, he found that it terminated in an abrupt precipice. This precipice here ran back from the river into the woods, and if Phil still wished to reach the lower part of the stream, he saw that it would be necessary to go back into the woods till he found a place where he could clamber down the side of the rock. He therefore set off in that direction, expecting that he would only have to go a short distance. But the rock ran on much farther than he had supposed; and it was still too precipitous for him to descend. Along the edge there was a dense growth of underbrush which prevented his walking close to it, and forced him to go along at some distance away from it, and penetrate from time to time to the edge, to see if he had reached any place which offered a descent.

At length the rock subsided into the ground, and then Phil was able to seek the river. He walked along for some time in that direction, keeping the line of rock in sight as a guide; but at length the woods became so exceedingly dense that it was quite impossible to keep the rock in sight always. He therefore wandered off at times to avoid difficult places, returning again as soon as convenient to seek the guidance of his landmark. At length he plunged into a very dense and difficult part of the forest, where he had to make so many turns and detours to avoid the obstacles that rose in his way, that he soon lost all idea of the right direction. He struggled onward, however, striving to get into the open from which he might gain sight of his rock; but the farther he went onward, the more difficult did it seem to grow, and the less prospect was there of any open ground. Upon this he turned, and tried to retrace his steps, anxious at all hazards to get free from this entanglement. But to retrace his steps was not so easy. He had got in, but to get out was a different matter altogether. His frequent turnings and twistings had already bewildered him; and as he had still to keep up the same crooked course, and turn and twist as much as ever, his bewilderment increased. Still he was not at all alarmed as yet, for the thought of any actual danger had not begun to occur. He was only perplexed, and at the same time slightly vexed at the continuance of the jungle into which he had tumbled. There was no help for it, however; and so he toiled on as well as he could, and at length, to his satisfaction, found the underbrush diminishing very perceptibly. This discovery encouraged him, and he kept on in this direction, for now his chief desire was, first of all, to get to some place where he could regain sight of the rock; and so he walked on as rapidly as possible, until at length the woods became sufficiently open to make his progress as easy as he could expect.

It seemed to him now that he had been a long time wandering, and he began to be anxious to discover the rock. How to do so he did not know, and could only think of climbing a tree so as to take a survey of the country. Unfortunately none of the trees were very large; but he selected the tallest one that he could find, and climbed up as high as he could. He now looked all around. The prospect gave but little satisfaction. On every side other trees arose above the level of his outlook, and shut out from view the scene beyond. He therefore learned nothing whatever from this survey, and was compelled to descend disappointed. What now to do became a serious question. There was the rock, and there was the river, either of which it would be equally advisable to regain; but in what direction did they lie? It seemed to him that the rock ought to be west of his present position, and the river south. If he could go either westward, or southward, or in any intermediate direction, he would regain his course. Yet that was the very thing that he was unable to do. He had no compass, and now bitterly regretted that he had not brought one. Overhead there was nothing that could afford him any assistance, for the sky was all overspread with that smoke which he had noticed all along, and the sun could not be seen. There was nothing left, therefore, but bare conjecture.

He now tried, as far as possible, to recall his confused wanderings. Although he could not, of course, recall the details of his journey, yet, as he thought it over, it seemed to him that, on the whole, he had been making progress in some one direction, and that, if he could but go back, he would be more likely to reach the river or the rock than in any other way. As he looked back over his course, it seemed to him that the west lay there, and to the left of that was the south; so that if he could now only effect some progress in that direction, all would be well. He therefore made up his mind to go back again, as far as going back over his lost track was possible; and as he could not think of plunging again into that thicket, he thought that when he reached it he would turn to the left, and avoid it if possible in that way.