Fire in the Woods / Illustrated

by James De Mille

And with these words he left Pat, and went onward into the woods, continuing the same course which Pat had been leading. As to asking Pat to go with him, the thought never entered his head,—partly on account of his deep disgust at Pat for losing sight, as he believed, of Bart, but principally from the fact that his mind was so filled with the desire of reaching Bart, that there was no place in it for any thought of any other person. And so the poor old fellow plunged into the woods, and took up a course which was about as far away from that in which Bart was going as it well could be.

At Solomon’s last words Pat raised his head and saw him go. He watched him till he was out of sight, with varied emotions. He supposed that Solomon was now on his way to Tracadie, while believing himself to be following after Bart into the depths of the woods. There seemed, therefore, no danger before him, and Pat had no fears for his safety. Had Solomon taken another direction, Pat would probably have told him all; but as it was, he saw no necessity for doing so. He would get back, he thought, in the course of time, to Tracadie, and on finding himself there, he would probably wait for Bart’s return, and all would be well.

He sat there motionless, until Solomon was out of sight, and then began to think of himself. One thing only was in his mind, and that was, the desire to fly, as soon as possible, far away from this abhorrent place, to some other place, where he might be safe, and where he could watch to see if the terrible disease had really taken hold of him or not. So with this purpose he arose, and after a look all around, he chose his course, and went on through the woods.

Meanwhile the others had been walking diligently onward; first the guides leading the way, next the priest, and then Bart. Not a word was spoken by any one of them; the guides were too intent upon maintaining a correct course; the priest was too much absorbed in watching the movements of the guides, and in observing the scenes through which he was passing; and Bart was too much occupied with conjectures about the probable course of Phil’s wanderings to think anything about the members of their own party. Bart had a perfect conviction that Pat and Solomon were behind him; so perfect, in fact, that it remained in his mind as a foundation underlying all his other thoughts; so perfect that those thoughts never reverted to those behind him, but turned only to that one who was at a distance—the object of their present search.

Deeper and deeper, and farther and farther, they advanced into the forest, encountering every variation of woodland scenery, and every alternation of forest travelling; sometimes finding it easy, again finding it difficult, yet at no time encountering any very serious obstacle. Their pace was somewhat rapid, for the guides led them on without much regard to the possible weakness or clumsiness of their followers; and judging them by themselves, they maintained a pace which soon began to tell very seriously upon Bart, and forced him to put forth his utmost strength and energy in order to keep the priest in sight.

At last, after a walk of several hours, the guides stopped, and offered to rest. They were coming, they said, upon a more difficult part of the forest, where greater exertion would be required, and it might be well to rest for a time. The priest approved of this, and mentioned it to Bart. He also approved of it most heartily, for he was almost exhausted, and then turned to mention it to Pat. To his surprise, however, Pat was not behind him, nor was there any sign of Solomon.

This discovery gave him a great shock, and the priest also was equally amazed; but both he and Bart supposed that they could not be far away, and so they looked back through the woods to gain sight of their advancing figures. Not perceiving any signs of them, they listened to find out if they were approaching. No sounds, however, arose of any kind; no crackle of dry twigs announced coming footsteps; and as they listened, there was nothing perceptible to their hearing save the intense and drear silence of a vast solitude.

At this Bart threw a look of anxious inquiry at the priest.

“They were following you?” said the priest, in an inquiring tone.

“Yes,” said Bart, doubtfully.