Heads it was, so they started off to the right. It was a fairly smooth road, so they made pretty good speed for about three miles, when Bob said:
"Now we'd better slow up a little and begin to look carefully. If we're on the right track that road can't be a great ways from here, and it may be nearer than I think."
"Do you know which side of the road it is?"
"Yes, it's to our right. Now let's ride on slowly and keep our eyes peeled."
Much of the way was through thick woods, and as they rode slowly along, they closely scanned the woods to their right, watching for a woods road. They had gone on in this way for several miles, when suddenly, they came out of a thick piece of woods. So far, they had seen nothing that in anyway resembled what they were after, but, about a mile farther on, Jack spied a rough road leading through a field to the right.
"Suppose that's it?" he asked, bringing his wheel to a stop.
"No, that can't be it, because I'm sure that it was in the woods, for I remember hearing the branches hit the top of the car all the way along till we got out where we turned into the main road, and another thing, I remember just before we turned, the car giving a terrific lurch as though we had crossed a good-sized gully beside the road, and you see, there's no such place here. No, this is not the road and we might as well go on."
They rode on for several miles, part of the time passing through woods, when they went slowly, and again through the open, where they speeded up. Finally, about eleven-thirty, Bob stopped his wheel and said:
"I guess we've taken the wrong road and might as well go back and try the other one."
To this Jack agreed, and by the time they reached the forks of the road, it was noon, and as they saw a small spring near the roadside, they decided to eat their lunch before going on. They had just finished, when they saw a farmer, followed by a huge mastiff, coming toward them.