“It is, my dear girl,” remarked Darry, disgustedly. “We are getting nowhere with astonishing rapidity. I am just about ready to call it a day.”
“You will soon call it a night,” remarked Burd, all his usual cheerfulness submerged in a deep gloom.
“Oh, stop glooming,” cried Jessie, and there was something in her voice that made them all look at her hopefully. She was fumbling in her pocket for something, and their curiosity grew.
“What you got there—a magic charm?” asked Darry.
“Better than that. It’s a compass.”
“A compass!” they cried, and the concerted sigh of relief was audible.
“Why didn’t you tell us you had one?” reproached Amy. “I have three gray hairs in my head from worry.”
“Forgot I had it,” replied Jessie, as she and Darry studied the compass face. “I put it in my pocket the last minute thinking we might need it.”
“And, by cracky, you were right!” exclaimed Fol.
After a good deal of figuring and discussion as to the probable direction of the rangers’ station and Forest Lodge, they concluded that if they followed the needle of the compass north they must eventually reach the main trail.