ting power he still would have failed to reach
them.

"Well, the best thing I can do is to wait here until morning, and then I
can make my way back again."

His sickness was gone, but he felt somewhat chilled from lying upon the
ground with no extra covering, although the night was quite moderate, if
not really warm. The contact with the ground had made a portion of his
body cold, and the sluggish circulation prompted him to exercise.

"I hardly know whether to stay here or to go back to the woods and take
refuge in a tree. Some animals may find me here, while I shall be safe
if I am only twenty feet above ground."

The vivid recollection of the wolverines gave him this fear and finally
induced him to leave the place and seek shelter.

But at the moment of starting he was confronted by an alarming
difficulty. He found it impossible to decide upon the proper course to
follow, and could not tell with certainty which way led in or out. This
resulted from his having turned around several times in his effort to
restore warmth and circulation on awaking from his sleep. Had he not
done this the position in which he lay during slumber would have told
him the truth.

"How strange!" he reflected, vainly seeking to recover from his
bewilderment. "If I only had a little light I think I could tell, but
this is rather delicate business when I don't know whether I may go over
the rocks or not."

He leaned against the wall of the path and thought. At last he believed
he knew which way to turn, and facing backward he began to pick his way
out. This, we may say, was the right course, and had he only persevered
in it would have brought him out of the hills into the woods, restored
him to Tim and Howard a few hours later and saved him one of the most
momentous experiences of his life.

He had retreated but a few rods when he became sure he had made a
mistake and was going wrong. It seemed from his contact with the rocks
and the curious windings it made, that he had never passed over the
ground, but was advancing further into the hills.

"This will not do," he said aloud, as he paused. "I am astray and must
change about."

He did so at once, and believing, of a surety, that he was now upon the
right path he walked much faster than was prudent. The truth was, the
associations of the plate were such as to make him in a hurry to get
away from it. He knew he would feel relieved when he could get once more
into the open air of the w