e railroad tracks to him,
so Steve started off feeling reassured, and it never occurred to him
that any one could be mean enough to misdirect him. It was a pity the
echoes from the boisterous laughter of the boys when he was out of
hearing could not have reached the little traveller's ears, but they
did not, and Steve pressed on with good spirits feeling that he was
almost in sight of his goal with less than a day's journey before
him.

He turned at once from the road and went on and on, knowing as well as
the crow how to keep straight with the compass, although like the
crow he had never heard of one. The straight path took him quickly
into the wilderness, but that did not dismay him as wilderness travel
had become most familiar to him. At noon he began to feel so empty, he
longed for just a little piece of corn bread. And then remembering
that the mother thought he'd get something to eat on the road he began
looking cheerfully for the smoke of a cabin somewhere. He had been
vaguely disappointed at striking no road anywhere, but he had not
asked the boys any particulars as to the route. Everything so far in
his journeying had been unexpected, and the possibilities of routes
were so totally unknown to him that he had started on again, as when
he left home, unquestioning.

The empty stomach continued to cry loudly for food as the afternoon
wore on, and no cabin smoke gave token of life anywhere. He did not
suffer from thirst for mountain streams and springs were abundant. He
pressed bravely forward, cheering himself with the thought that the
boys had said he would come to the tracks before dark. But twilight
began creeping in among the forest trees and still no tracks were in
sight. Anxiously he listened for the terrible yet thrilling rush of a
train which he remembered so well. He ought to be in hearing distance
of them by now. But nothing broke the forest stillness save the
twitter and song of birds, the scurrying of rabbits or frisking of
squirrels with occasionally the sound of some larger animal in the
underbrush.

Finally night fell with the poor boy straining his anxious eyes for
the shining tracks of which he had heard. He forced his aching limbs
along till suddenly, with a quivering sob, his strength seemed all to
go and he sank upon the ground in a pitiful heap. He was too exhausted
to think and in a few moments was sound asleep.

He lay upon the summit of a rugged mountain, which dropped precipitately
do