cast about on all sides for some clew
as to our exact locality. Nearly an hour was consumed in this manner
and without any result. I came upon a brood of young grouse, which
diverted me for a moment. The old one blustered about at a furious
rate, trying to draw all attention to herself, while the young ones,
which were unable to fly, hid themselves. She whined like a dog in
great distress, and dragged herself along apparently with the greatest
difficulty. As I pursued her, she ran very nimbly, and presently flew
a few yards. Then, as I went on, she flew farther and farther each
time, till at last she got up, and went humming through the woods as
if she had no interest in them. I went back and caught one of the
young, which had simply squatted close to the leaves. I took it up and
set it on the palm of my hand, which it hugged as closely as if still
upon the ground. I then put it in my coat-sleeve, when it ran and
nestled in my armpit.

When we met at the sign of the smoke, opinions differed as to the most
feasible course. There was no doubt but that we could get out of the
woods; but we wished to get out speedily, and as near as possible to
the point where we had entered. Half ashamed of our timidity and
indecision, we finally tramped away back to where we had crossed the
line of blazed trees, followed our old trail to the spring on the top
of the range, and, after much searching and scouring to the right and
left, found ourselves at the very place we had left two hours before.
Another deliberation and a divided council. But something must be
done. It was then mid-afternoon, and the prospect of spending another
night on the mountains, without food or drink, was not pleasant. So we
moved down the ridge. Here another line of marked trees was found, the
course of which formed an obtuse angle with the one we had followed.
It kept on the top of the ridge for perhaps a mile, when it entirely
disappeared, and we were as much adrift as ever. Then one of the party
swore an oath, and said he was going out of those woods, hit or miss,
and, wheeling to the right, instantly plunged over the brink of the
mountain. The rest followed, but would fain have paused and ciphered
away at their own uncertainties, to see if a certainty could not be
arrived at as to where we would come out. But our bold leader was
solving the problem in the right way. Down and down and still down we
went, as if we were to bring up in the bowels of the earth. It