eir guide.

"He can't be lost," said Kit; "he's too good a scout for that."

"He can't have deserted us," declared Peter. "He's too good a friend for
that! He'll no more desert us than we'd desert one another."

"Well, he's missing anyway," Blair said, undeniably; "then something
must have happened. Could he be caught in a trap?"

"Not he! he's used to them about. No, he's had an accident, I think."
Peter's eyes were anxious and his voice told of a fear of some real
disaster.

The dusk fell early and though only about nine o'clock, it was as dark
as midnight. Clouds had obscured the stars, and only the firelight
relieved the black darkness.

But after an hour's worriment and distress on the part of the three men
the guide returned. He looked a little shame-faced, and was disinclined
to reply to their questions.

"Come, now, Joshua, own up," directed Peter; "I see by your eyes you've
been up to mischief. Out with it!"

"I--I got lost!" was the astonishing reply, and they all burst into
laughter. More at the rueful countenance, however, than at the news, for
it was a serious matter.

"You, a guide, lost!" exclaimed Shelby. "How did it happen?"

"Dunno. Jest somehow couldn't find the way."

"Hadn't you a compass?"

"No, sir; I got sort of turned around like,--and I went a long hike the
wrong way."

Simply enough, to be sure, but apparently it was only good fortune that
had made him find at last the road home to camp.

Light-hearted Peter dismissed the whole affair with a "Look out after
this; and always carry a compass or take one of us boys along," and then
he sought his fragrant, if not altogether downy couch.

Blair, too, gave the episode little thought, but to Shelby it seemed
more important. If a hardened guide could get lost as easily as that, it
might happen to any of them. And a compass was not a sure safeguard. A
man could wander round and round without finding a fairly nearby camp.
Shelby was a few years older than the other two, and of a far more
prudent nature. He had no dare-devil instincts, and not an overweening
love of adventure. He was enjoying his trip because of the outdoor life
and wildwood sports, but as for real adventure, he was content to omit
it. Not from fear--Kit Shelby was as brave as any,--but he saw no sense
in taking unnecessary risks.

While risks were as the breath of life to Peter Boots. Indeed, he was
sighing because the conditions of modern camping ways and the effici