CHAPTER XIX
LOST IN THE WOODS
Pausing for an instant to get his bearings, Bart dashed forward, circledaround the edge of the mud volcano, and ran on in the direction he hadseen the man take.
"I'm going to catch him," thought the lad, fiercely. "I'm going to getat the bottom of this. Why does he seem to be following us--hangingaround our camp? What's he doing here? Did he take the diamond bracelet?I'm going to find out some of those things--when I catch him." He addedthe last with a grim smile, for, as he went on, and the snow stormincreased in fury, Bart was aware that he had no easy task before him.
The swirling white flakes were now so thick that he could hardly seefive feet in advance, and he was soon made unpleasantly aware of this,for he collided, with no little force, into a tree. The shock threw himbackward, and he nearly dropped his gun, but it had one good effect, forit made him pause to consider what he was doing.
"I wonder if there's any use in me going on like this?" Bart reflected."He's got a good start of me, and he evidently knows these roads as wellas I do. Guess I'd better go back to camp, get the fellows, and then seeif I can trail him. Though if it keeps on snowing it's not going to beeasy to see his footprints. I wonder if I can hear anything of him?"
He paused in a listening attitude, but the only sounds that came to himwere those of the wind howling through the leafless branches of thetrees, and the swish of the snowflakes as they swirled downward. OnceBart heard a crashing amid the underbrush to one side. He darted in thatdirection, thinking it was the fugitive.
There came, at that instant, a lull in the storm, and, peering at thelad from under the shelter of a pine tree was the big buck, the chase ofwhich had led to such unexpected results. Bart fired, point blank, buthe saw the deer bound away, and he knew he had only wounded it slightly,if at all. He started after it, but a moment later the snow began again,more thickly than before, and everything was blotted out.
"That settles it," murmured Bart, grimly, "back to camp for mine. No usekeeping up the chase to-day."
It was not without considerable regret that the lad retraced his steps.He wanted, very much, to get the buck, and he wanted still more tocapture the mysterious man who seemed to be playing such an importantpart in the lives of himself and his chums.
"I'll get the other fellows, and then we'll see if we can't trail him,"mused Bart, as he neared the camp.
To his delight, just before he reached it, the snow ceased falling, andhe felt that now there was a chance to trace the man by means of hisfootsteps, for they would not be covered by the white crystals. Butthere was the promise of more snow, and Bart knew they had little timeto spare.
"Come on, boys!" cried Bart, when he came in sight of the tents, and sawNed and the others sweeping away the snow from the front entrances."Come on. I'm after him!"
"Who?" demanded Frank.
"The mysterious man! Come--no time to lose!" and Bart rapidly told whathe had seen.
"Wait until I get my gun, and I'll be with you!" cried Fenn.
"Aren't we going to have dinner first?" asked Ned.
"We'll eat a light lunch, and take a snack with us," proposed Frank."We don't want to waste too much time."
In a little while they were ready to start, each one with a fewsandwiches, while Bart, in addition, carried a small coffee pot, and asupply of the ground material for making the beverage in the woods;water could be had by melting snow over a fire they would build.
Bart led the way toward the mud volcano, the location of which was nowwell fixed in the minds of the boys.
"Here's where I first sighted the deer," Bart explained when he reachedthe place. "By Jinks! I wish I could have potted him, though! He was abeaut!"
"And where did you see our mysterious friend?" asked Frank.
"Not until I got to the spring. We'll soon be up to it."
But when they reached the spot, which, because of the warmth of thewater, contained no trace of snow, though elsewhere the ground waswhite, there was, of course, no evidences of the man, save for blurredfootprints.
"That's right where he stood," declared Bart, "and he went off in thisdirection."
"Then it's up to us to follow," asserted Ned. "We can see his tracks.They're pretty plain now, but they won't be in a little while, for it'sgoing to snow more."
They hurried on, trailing the man like officers of the law after acriminal. The footprints were plainly visible in the snow, being blurredoccasionally by little drifts that had blown over them. They showed thatthe man had run a good part of the way, for the marks were far apart andirregular.
They had gone on for perhaps a mile, seeing no sign of their quarry, butloath to give up, when there was a sudden darkening of the atmosphere,the wind increased in violence, and then the air was again filled withflying flakes, so thick that the lads could not see ten feet ahead.
"Might as well give up now," called Bart. "His tracks will be covered infive minutes."
"Let's wait a bit, and see if it stops snowing," proposed Frank, andthey did, standing in the shelter of some trees. But the white flakesshowed no inclination to stop, and with something like despair in theirhearts the four chums prepared to return to camp.
"And it's about time, too," remarked Ned, looking at his watch. "It'safter five, and it will soon be dark. Let's eat. I'm hungry."
"Oh, wait a while," advised Bart. "We'll soon be back at camp. I thinkI know a short cut, and then we can have a hot supper."
"Well, go ahead," agreed Frank. "A short cut will be just the thing. I'mtired."
Bart started off with an air of confidence, hesitated a moment, and thenplunged his hand in his pocket.
"Well, I'll be hanged!" he burst out.
"What's the matter?" inquired Fenn.
"My compass--I haven't got it. Let me take one of you fellow's."
"I haven't any," said Fenn. "Left it in camp."
"So did I," added Frank and Ned.
"You did?" asked Bart, blankly.
There was a pause--the boys knew what it meant to be out in the woods ina snowstorm, without the little swinging needle to guide them.
"What did you do with the one you had, Bart?" asked Frank. "You had one,didn't you, when you were out after the deer, and saw the man?"
"Sure I did, but I took it out of my pocket when I stuffed this lunchin, and must have forgotten to put it back. I remember now, I left it onthe box in the tent. But I thought you fellows would sure have one."
"Well, we haven't," said Frank, with an uneasy laugh. "What's to bedone?"
"Oh, I dare say we can get back--somehow," went on Bart. "Come on,fellows. I think I know the way."
They started off, with no light hearts, and tramped through the blindingsnow, but it was with little confidence. Several times Bart stopped toget his bearings. Once he and Fenn disputed about a certain turn, andBart so insisted that he was right, that the other two lads agreed withhim. It grew darker, and they wandered into drifts, stumbled intounexpected hollows, and brought up against trees, sometimes falling overstumps. At last Bart said:
"Fellows, there's no use going on this way any farther. I'm off thetrack. I shouldn't have started out. The fact of the matter is thatwe're lost in the woods, and we've got to make the best of it!"