CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE RAMBLE.
After the restraint the boys had undergone, cramped in the canoe, andnot daring to wander out of sight of their camp-fire when upon shore,there was a delicious relief in rambling through the woods. The clear,pure air that was dry and cool in the shadow of the forest, theundulating, charming scenery, the novel look that rested upon all theysaw--these possessed a charm to our young friends which they hardlycould have resisted, even if they had the will to do so; but when we saythat after starting forth scarcely a thought of their imprudence enteredtheir heads, it was but natural that they should find themselves ledmuch further away than was either wise or consistent with the resolveswith which they left their friends, Tim and Terror.
They took no notice of the direction they were following, nor of thedistance they had gone, until near the middle of the afternoon Howardabruptly paused and asked, with a look of alarm:
"Elwood, what have we done?"
"Why? What is the matter?"
"We must be a mile off from Tim, and it will be dark before we can getback."
"O! I think not. You know we have walked very slowly, and we can hurrywhen we take it into our heads to return."
"But do you know the way?"
"Certainly. Don't you?"
"What course must we follow?"
Elwood pointed to the northwest, which, while it was not far from theirgeneral course, was by no means the proper one by which to rejoin theircompanion.
"How strange!" said Howard. "It seems to me that yonder is the pointfrom which we started."
And _he_ pointed nearly due west, just as wrong as he could possibly be.
"You are wrong," said Elwood positively. "I am sure of the right way."
"We won't dispute over it," replied his companion, with some sadness,"for it is very doubtful if either of us is right."
"All we have to do then, is to hunt for the river and follow that upuntil we find Tim sound asleep."
"Yea; but how is the river to be found? To you it lies in one place, andto me in another."
"But I can prove that you are wrong, and," laughed Elwood, "that I am,too, although I was never right."
"How so?"
"The sun sets in the west, and notice where it is."
Howard now opened his eyes in amazement. He would have been sure that itwas going down in the other part of the sky; but the proof before hiseyes was irrefragable.
"It must be," he replied. "We have been 'turned round.' Just as when weleft the wharf at New York. I was below when the steamer came out, andso long as New York was in sight I was sure it lay in the wrong place."
"But, how bad even that makes it! We cannot reach the river before dark,and we shall not know whether we am a mile above or below where Tim issleeping."
"If we go straight for the river, I think it likely that we shall comemuch nearer him than that."
"It may be, but how are we to tell?"
"Why, if we don't find him by night, we can fire oft our guns and callto him."
"And bring a party of the savages down upon us."
"That may be if there are any in the neighborhood, but we shall have torun the risk."
By this time the boys were fully impressed with their want of discretionand with the urgent necessity of making all haste back to the river.
"Let us keep our thoughts about us," said Howard, "for we have beenwithout them long enough. Now, the Salinas River runs very nearly northand south, doesn't it?"
"This portion of it does."
"Then we must go as nearly east as we can, and let's be off."
Turning their backs upon the sun, they began retracing their steps; butthey had journeyed scarce half an hour when they found themselves near arange of hills, which they were sure they had not passed through, anddid not remember to have seen.
"What does this mean?" asked Howard, still more alarmed. "We never havebeen near these."
"Are they not the hills we noticed just us we were about starting?"
"They cannot be;--these are larger, have not half as much wood uponthem. I tell you, Elwood, there is one thing sure."
"I know what you mean."
"What is it?"
_"We are lost!"_
"We are lost."]
"You are right. We may find Tim again, but we are going to have troubleto do it."
"Listen! He may call to us."
They stopped walking find held their breath, but not a sound broke thesolemn stillness, save a faint, hollow roar--whether the deep murmurthat is always heard in a great forest, or the sound of the distantPacific Ocean they could not tell.
"No; he is asleep yet," said Elwood. "If he would only wake up he wouldshout to us."
"Thus you see, if we shoot our guns, the chances are that _he_ will nothear it, while it may be the means of bringing to us the very ones weare so anxious to keep away."
So they concluded not to fire their rifles for the present.
"But these hills," continued Howard, "they don't extend in any greatdirection either north or south. The question now is, shall we passaround the northern or southern end?"
"What difference will it make?"
"All the difference in the world. If Tim is to the south of us, and wepass around that way, I think we shall find him without much hunting,while if we take the wrong course it will be night before we can getanywhere near him."
"I see," replied Elwood. "We shall have to guess at it. But, hold!" heexclaimed, with sparkling eyes. "You go one way and I will another!"
Howard shook his head.
"There is too much risk."
"Not at all. The distance is short, and we can whistle to each otherevery few minutes. Then, you know, as we shall be looking for eachother, we cannot lose ourselves in these still woods. The minute I getsight of the river I can tell whether we are above or below Tim."
Howard would not consent at first, but his cousin set forth theadvantages of the plan so eloquently that he finally agreed. Arrangingtheir signals and manner of proceeding, the boys, therefore, separated.