Woods, Precipices, Mists, and Ocean Waves.—The Party divided, and each Half departs to seek its separate Fortune.—Pat shows how to go in a straight Line.—Pat and the Porcupine.—In Chase after Pat.—Disappearance of Pat.—A lost Pat.—Wanderings in Search of the Lost.

THEY stood for a while confounded.

Before them nothing could be seen but the impenetrable fog. The water beneath was not visible, but the surf sent up its boom, and they knew that they were somewhere on the shore of the Bay of Fundy.

But where?

“This is certainly a most extraordinary thing!” cried the doctor, at last.

The others said nothing, but by their silence assented to the truth of this undeniable statement.

“One thing is evident.” said the doctor again, “and that is, that this is not the old French fort. In fact, I begin to doubt whether there is any old French fort here at all. They surely would never have been mad enough to build any kind of a fort in these abominable woods.”

To this, again, the boys made no reply. The assertion seemed so self-evident that it appeared like the utterance of actual fact.

“It is a conviction,” resumed the doctor, “that has been growing stronger and stronger ever since we left the ‘Barrens,’ and I now accept it without reserve. But at the same time, boys, I confess that I haven’t the smallest idea where we are.”

“We must be somewhere on the coast between Scott’s Bay and Hall’s Harbor,” said Bruce.

“Perfectly true,” said the doctor; “but where on that coast? As some ten or fifteen miles lie between those two places, we have an almost unlimited latitude for conjecture.”

Nothing was said for some time. All looked along the coast line in both directions, to see if anything were visible. Nothing, however, could be seen. The dense fog concealed everything from view.

“Well,” said the doctor, “we shall have to do something; that’s evident. Now, you’re all very tired, and so am I. Let us sit here and rest, and debate which way we had better turn.”

They all sat down on the slope, and, looking at their watches, they found that it was half past two o’clock.

“We haven’t much time to lose; that’s plain,” said the doctor, as he looked at his watch. “Let us try, first of all, to find out where we are. In the first place, I think, all things considered, that we came in a pretty straight line. I tried to guide myself by the tree-tops as I went, and I think our course was as straight as possible.”

The boys all thought so, too.

“Yes,” said the doctor, “I’m quite positive about that. It was in my mind all the time to keep a perfectly straight course. If it hadn’t been for that, our way would have been easier. But I had decided on the position of the old French fort, and had marked it on my map. So, on starting, I took my bearings, and kept on by the trees, keeping as straight a course as possible. You observed how attentive I was to that. That was the reason why I had so few words of encouragement for my patient young friends who were toiling after me, and for whom I felt exceedingly sorry all the time.”

“O, doctor,” said Bart, “we’re all right,—we only hope that you will stand it.”

“Well, let us keep up our spirits,” said the doctor, cheerily, “and we’ll come out all right yet. So, you see, we may consider that our course has been a fair one. And now I will make a rough map of our position.”

Saying this, the doctor took his memorandum-book and drew his “rough map.” He marked a rough outline for the coast between Scott’s Bay and Hall’s Harbor. Then he drew the roads which ran from each of these places across the North Mountain to Cornwallis; and finally he traced a straight line from the place where they had started, in the direction which he supposed that they had gone. The result was, that he made their present position close by Hall’s Harbor. After finishing this, he handed it to the boys, who inspected it very closely.

“Well,” said the doctor, “what do you think of it?”

They were silent for some time. At length Bruce spoke.

“The only thing against it, sir,” said he, “is, that our course may not have been so perfectly straight.”

“But then,” said the doctor, “I took particular care, and always kept several trees in line before me, so as to go straight.”

“Still, sir,” said Bruce, “travelling in the woods is a very peculiar thing. I’ve done it often. I’ve lived for weeks in the woods, camping out; and it’s always been my experience that a man can’t go straight, unless he has a compass, or at least some general landmarks. An Indian might, perhaps; but I’m sure I couldn’t.”

The doctor seemed quite impressed by this.

“Well, Bruce,” said he, “I know you have had far more experience in the woods than I can pretend to, and I should like very much to get your opinion without reserve.”

“You see, sir,” said Bruce, “everybody has a tendency, in the woods, to lean to the right. It’s the same, I’ve heard, on the western prairies. I don’t pretend to know the cause of it. I only know it’s so. This makes one go in a kind of curved line, so that if one wanders long enough he’ll perform a sort of circle. I know once, in Cape Breton, I actually came back to the place I started from, and all the time I thought I was miles away. I took great pains, too, to walk straight; and it was a better country than this. Now we’ve been working our way through all kinds of places. We’ve been in thick underbrush, where, for my part, I don’t see how it was possible to keep a straight course. We’ve had to go round rocks and fallen trees. After breaking a straight course by making such a circuit, however small, it seems to me almost impossible to take it up again. A slight mistake at the outset makes a great difference by the time you get to the journey’s end.”

“Well,” said the doctor, “where do you think we may be? Point out on the map the place.”

“I can’t do that,” said Bruce, “of course. I can only say that I think we’ve been, as usual, swerving to the right; and if so, we are now really much nearer to Scott’s Bay than we are to Hall’s Harbor.”

The doctor now sat thinking for some time.

“There’s a great deal in what you say, Bruce,” said he, at length, “and I’m very glad you’ve given your opinion. At the same time I feel quite confident that, if I have swerved to the right, it cannot have been to any great extent. The care which I took was so extreme, that my calculations cannot be much out of the way. I dare say I may have lost my course a little while going through the thick underbrush, but I’m convinced that I found it again pretty correctly. Now I will mark out a new track on the map, and make allowance for any deviation from a true course.”

Saying this, the doctor traced a new line, which curved slightly to the right, and made their present position somewhat farther away from Hall’s Harbor than the former conjecture had made it. Still this new estimate made them much nearer to Hall’s Harbor than to Scott’s Bay.

He showed this to Bruce, and asked him what he thought of it.

“Well, sir,” said Bruce, “I will only say that if I had headed the party, with all my care, I should be very much farther to the right than you make it.”

“So you think that we are now nearer to Scott’s Bay than to Hall’s Harbor?”

“Very much nearer, sir,” said Bruce.

The doctor said no more, but sat for a long time silently regarding his map.

“Well,” said he, at last, “it seems to me to be a fair question. You, Bruce, have had very much experience in the woods; but then I rely on my own correctness. On the whole, I think it would be better for us now to divide ourselves into two parties. One party could go in the direction of Hall’s Harbor, the other towards Scott’s Bay. As you are an old hand in the woods, Bruce, I consider you quite fit to head one party, and try Scott’s Bay. For my part, I will take another party, and make for Hall’s Harbor. What do you say to that?”

“O, no, sir,” said Bruce; “we won’t leave you. We’ll stay with you, and follow you wherever you go.”

The doctor laughed.

“O, nonsense!” said he. “If we were wandering in the forests of the Amazon valley, we might then make it a matter of duty to stand by one another; but these woods are only a small affair. By going in any direction, we must emerge from them before very long. Even if we were overtaken by the darkness, it would be no great hardship to pass the night here. We could make comfortable beds out of spruce boughs and fern. To tell the truth, roughing it in the bush has rather an attraction for me than otherwise; and I know your weakness, boys, in that respect. Besides, in two hours, at the very farthest, we’re sure to come out somewhere. If I thought that there was any danger, I would not think of separating you, but would guard you as carefully as possible. The most that can happen is some little inconvenience. So, Bruce, you may consider yourself the commander of the Scott’s Bay party. Who will be your followers?”

“I,” said Bart, whose hesitation had been driven away by the doctor’s words.

“I,” said Arthur.

“And I,” said Tom. “And I,” said Phil.

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