192 HIGHWAYS AND BYWAYS. 



boy of few words, my companion had confidence in him 

 as a guide. "We followed him through wet woods, over 

 bogs and fallen trees, for an hour or more, until he began 

 to show signs of bewilderment and discomfiture, when 

 we asked him if he was quite sure that he knew the prem- 

 ises. " Yes ; but he don't see where the pesky thing is." 

 But when to our inquiry for the direction towards home 

 he pointed to quite a different point of the compass, our 

 confidence in the silent guide Avas a little shaken, and 

 each one did a little hunting on his own account. By 

 and by the lad called to us and said, " Some ho ay or 

 other the darned AYOods had kinder got turned around, 

 but if we would go back to the clearing and again start 

 right, he felt sure ^ye could find the fool bird and nest, 

 as they Avere at the left of the Avood road near a large 

 stump and a Avhopping big tree." So we dragged our- 

 seh^es and our lieav}^ boots back to the edge of the AYOods 

 and took a hcay start. As another hour of wading 

 through SAYam])s and underbrush, Avhere each bush gave 

 us a bath, proA^ed uns.uccessful, Ave concluded to post- 

 pone the search until the next day. 



Although Ave had failed to find the nest, Ave found 

 many interesting plants and flowers, among them several 

 orchids, as a partial remuneration. 



Coming to a little opening in the woods Ave found the 

 ground starred Avith the dAvarf dogwood (Cornel Can- 

 adensis) and star floAver {Trientalis Americana). It is 

 these little floAvers that give such a charm to the Avoods 

 — flowers that Ave must search for in sequestered places 



