12 IN THE FLAT- WOODS. 



my cracker's friendly warning against losing 

 my way ; for though I had hardly so much 

 as entered the woods, and had taken, as I 

 thought, good heed to my steps, I was almost 

 at once in a quandary as to my road. There 

 was no occasion for worry, with the sun 

 out, and my general course perfectly plain ; 

 but here was a fork in the road, and whether 

 to bear to the left or to the right was a sim- 

 ple matter of guess-work. I made the best 

 guess I could, and guessed wrong, as was 

 apparent after a while, when I found the 

 road under deep water for several rods. I 

 objected to wading, and there was no ready 

 way of going round, since the oak and pal- 

 metto scrub crowded close up to the road- 

 side, and just here was all but impenetrable. 

 What was still more conclusive, the road 

 was the wrong one, as the inundation proved, 

 and, for aught I could tell, might carry me 

 far out of my course. I turned back, there- 

 fore, under the midday sun, and by good 

 luck a second attempt brought me out of the 

 woods very near where I had entered them. 

 I visited this particular piece of country 

 but once afterward, having in the mean 

 time discovered a better place of the same 



