176 A MOUNTAIN-SIDE. RAMBLE. 



bring up at the railroad. So I set out, and 

 for a while traveled on bravely. Then I 

 began to bethink myself that I was not go- 

 ing up-hill quite so fast as it seemed I ought 

 to be doing. Was I really approaching the 

 railway, after all ? Or had I started in a 

 wrong direction (being in the woods at the 

 time), and was I heading along the moun- 

 tain-side in such a course that I might walk 

 all night, and all the while be only plunging 

 deeper and deeper into the forest? The 

 suggestion was not pleasurable. If I could 

 only see the mountain ! But the thick foli- 

 age put that out of the question. 



After a short debate with myself I con- 

 cluded to be prudent, and make my way 

 back to the brook while I still had the sun 

 to guide me ; for I now called to mind the 

 showeriness of the day, and the strong like- 

 lihood that the sky might at any moment 

 be overcast. Even as things were, there 

 was no assurance that I might not strike 

 the brook at some distance from the bridge, 

 and so at some distance from the trail, with 

 no means of determining whether it was 

 above or below me. I began my retreat, 

 and pretty soon, luckily or unluckily, I 



