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 myroad. 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 
