THE BUFFALO HUNT 51 



tinuous poplar woods. I changed my course and tried 

 a different direction, but soon was forced to the con- 

 clusion that (for the sixth or seventh time in my life) 

 I was lost. 



"Dear me," I said, "this is an interesting oppor- 

 tunity. It comes to me now that I once wrote an 

 essay on 'What To Do and What Not To Do When 

 Lost In the Woods/ Now what in the world did I say 

 in it, and which were the things not to do. Yes, I re- 

 member now, these were the pieces of advice: 



"1st. 'Don't get frightened.' Well, I'm not; I am 

 simply amused. 



"2d. 'Wait for your friends to come/ Can't do 

 that; I'm too busy; they wouldn't appear till night. 



"3d. 'If you must travel, go back to a place where 

 you were sure of the way.' That means back to the 

 lake, which I know is due west of the camp and must 

 be west of me now." 



So back I went, carefully watching the sun for guid- 

 ance, and soon realised that whenever I did not, I swung 

 to the left. After nearly an hour's diligent travel I did 

 get back to the lake, and followed my own track in the 

 margin to the point of leaving it ; then, with a careful 

 corrected bearing, made for camp and arrived in 40 

 minutes, there to learn that on the first attempt I had 

 swung so far to the left that I had missed camp by 

 half a mile, and was half a mile beyond it before I knew 

 I was wrong. (See map on p. 46.) 



At noon Jarvis and Sousi came back jubilant; they 

 had seen countless Buffalo trails, had followed a large 

 bull and cow, but had left them to take the trail of a 



