112 THE LOG OF A TIMBER CRUISER 
workers. The night he got lost and ‘‘slept out’’ 
brought matters to a head. 
No one knew just how he came to be separated 
from Wallace and Conway that evening. As it was 
no new thing for him to drop behind and catch up 
with them later they thought nothing of his absence 
until some time after reaching camp, when Horace 
still failed to put in an appearance. 
It was scarcely probable that he was hurt, we 
thought, as the route of the baseline had not been 
particularly rough. But a night in the woods with- 
out a bed is no joke, at the best, and we were in- 
clined to feel for Horace as we slipped into our 
warm blankets, a little later, with a sympathetic 
shiver. 
A storm came up during the night and our uneasi- 
ness increased. With all our guying and criticism 
of the missing man, no one now really disliked him 
to any great extent, or wished him any injury. We 
thought of him rather as a helpless eccentric than 
as a capable irritant. 
Next day Frazer met the general mood when he 
said: 
“I’m a little worried about Wetherby, fellows! 
Let’s knock off work this morning and look for him.’’ 
But we were spared the necessity. Shortly after 
breakfast the ‘‘lost goat,’? as Conway rather un- 
kindly called him, returned to camp, a most woe- 
begone spectacle. His wet and wrinkled clothes, 
