Bob’s fears regarding the weather were soon realized; for, although the stars came out fairly bright as night settled down, their brightness was short lived. One by one they grew dim and went out, until finally the last one had disappeared. “It’s no use,” Bob declared, as he watched the star which had been his guide fade from view. “I haven’t got a single thing to go by now, and it’s a clear case of hit or miss, with the odds tremendously in favor of the miss. You see,” he explained, “there are three hundred and sixty points to the compass, and, as we’ve got to hit just one of them, our chances are three hundred and fifty-nine to one. No man living could be sure of his way in this blackness.” Bob used the word in its literal sense, for it was so dark that they could hardly see their hand before their face. To be sure they had electric torches, but in the immensity of the forest they were of little or no use in blazing a trail. “Well, what’s to be done?” Rex asked. “Make a camp,” Bob replied. “You see we may be very near the Carry and then again we may be still several miles away. It’s impossible to tell.” “All right then, let’s go to it,” proposed optimistic Rex. It was slow work in the darkness, finding wood for the fire, but after a good deal of hunting a sufficient quantity was collected and soon a cheerful blaze was lightening the gloom of the forest. “It’ll seem more cheerful when we get some supper under our belts,” Jack laughed, as he filled the coffee pot with snow and placed it on the fire. “Who said anything about not being cheerful?” Rex demanded. Supper was finally ready and cheerfulness was certainly prominent as they squatted about the fire, drinking coffee and eating flapjacks. “Speaking about adventures,” Rex said, after they had cleaned up, “I had a funny one a few weeks ago, although I don’t know as it was so funny after all, but it was certainly strange.” “All right, spring it,” Jack said, as he snuggled into his sleeping bag. “Well, it has been said that truth is stranger than fiction, but I have never believed it until after I had this adventure, but now I know that it can be, at least sometimes. There have been a lot of hold-ups in Philly and the country round about, and as I have to do a lot of driving by night I got a permit from the chief of police to carry a revolver for self protection. Well, one night, about the first of last February, I was driving home along from West Chester where I had been to attend a meeting. It was about half-past eleven and I was about three miles from the city when I saw a car standing by the side of the road. I slowed down, as I always do when passing a standing car. You never can tell when some one is going to dart out from behind the other car and start to cross the road without looking.