They wandered along, calling in every possible kind of way, and waiting, after every call, to see if there would be any response. But no response came. They kept on in the way in which they supposed Pat had gone, and shouted, and screamed, and halloed, and yelled, and whistled, and made every noise that could be made. But their utmost efforts proved of no avail; and all their shouts excited no response, except the echoes that reverberated through the long, dim forest aisles. At length they gave up. “Well, what are we to do now?” said Bruce. “Pat’s off--that’s certain,” said Bart; “and how we can find him again is more than I can tell.” “There isn’t any danger, of course. He’ll work his way along; but still he belongs to our party, and I don’t like the idea of leaving him.” “We’d better keep on quietly, as we were going,” said Arthur. “There’s no use for us to stand still. This seems to be the direction in which he was going.” “Yes,” said Tom; “let’s go on. We haven’t any time to lose. It’s six o’clock now.” They went on. They hadn’t the faintest idea now where they were. Whatever general notion of their course they had kept up, while first following Pat, had now been altogether lost. His chase after the little animal had been a very eccentric one, and they had faced in several different directions while pursuing him. The monotonous woods gave no sign by which they might learn their course. They could not find their way now even to the place where Pat had been seized with his strange frenzy. The fact is, they were utterly and hopelessly lost. “It seems to me,” said Arthur, “that we’re going to Hall’s Harbor.” “No,” said Phil; “we’re steering straight for Cornwallis.” “Not a bit of it,” said Tom. “We’re going to Scott’s Bay.” “It’s my opinion,” said Bart, “that we’re on our way to the cliff; and as its getting dark, we’d better be careful. Bruce, if you get to the cliff first, and fall over in the dark, just let us know before you go down. I wouldn’t care so much in fine, bright weather, but I have a prejudice against tumbling over cliffs on a foggy night.” “You needn’t trouble yourself,” said Bruce. “We’ll never come near a cliff, or anything else. I know all about it. We’re wandering in a circle. We’ll camp in the woods to-night, and to-morrow night, after wandering all day, we’ll get back to the same place. I move, therefore, that we stop now in this place, and build a good, solid camp, that will serve for a shelter every night after our circular wanderings.” “Well,” said Bart, “we won’t begin just yet. I want to get to the cliff.” “I want to get to Scott’s Bay,” said Tom. “I’m determined,” said Phil, “to get to Cornwallis.” “Pooh!” said Arthur. “Every one of us will sleep to-night in Hall’s Harbor. Come along, boys.” XV.