Forester was afraid that he and Marco had got themselves into somewhat
serious difficulty, but he wished to teach Marco that in emergencies
of such a nature, it would do no good to give way to a panic, or to
unnecessary anxiety. So he assumed an unconcerned and contented air,
and made arrangements for the luncheon, just as if they had stopped
there to eat it of their own accord, and without being in any
difficulty whatever about the prosecution of the journey.
Marco, however, seemed to be quite uneasy.
"What are we going to do?" said he. "If we get lost in this
snow-storm, we shall have to stay in the woods perhaps all night."
"Yes," said Forester, "that we can do. We have done that before."
Forester here alluded to an occasion on which he and Marco had spent
the night in a hut in the woods, when traveling in Maine.
"But we had an axe then," said Marco, "to make a camp."
"Yes," replied Forester, "that is true. I don't think, however, that
we shall have to stay in the woods all night now. We have _three_
chances for avoiding it."
"What are the three?" said Marco.
"Why, in the first place," replied Forester, "we can stay where we are
until it stops snowing,--in fact it has almost stopped now. Then I
presume that the sun will come out, and in half an hour melt away all
the snow.
Pages:
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168