Bozeman avant courier. [volume] (Bozeman, Mont.) 1872-1882, 1877-10-11
Lost in the Woods.

had been engaged tor h2llis working
my way rpa brook on which had beer
told Was :; capital fishing place, and, find
ing an end to navigation. took to the land
in making the circuit of a maze OF alders
impenctrablc even to bear. | lost the
water course. and in looking for it crossed
a low ridge ard fell OF another which ran
the other side. and in the opposite Gircc-
ton from that which had Lett. The re-
vcrsal of the current WAS the instantane-
Gus cause Of Il complete upset of al my
ideas of material things. There was 20
reason in the thing. no reasoning against
it. The points Of the compass had been as
clear in my head rs if saw the needle.
but the moment | found this oninou,
stream running tie wrong way, every
thing was unsettled. The sun was shining
! out OF the ccaf heavens. but it stared out
Of the north. One minute before could
nave taken bec-Iine back to my boat. but
tie ninll.c after had lost faith in every
landmark. | was not novice in woods
matters. | could follow trail readily.
~
the points of the compass as we'll as any
trapper in the country. but now .fdrth had
become south. and the labor of my reason
would not persuade my senses that the sun
was not sinking north by east. dared
not travel by the sun, SO firmly was my
fallacy rooted. knew the thing at once.
and comprehended the danger. knew
that in ten minutes | should be rs mad as
any man ever was with delirium tremens:
that should be beyond selfcontrol or hl,-
man help. Not once in three months
would human foot pass within reach of
my voice from where | was. but that
wolves were nearer l knew by their abun-
dant footprints in the wet sand where l
had passed. [ knew as well that if | lost
my wits in that moment nothing lay be-
tween HE and eternity but nameless hor-
ror. In all my life can recall no moment
of terror like that which l felt gathering
on me in that silent forest. sat down on
a rotting log. and, covering my face with
my hands, waited until | felt calm and self
possessed again. have no idea how long
it was, but when rose the sun had got
back into the southwest, and made up
my mind rs l walked back to my boat nev-
er to trust myself in a strange wood again
without blazing my path as l went along
| might point the moral Of my experience
by more that, one case not SO fortunate. |
The most impressive one that remember
is that of an Englishman who settled in
one of the towns bordering on the Adir-
ondack country, and who, having been
fishing one day in the Autumn with
neighbor, proposed to go back the next
day and try it alone. He never returned. |
and aftera days absence an expedition set
out to hunt him up. "A light snow had
fallen in the night, and his footprints were
found in one case crossing the road near
the village, but plunging into thickets. and
Ileviating in the most aimless and trenzied T
manner, with long strides like those of a
man running, md these even were lost.
The second day after his departure from
home a man answering al to his description
came to the door of a house in an adjoin-
ng town, and asked the way to his village.
His face was haSgard; and he looked wild,
he woman said who answered his call at
he door, and before she could reply he
started away, and raced fiantically across
he road into the woods again, and disap-
)eared. No trace Of him was ever after
Ound.
A friend who surveyed the county lines
If Franklin County, New York, told me
mother mere singular case in his expert
nee. His party We're running a line in
he thick woods, and had taken with them
young man from the city who f,ncied
amping out and joined the gang as vol
nteer. In returning from their work to !
amp they missed the blazed line and pro- |
eeded to ti.id their way by the compass. i
Fhen it was fo,ind.that the compass itself ,
All been lost. None of the gang were dis :
iibed with worse fears than having 10
leep out that night, save the novice, who |
ras so feartillly panie-stricken that he be c
anne raving mad in five minutes and they !
ere obliged to bind him and finally carry
i'm to camp, the way to which they short
! Observation-Disclosures Monthly. r
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