So Forester took the knapsack off from his shoulders,—­for he had taken it from Marco some time before, and laying it upon a large flat stone by his side, he began to open it, and to take out the provisions.

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.  Then we can find our path again, and go on.”

“But I don’t think it is certain that we can find our path again,” said Marco.

“Nor do I,” said Forester, “but there’s a chance of it.  I did not say that we had three certainties, but three chances.”

“Well,” said Marco; “go on; what are the other two?”

“If we can not find the path,” said Forester, “either because the snow does not melt, or for any other reason, then we can remain where we are until night, and the people, finding that we do not come home, will send up for us.”

“And how can they find us?” asked Marco.

“Why, they will come up the path, of course, and we can not be very far from the path, for we only lost it a few minutes before we came here.  Of course they will come up very near to this place;—­and they will come shouting out, every few minutes, as loud as they can, and so we shall hear them.”

“Yes,” said Marco, “I see; that is a pretty good chance.”

“The third chance for us,” said Forester, “is to go down into the first glen or valley that we can find, and then we shall probably come to a stream.  Then we can follow the stream down to the river.”

“How do you know that it goes to the river?” asked Marco.