“You can put it that way if you wish, Giant.”

“Oh, dear!  I don’t want to be lost!”

“Oh, we are not lost!” put in Whopper, briskly.  “Come on.”

“Do you want to climb over the rocks, Whopper?” asked Snap.

“No; let us go around them.”

They attempted to do this, only to find themselves caught in a tangle of undergrowth from which it was almost impossible to extricate themselves.  Then they came out at a point that was all but surrounded by big rocks.  It was now so dark they could scarcely see in any direction.

“We may as well face the truth, fellows,” said Snap.  “We are lost.”

“Lost!” came from both of the others.

“Yes, lost.  And how we are to get out of the mess I don’t know.”

“Well, this is the worst yet!” came with a groan from Whopper.  “We start out to find Shep and end up by getting lost.  If he is back in camp he will have the laugh on us.”

“This means good-by to the deer,” said Giant.  “But I don’t care—–­if only we get back to camp in safety.”

“Let us climb a tree and look around,” suggested Snap.

This advice was followed, but try their best they could not locate their camp, although they saw Firefly Lake at a distance to the south of them.  The sun was setting behind a bank of clouds and soon it grew positively black beneath the trees.

It must be admitted that the young hunters felt in anything but a cheerful frame of mind.  Giant suggested that there might be more rattlesnakes at hand, and this made all nervous and on constant guard against reptiles.

“Are we going to stay here all night?” demanded Whopper, after a spell of silence.

“I don’t see what else we can do,” answered Snap.

“If we do have to stay, I am going to have a fire,” put in Giant.  “And somebody ought to remain on guard.”

“To be sure, Giant.  All of us can take turns at watching and at keeping the fire going.”

Wood was handy, and finding something of a cleared space, they built a fire and over this cooked the single squirrel Giant had brought down shortly after leaving the regular camp.  It was not much of a meal, but it was all they had, and with it they had to be content.

Even with one on guard, it was rather hard for the other two to go to sleep, though they were worn out by their long tramping around.  They slept only by fits and starts, and they were glad enough when morning came and they saw the sunlight stealing over the tree-tops.

“And now for the camp!” cried Snap.  “I hope nothing has happened there during our absence.”

CHAPTER XIV

THE BOYS AND THE WILDCAT

“Oh, what a night!  What a night!”

It was Shep who uttered the words.  The long spell of darkness had at last gone, and looking up overhead he could see a bit of sunshine striking the edge of the hollow.