Page:Barbour--Metipoms Hostage.djvu/159

Rh glimpse a bit of the sky between their clustering branches. Smaller trees and bushes fought for life beneath the evergreens and  ever he must step aside this way or that until  before long all sense of direction had left him  and he went on in a blackness that had no  relief, trusting to fortune.

That he would know the trail should he come to it seemed too much to hope for now. It seemed far more likely that, if his progress, indeed, led him in the right direction, he would cross the forest path without  knowledge. And so, when some time had passed, he became doubly watchful for a  thinning out of the underbrush, and when the  trees seemed less closely set he went no farther until he had satisfied himself that he had  not reached the trail. It was difficult going for more reasons than the forest growth, for  fallen trees barred his way and clutched at  his clothing with stark and splintered hands. He had lost all knowledge of time. It seemed to him that he had been fighting through the  woods for hours and that daylight must now  be no more than just beyond the world’s rim. But the thick, velvety blackness continued and the sky, when infrequently seen, looked  no lighter than before. He grew hopeless and