"How provoking!" exclaimed Miss Elting.

"He has gone away and left us," moaned Margery.

"Do you think he could have gone back to Jamesburg?" questioned Harriet.
"I believe he would if he dared."

"He had better not. I don't see that there is anything to be afraid of
except that we might pass by the camp, which, I understand is some little
distance from this road. Then again we must not get off the road or we are
sure to lose our way. All keep close together. We will continue to walk
on. We will call him frequently. I am certain that when he finds we are
not keeping up with him, he will either return to see what has become of
us or stop to wait."

For a full half hour they continued on their way, stumbling, catching
their feet in vines that had trailed across the road occasionally, bumping
into trees, but never once wholly getting off the log road. Now and then
the call of a night bird fluttering from a tree near at hand, would send
Margery and Tommy into a sudden panic. There are many weird sounds to be
heard in the forest at night. It seemed as though the travelers heard them
all. Had their guardian not been with them, at least two of the girls
would have been hysterical. Harriet appeared undisturbed and Hazel held
herself very well in hand. But all at once there came a sudden
interruption that threatened at the moment to send them all fleeing for
safety.

Margery who was walking to one side of the road and slightly in advance of
Miss Elting, uttered a piercing scream. They heard her fall.