"Then you oughtn't to have brought me here," said Harry, much provoked.

"I wanted to show you a short way home," said Tony, puffing away at his
pipe.

Harry answered not a word, but set out along the path. In a minute or
two he ran against a tree; then he turned to the right and stumbled over
a root, dropping his bag and nearly losing his hold of his gun. He was
soon convinced that it was all nonsense to try to get home by that path,
and he slowly made his way back to Tony.

"I'll tell ye what it is," said the turkey-hunter, "ef you think you'd
hurt yerself findin' yer way home, and I thought you knew the woods
better than that, you might as well stay here with me. I'll take you
home bright an' airly. You needn't trouble yerself about yer sister.
She's home long ago. It must have been bright daylight when she wrote on
that paper, and she could keep the road easy enough."

Harry said nothing, but sat down on the other end of the log. Tony did
not seem to notice his vexation, but talked to him, explaining the
mysteries of turkey-hunting and the delight of spending a night in the
woods, where everything was so cool and dry and still. "There's no
nonsense here," said Tony. "Ef there's any place where a feller kin have
peace and comfert, it's in the woods, at night."

By degrees Harry became interested and forgot his annoyance. Kate was
certainly safe at home, and as it was impossible for him to find his way
out of the depths of the woods, he might as well be content. He could
not even hope to regain the road by the way they came.