CHAPTER IX 

A silence ensued, fraught with poignant fear for Helen, as she gazed into Bo's whitening face. She read her sister's mind. Bo was remembering tales of lost people who never were found. 

"Me an' Milt get lost every day," said Roy. "You don't suppose any man can know all this big country. It's nothin' for us to be lost." 

"Oh!... I was lost when I was little," said Bo. 

"Wal, I reckon it'd been better not to tell you so offhand like," replied Roy, contritely. "Don't feel bad, now. All I need is a peek at Old Baldy. Then I'll have my bearin'. Come on." 

Helen's confidence returned as Roy led off at a fast trot. He rode toward the westering sun, keeping to the ridge they had ascended, until once more he came out upon a promontory. Old Baldy loomed there, blacker and higher and closer. The dark forest showed round, yellow, bare spots like parks. 

"Not so far off the track," said Roy, as he wheeled his horse. "We'll make camp in Milt's senaca to-night." 

He led down off the ridge into a valley and then up to higher altitude, where the character of the forest changed. The trees were no longer pines, but firs and spruce, growing thin and exceedingly tall, with few branches below the topmost foliage. So dense was this forest that twilight seemed to have come. 

Travel was arduous. Everywhere were windfalls that had to be avoided, and not a rod was there without a fallen tree. The horses, laboring slowly, sometimes sank knee-deep into the brown duff. Gray moss festooned the tree-trunks and an amber-green moss grew thick on the rotting logs. 
Who was Helen looking at?
Was it turning red?
What was Bo remembering?
About what?
Who was talking about getting lost?
Who did he say got lost with him?
What did Roy say he wanted a peek at?
What did Roy ride toward?
Did this make Helen feel confident?
What was Roy keeping to?
Were they ascending it?
Where were they going to set up camp?
Where exactly?
What did the horses do in the duff?
What was on the tree trunks?
What was on the logs?
Were the logs healthy-looking?
What kind of logs were they described as?
Was the moss growing thick or thin on those logs?
What time of day did the denseness of the forest make it seem like?
Bo's face
A silence ensued, fraught with poignant fear for Helen, as she gazed into Bo's whitening face
No
A silence ensued, fraught with poignant fear for Helen, as she gazed into Bo's whitening face
Some tales
Bo was remembering tales of lost people who never were found
Lost people who never were found
Bo was remembering tales of lost people who never were found
Roy initially.
Me an' Milt get lost every day," said Roy.
Milt
Me an' Milt get lost every day," said Roy
Old Baldy.
All I need is a peek at Old Baldy.
The westering sun,
 He rode toward the westering sun,
Yes
Helen's confidence returned as Roy led off at a fast trot
The ridge
He rode toward the westering sun, keeping to the ridge they had ascended
Yes
He rode toward the westering sun, keeping to the ridge they had ascended
Yes
Not so far off the track," said Roy, as he wheeled his horse. "We'll make camp in Milt's senaca to-night.
Milt's senaca
We'll make camp in Milt's senaca to-night
They sometimes sank knee-deep
The horses, laboring slowly, sometimes sank knee-deep into the brown duff
Gray moss
Gray moss festooned the tree-trunks and an amber-green moss grew thick on the rotting logs
Amber-green moss
 Gray moss festooned the tree-trunks and an amber-green moss grew thick on the rotting logs
No
Gray moss festooned the tree-trunks and an amber-green moss grew thick on the rotting logs
Rotting logs
Gray moss festooned the tree-trunks and an amber-green moss grew thick on the rotting logs
Thick
 Gray moss festooned the tree-trunks and an amber-green moss grew thick on the rotting logs
Twilight
So dense was this forest that twilight seemed to have come