Slowly the little band advanced over the broken surface. There were
gullies so deep that at first it seemed impossible to gain the opposite
side. Most of these, however, were narrow and consequently the
difficulties of John in measuring the distance were not greatly increased.
Grant had explained that if they did start from the wrong place they would
steadily swing more and more away from the spot they were seeking.
However, there was nothing to be done except to try and the eagerness of
the boys clearly showed how willing they were to make the attempt.
As the distance covered by John steadily increased, the boys became more
silent though they were steadily watching for some object that might
indicate the end of the first part of their search. No object, however,
was seen and when at last John halted, declaring that he had covered
exactly the distance required, he was standing on an elevation so slight
that no one believed it was a landmark.
"Now, from here," said Grant, "we turn and go southeast a quarter of a
mile."
"From where?" demanded Zeke.
"From where String is standing."
"Might as well start from there as anywhere," growled Zeke.
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