Half the forenoon passed in the vain search, and then they held a council.
"I think we'd better scatter," said Shif'less Sol, "an' meet here again when the sun marks noon." It was agreed, and they took careful note of the place, a little hill crowned with a thick cluster of black oaks, a landmark easy to remember.
Henry turned toward the south, and the forest was so dense that in two minutes all his comrades were lost to sight.

He went several miles, and his search was most rigid.

He was amazed to find that the sense of mystery and danger that he attributed to the darkness of the night did not disappear wholly in the bright daylight.

His spirit, usually so optimistic, was oppressed by it, and he had no belief that they would find Long Jim.
At the set time he returned to the little hill crowned with the black oaks, and as he approached it from one side he saw Shif'less Sol coming from another.

The shiftless one walked despondently.