The search proved fruitless; for so short and sudden had been the passage from the faint path the travelers had journeyed into the thicket, that every trace of their footsteps was lost in the obscurity of the woods.

搜索无果；旅行者们从隐隐约约的小路上走进了灌木丛，他们的脚步是如此短暂和突然，以至于他们的每一个足迹都消失在树林的黑暗中。