Читать книгу Roy Blakeley's Tangled Trail - Percy Keese Fitzhugh - Страница 10

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You’ll see how it was if you look at the map. After a little while we came around to the camp again and into Cabin Lane. A lot of scouts were sitting on the porch of Main Pavilion laughing at us. But what cared we, quoth I.

“Didn’t you find any path to the left?” one of them shouted.

“No, but maybe there’ll be one next time,” I said. “You never can tell. We’ve only been around once. It’s a beautiful afternoon this morning for an evening hike. So long, we’ll see you later. We’re busy doing our daily good turn.”

Everybody was laughing as we went through Cabin Lane, Pee-wee coming along behind trying to keep up with us. He was sore but he wouldn’t drop out because he’s not a quitter, I’ll say that much for him.

When we came the second time to the outlet, Hervey made a good jump over it. The rest of us followed, and Pee-wee went kerflop into the water again. He climbed out shouting, “This is the last time I’m going around! Do you think I’m going to keep walking around this lake all day?”

PEE-WEE CLIMBED OUT, SHOUTING, “THIS IS THE LAST TIME!”

“Think of Columbus,” Brent said. “He didn’t turn back, he kept on going, he sailed on and on and on——”

“That’s all right because he didn’t know where he was going,” Pee-wee panted.

“All right then, we’re smarter than he was because we know where we’re going,” Warde said.

“He kept going around,” Brent said. “That’s why they named Columbus Circle after him.”

“Pee-wee is so dumb he thinks Columbus’ last name is Ohio,” I said.

Hervey didn’t say anything, just kept marching along; gee whiz, it was funny. I don’t know how long we would have kept it up because that fellow is crazy enough to do anything.

Pee-wee started screaming, “How long are we going to keep this up? I said I’d go on a left-handed hike, and I meant I’d follow a trail that goes to some different place. What’s the use of doing this? Where is it going to get us?”

Brent said, “This isn’t the kind of a trail that takes you to one place one time and another place another time. It’s a trail you can depend on.”

“Sure, it can be trusted,” I said.

Gee whiz, I guess we’d be marching around Black Lake yet if it wasn’t for Sandwich. He discovered a trail to the left. It was right across the lake from the camp. We were about half-way along the opposite side of the lake when Sandwich started sniffing the ground, and then he began dancing around as if school had just closed. All of a sudden he started sniffing along slantingways down toward the lake; you’ll see just how if you look at the dotted line on the map.

“It’s a path!” Pee-wee shouted. “It goes to the left and we have to follow it.”

“I bet it goes into the lake,” Warde said.

“Then what will we do?” I asked him.

“We’ll have to walk into the lake and swim to the left,” Brent said. “Pee-wee couldn’t be any wetter than he is already.”

“I’m not going to walk into the lake!” the kid shouted. “That’s one thing I won’t do. I’m good and wet, and I’m good and hungry. I got wet twice and I haven’t eaten once and it’s near noontime and it’s all on account of you and your crazy hike. If I have to be a lunatic I’m going to be a dry one!”

“That’s a very good idea,” I told him.

“I’m half starved, I know that,” he shouted.

“I never knew you to be anything else,” Warde said.

As long as there wasn’t any path to the left along the trail around the lake we decided that we would follow Sandwich and call that a trail. Because if we hadn’t done that we would have just kept on going round and round the lake forever—even longer maybe. We would have gone on to eternity, that’s what Brent said.

“I’d rather go there than no place,” I told him.

“If we don’t strike eternity the first time around how do you expect to find it the second time around?” Hervey asked.

“We should worry,” I said; “we’re on the right road now, we’re going to bunk right into the lake.”

Well, the next thing we knew there we were right at the edge of the lake. Across the water we could see Temple Camp and we could see the smoke curling up from the cooking shack and we knew they were cooking dinner over there.

“Now you see,” said Pee-wee, very sore like, “they’re cooking dinner; they’re going to have sausages.”

“If the wind would only blow this way we could inhale our dinners,” Warde said.

“Oh, here’s a boat,” one of us shouted.

“We’ll row across, that’s what we’ll do,” the kid said. “I’ve had enough of left-handed hiking. We’re in luck. We don’t even have to walk the rest of the way around.”

“It’s chained,” said Hervey, “and it’s got a big heavy padlock on it.”

“Foiled again,” I said.

We were all standing on the shore looking at the boat. I said, “It’s a very nice boat with a bottom in it and sides to it and everything, only it’s chained. What are we going to do next?”

Brent began sniffing and saying, “I think I can smell the sausages. The fragrance is borne upon the gentle breeze. I think I can smell brown gravy too. And apple dumplings. Can you sniff the apple dumplings?” I had to laugh at him, he was so sober about it. He said, “Is that the scent of apple dumplings, kid, or am I mistaken?”

“It smells to me like two helpings,” Warde said.

“You all make me tired!” Pee-wee shouted. “What’s the use of standing here and sniffing like a lot of idiots? If the boat is chained we have to go on walking around. We can get there in time for dinner if we hurry.”

Brent said, “Alas, that can never be done. Thou knowest not what thou sayest, Scout Harris.”

“Why don’t I knowest what I sayest?” the kid screamed.

“Because you just made a fatal move,” Brent said. “In walking around examining the boat you passed to the north of the indistinct trail that Sandwich followed. And we, like fools, followed you. We are now facing south as we stand here. Our honor prevents us from turning around. Behold, Scout Harris, the little trail which brought us to the shore is now on our right instead of on our left. We cannot follow it back to the main trail.

“You, and you alone, have been our undoing! We cannot move from this spot except by entering the lake which is on our left, and the boat is chained. We are marooned in fetters. We can neither hike nor row. All we can do is sniff. And this is your work!”