WE LOSE OUR BEARINGS
The kid shouted, “Are you going straight to camp or not? Are there going
to be any more detours?”
“Not exactly detours,” Hervey said; “just a few small scallops to vary
the monotony. We’re on our way home. We’re following the smoke and we’re
headed straight for the cooking shack; follow your leader. The way I
figure it out we ought to land on the stove.”
“We ought to land in the zink,” Garry said.
“The zink would do just as well, follow your leader,” Hervey said. “I’m
aiming straight for the dishpan full of cookies. Have courage, follow
your leader wherever he goes, don’t weaken or flunk or suggest or
oppose——”
Gee whiz, I can’t tell you of all the crazy things that fellow did,
singing all the while. He swung into trees and went round and round them
till we were all dizzy and didn’t know what we were singing. He kept
going in and out around two trees till he had us all staggering and
singing:
Don’t ask where you’re opposed,
But follow your nose wherever supposed;
N’ snows n’ suppose wherever goes.
“Wait a minute!” I shouted. “Where’s that roof? I don’t see it.”
“It’s still there,” Hervey said. “Don’t start to whrrrever yr leader
suppose in the toes when it starts to suppose.”
“Be careful don’t stub and go flunking your nose,” Pee-wee shouted.
“N’ flow—flow—yr—flunked—wrvr—goes,” poor little Willie Cook sang.
“Have a heart,” I said.
“Do you see the roof?” Garry asked.
I just sank down to the ground. “I see forty-eleven roofs and
eighty-nine col-ol-ol-ums of smoke—oke,” I told him.
“We’re get—tet—ing there,” Hervey said.
We all just sprawled on the ground for about ten minutes, dead to the
world.
“Sure, we’re nearly there,” I said.
After a little while Scout Harris sat up and set up a howl.
“What’s the matter now?” I asked him.
“The smoke! The smoke!” he shouted. “It isn’t in line with the roof any
more! Look!”
I sat up and looked.
“Temple Camp has moved away or something,” he yelled.
I said, “That’s very funny, the smoke must be blowing.”
“You’re crazy,” he said, all excited. “You can see the chimney even, and
the roof isn’t in line with it!”
I said, “All right, don’t call me crazy, call the smoke crazy. I didn’t
do it, did I?”
“Just the same that’s mighty funny,” Warde said.
“Sure,” I said; “if it wasn’t funny it wouldn’t be here.”
“Don’t get rattled,” Hervey said, “_we’re_ here; we’re just where we
were. Don’t lose your morale.”
“I lost my potatoes,” Willie Cook piped up.
“Pee-wee’s eating one of them,” I said.
There sat Scout Harris, with black all around his mouth, munching a
roasted potato and staring off to the west with eyes as big as saucers.
I have to admit it was funny. When we had first seen that roof it was
between us and the smoke from camp, maybe half-way. It seemed as if it
might be on the road at the western edge of the woods.
Across that road were more woods and in those farther woods was the
camp. Now the smoke was rising to the _left_ of the roof. It might have
been partly on account of the smoke blowing and partly on account of our
being dizzy, that’s what I thought.
So I said, “We should worry. I’ve been to Temple Camp every summer for
several years and it’s always stayed in the same place. It’s not like we
are. All we’ve lost are our bearings and one potato. That roof is in a
bee-line with Temple Camp. When we get to the road where the house is I
know the way to camp all right without any smoke beacons. There’s a
trail through the farther woods. Let the smoke die. What do we care? The
boy scouts will live forever. Let’s take a good rest and sort of get
sobered up so we’re not seeing things and then let’s make a bee-line for
that house. If Hervey will lead us to that house I’ll lead the party to
camp from there.”
“Come on, follow your leader,” Hervey said. And with that he rolled over
and laid his head on his arm. All the rest of us did the same and pretty
soon we were fast asleep. No wonder.