ADRIFT IN THE WOODS
"Stop Whopper, or he'll go over the cliff!"
It was the doctor's son who uttered the words. He was high up on
the rocks and could do nothing to save his chum.
Snap heard and understood, for he saw Whopper rolling rapidly
toward the cliff. If the youth went over, a sheer drop of twenty
or thirty feet awaited him---with more rocks below.
In this moment of peril, for Snap to think was to Whopper was very
dear to him, and he resolved to do all he could to save his chum,
even at the risk of his own life.
He let his gun drop and ran over the rocks to where Whopper was
rolling over and over. Then he caught him by the foot and threw
himself flat, clutching tenaciously at a single stone that arose
sharply above those around it. Snap's grip was good, and for the
moment Whopper's progress was stayed.
"Don't move!" called out Snap as soon as he could catch his breath.
"Press down on the rocks for all you are worth!"
Whopper understood and pressed down, and thus both boys lay quiet
for several seconds. Whopper was but three feet from the edge of
the cliff and Snap was just above him. The doctor's son was to the
right, in a spot that was a comparatively safe one.
"The---the gun kicked!" gasped Whopper when he could speak.
"Yes, I know," answered Snap. "But be careful, or you'll go over
the cliff yet!"
Whopper screwed his head around and gazed in the direction of the
yawning gulf below him, and his face changed color.
"Gosh! We'll have to get out of this," he murmured.
"Crawl toward Shep; but take it slowly and be careful," directed
Snap. "Shall I help you?"
"No, I can do it alone," was the answer.
Both boys crawled like snails over the smooth rocks until they
gained the spot where the doctor's son rested. Whopper drew a
long breath of relief.
"I'm glad I didn't take that tumble," he whispered hoarsely. He
could hardly speak, and his limbs trembled slightly.
"It was a good thing Snap stopped you," said Shep.
"That's what---and I am mighty thankful, Snap," replied Whopper
gratefully.
"Well, we'll have to go back, that is all there is to it," remarked
the doctor's son after a pause, during which they looked across
the rocks in perplexity. "I thought sure we could go this way,
but it seems as if we can't."
To climb down the rocks was as great a task as it had been to climb
up, and by the time they reached the bottom all were thoroughly
hungry. It now lacked but an hour and a half of noon.
"We'll never get to camp by dinner-time," declared Snap. "And I'm
not going to do without breakfast and dinner, too. I move we light
a fire and cook those rabbits. I've got a little coffee left,
enough for three weak cups, I guess."
The others agreed, and reaching a comfortable spot, they cut a
little wood and made a fire. Then they sat down to rest while the
skinned and cleaned rabbits were broiling. Snap made the coffee
and, though rather weak and without milk and sugar, they drank it
eagerly. They had a little salt for the rabbits, but that was all.
But hunger and fresh air are great appetizers.
The scant meal at an end, they resumed their journey, the doctor's
son taking the lead. They moved in a semicircle around the base
of one small mountain and then reached a rather broad mountain
torrent.
"Hello, here's a surprise!" cried Snap. "I had no idea such a big
brook flowed through these parts."
"Nor I," added Shep. "Looks as if there might be good fishing here."
The boys noted the location of the brook, so that they might visit
it another day, and then pushed on as before. They reached a slight
rise and all concluded that their camp was directly to the west.
"In that case all we'll have to do is to follow the sun," declared
Whopper.
"Right you are," responded the doctor's son.
"How far do you calculate it is?"
"Not more than two miles."
"It may be a little more," said Snap. "But not much."
They plunged into the woods once more, and had hardly proceeded a
hundred yards when they heard some partridges drumming. It was a
chance for another shot, and they hurried forward with guns ready
for use.
"I see them!" cried Snap, and blazed away, and the others followed
suit. They were unusually lucky, for five of the birds fell, either
dead or fatally wounded. Soon they had the game in their bags.
"There! that is something like!" cried Snap. "They'll make fine
eating." And he smacked his lips. He loved partridge meat very
much.
They seemed to be getting deeper and deeper into the woods. The
trees around them were so dense that it was almost impossible to see
the direction of the sun. Several times they came to a halt to
look around.
"What do you make of it?" asked Snap.
"I don't like it," answered the doctor's son emphatically. "First
thing we know we'll be lost."
"Just what I was thinking."
"We were to follow the sun," came from Whopper.
"Can you see it?"
"Once in a while, and not very clearly at that."
"Tell you what we might do," suggested Shep. "Climb a big tree and
take a look around."
This was considered a wise suggestion, and they started to carry it
out. A tree was selected, and the others gave Snap a boost to the
lower branches. Then up went the youth to the top, slowly but surely.
"Well, what do you see?" demanded the doctor's son, after having
given his chum a chance to look around.
"Nothing."
"Nothing?" echoed Whopper blankly.
"Nothing but woods and mountains, and a brook or two. I don't see a
thing that looks like a camp anywhere."
"Oh, it must be ahead of us," insisted the doctor's son.
"All right---you come up and locate it," grumbled Snap.
Shep came up and so did Whopper, and all three of the lads gazed
longingly, first in one direction and then in another. Nothing but
what Snap had mentioned greeted their eyes.
"Boys, we are lost!" cried Whopper.
"Oh, no, we're not lost---we are here," answered Snap. "The camp
is lost."
"It's the same thing---so far as we are concerned."
"I think that is Firefly Lake," said Shep, pointing to a hazy spot
in the distance. "And if it is, then our camp may lay around on
the upper side of this mountain."
"That may be true."
"Shall we try to walk it?"
"Might as well, Shep. We don't want to stay here all night."
"And we don't want to walk two or three miles out of our way," put
in Whopper. "I'm getting mighty tired---not having had a good rest
last night."
"We are having one adventure on top of the other," said the doctor's
son with a grim smile. "Well, is it go forward or stay here?"
Nobody wanted to stand still, and so they descended to the ground
and moved off in the new direction settled upon. All were fagged
out, so progress was slow. They encountered some squirrels and
Snap brought down two and stowed them away with his partridge.
"There's a cat!" cried Shep suddenly, and ran forward. Then of
a sudden he stopped and smiled, while Whopper and Snap roared.
"Better give that cat a wide berth," suggested Snap, "unless you
want to put a whole perfumery shop to shame." And they did give
the animal a wide berth, for it was a skunk, and one "ready for
business," as Snap afterward expressed it.
By nightfall they were still deep in the woods. All were now
exhausted, and coming to a fallen tree Snap dropped to rest and
so did his chums.
"Boys, we have missed it," said the doctor's son seriously. "I
must confess I haven't the least idea where our camp is!"
"And that means we'll have to stay out in these woods all night,"
returned Whopper.
"More than likely."