DICK TREMBLES AT HIS NERVE
Hiram Driggs refused to accept any money for his trouble in raising
the canoe.
"I won't charge you anything, unless upsetting your craft becomes
a troublesome habit," the boat builder declared. "Remember, I'm
a big winner on our birch bark trade."
Within the next four days all of the girls invited had been able
to take a trip up the river and back.
By this time Dick & Co. had fully acquired the mastery of their
canoe. They had had no more upsets, for "Big Chief Prescott,"
of this new Gridley tribe of young Indians, had succeeded in putting
through some rules governing their conduct when the chums were
out in their canoe. One of these rules was that no one should
change his position in the craft except the steersman at the stern.
Others would not look about at a hail unless informed by the
steersman that they might do so.
Not by any means did Dick do all the steering of the craft. Each
of his chums had a frequent turn at it, and at the other positions
in the canoe, until all were expert at any part of the work.
"But there is one big drawback about having this canoe," Greg
remarked one day.
"What's that?" asked Dave.
"There are no canoes to race with."
"There are up at Lake Pleasant," Dick replied.
"But we can't take the canoe up there," Tom Reade objected. "It's
twenty-four miles from Gridley."
"Couldn't we walk there and carry the canoe on our shoulders?"
suggested Dave.
While they were discussing this, the canoe lay on the float.,
whence they were soon to take it into the boathouse.
"We can try it now," suggested Dick.
Getting a good hold, Dick & Co. raised the war canoe to their
several shoulders. They found they could accomplish the feat,
though it wasn't an easy one.
"We'll have to give up that idea," Tom remarked rather mournfully.
"Without a doubt we could carry the canoe to Lake Pleasant, if
we had time enough. But I don't believe we could make five miles
a day with it. So to get the canoe up to Lake Pleasant on our
shoulders, and then back again would take over two weeks."
Dick was unusually thoughtful as the boys strolled from Driggs'
yard up to Main Street. Lake Pleasant was a fine place to visit
in summer. He knew that, for he had been there on one occasion.
On one side of the lake were two hotels, each with roomy recreation
grounds, with piers and plenty of boats. On this same side there
were four or five boarding houses for people of more moderate
means.
Boating was the one great pastime at Lake Pleasant. Indeed, a
canoe club had been started there by young men of means, and the
boathouse stood at the water's edge on the Hotel Pleasant grounds.
Then, too, there may have been another reason for Dick's desire
to go to Lake Pleasant. The following week Dr. and Mrs. Bentley
were going to take charge of a party of Gridley high school girls,
at Lake Pleasant, and Laura and Belle Meade would be of the number.
"We'd cut a fine dash at Lake Pleasant," Dave Darrin laughed.
"Which hotel would we honor with our patronage? Terms, from
fourteen to twenty-five dollars a week. We've about enough money
to stay at one of the hotels for about two hours, or at a boarding
house for about nine hours. When shall we start---and how shall
we get there with our canoe?"
"We have about fifty dollars in our treasury, from the birch bark
business," Dick mused aloud, "but that won't help us any, will it?"
"Why, how much would it cost to have the canoe taken up there
on a wagon Danny Grin asked.
"Not less than fifteen dollars each way," Dick replied.
"We'll give it up," said Tom. "There's nothing in the Lake Pleasant
idea for us."
"I hadn't any idea we could do anything else but give it up,"
Dave observed, though he spoke rather gloomily.
Dick was still thinking hard, though he could think of no plan
that would enable them to make a trip to Lake Pleasant and remain
there for some days.
It was a Saturday afternoon. It had been a hot day, yet out on
the water, busy with their sport, and acquiring a deep coating
of sunburn, the boys had not noticed the heat especially. Now
they mopped their faces as they strolled almost listlessly along
the street.
"I want to go to Lake Pleasant," grumbled Danny Grin.
"Going to-night, or to-morrow morning?" teased Greg.
"If I had an automobile I'd start after supper," Dalzell informed
them.
"But not having a car you'll wait till you're grown up and have
begun to earn money of your own," laughed Harry Hazelton.
"What do you say, Dick?" asked Dan Dalzell anxiously.
"I say that I'm going to put in a few days or a fortnight at Lake
Pleasant if I can possibly find the way," Dick retorted, with
a sudden energy that was quite out of keeping with the heat of
the afternoon.
"Hurray!" from Danny Grin.
"That's what I call the right talk," added Darrin.
"How will the rest of us get along with the canoe while you're
gone?" questioned Tom Reade.
"You don't suppose I'd go to Lake Pleasant without the rest of
the crowd?" Dick retorted rather scornfully.
"Then you're going to take us all with you, and the canoe, too?"
Tom demanded, betraying more interest.
"If I can find the way to do it, or if any of you fellows can,"
was young Prescott's answer.
That started another eager volley of talk. Yet soon all of them
save Dick looked quite hopeless.
The railroad ran only within eight miles of the lake. From the
railway station the rest of the journey was usually made by automobile
stages, while baggage went up on automobile trucks. Charges were
high on this automobile line up into the hills. To send the canoe
by rail, and then transfer it to an automobile truck would cost
more than to transport it direct from Gridley to the lake by wagon.
"We can talk about it all we want," sighed Tom, "but I don't see
the telephone poles on the golden road to Lake Pleasant."
"We've got to find the way if we can," Dick retorted firmly.
"Let's all set about it at once."
"When do we start?" teased Tom.
"Monday morning early," laughed Dave. "And this is late Saturday
afternoon."
Dan Dalzell was not in his usually jovial spirits. His heart
was as much set on going as was Dick's, but Dan now felt that
the pleasure jaunt was simply impossible.
"Let's meet on Main Street after supper," Dick proposed. "Perhaps
by that time we'll have found an idea or two."
"If we can find a pocketbook or two lying in the Main Street gutter,
that will be something more practical than finding ideas," Tom
replied with a doleful shake of his head. "But perhaps we'll
really find the pocketbooks. Such things are told of in story
books, anyway, you know."
"If we find any pocketbooks," smiled Dick, "our first concern
after that will be to find the owners of them. So that stunt
wouldn't do us much good, even if it happened."
Then the boys separated and went to their respective homes for
supper. But Dick Prescott did not eat as much as usual. He was
too preoccupied. He knew to a penny the amount that was in the
treasury of their little canoe club, for Mr. Prescott was holding
the money subject to his son's call. Certainly the money in the
treasury wouldn't bring about a vacation at Lake Pleasant.
Just as soon as the meal was over Dick went out, strolling back
to Main Street.
"'Lo, Dick!"
Prescott turned to recognize and nod to a barefooted boy, rather
frayed as to attire. Mart Heckler had been two classes below
him when Prescott had attended Central Grammar School. Now Mart
was waiting for the fall to enter the last grade at Central, which
was also to be his last year at school. Mart's parents were poor,
and this lad, in another year, must join the army of toilers.
"You must be having a lot of fun this vacation, Dick," remarked
Mart rather wistfully. "Lot of fun in that war canoe, isn't there?"
"Yes; there is, Mart. If we see you down at the float one of
these days we'll ask you out for a little ride."
"Will you?" asked Mart, his eyes snapping. "Fine! Now that you
fellows have your canoe I don't suppose you'll be trying to go
away anywhere this summer. Too much fun at home, eh?"
"I don't know about that," said young Prescott wistfully. "Just
now we're planning to try to take the canoe up to Lake Pleasant
for a while."
"Bully place, the lake," said Mart approvingly. "I'm going up
there Monday. Going to be gone for a couple of days."
"How are you going to get there?" Dick asked with interest.
"You know my Uncle Billy, don't you?" asked Mart. "He's the teamster,
you know. He's going to Lake Pleasant to get a load of furniture
that the installment folks are taking back from a new boarding
house up there. He said I could go up with him. We'll carry
our food, and sleep over Monday night in the wagon."
Dick halted suddenly, trembling with eagerness. He began to feel
that he had scented a way of getting the canoe up to the lake
in the hills!