I didn’t know why Harry should be calling to me that Pee-wee was killed,
because we knew that. And it seemed awful spooky for him to be saying
that one word; anyway, the word made it seem kind of ghostly-like.
Especially, because it was against the wind and that makes a voice sound
kind of not human.
As soon as I could, I got up, but I could hardly stand, I was so dizzy.
I tied my scout scarf around my head, but the blood dripped down only
not so bad. It made my head ache terrible to look up the cliff. I
couldn’t see any light up there at all.
I guess if it hadn’t been for Pee-wee, I would have just lain down and
stayed that way, because I was so weak and dizzy. I couldn’t shout for
the light, because that made me weaker and it made my head swim. I just
went stumbling over rocks and old roots and a couple of times I had to
sit down. My hands were cold just like ice.
Pretty soon I didn’t know where I was at all. It was so dark that I
couldn’t even see the things near me. The rain was blowing in my face,
too. Anyway, I knew one thing, and that was that if I lay down I would
never be able to get up again. I didn’t care so much only I wanted to
see him first. Then if I was going to die, I would stay right there and
die. Anyway, I didn’t care much, because the troop would never be the
same without Pee-wee. That was just the way it was, we were always
kidding him, but when it came to doing something, he was the one to jump
out of that car. While I was sitting on a rock, I kind of thought how it
would be at Temple Camp without him; he was always getting into some
scrape or other in the cooking shack. I never knew how much I cared
about Pee-wee, until that night.
One thing, I don’t get rattled in the dark; and I don’t get lost easily
either. If that shaft of light had never been there and if I had started
down there in the dark, I guess I could have found the place where
Pee-wee’s body was. But when the light disappeared, all of a sudden, I
didn’t know where I was at. And when I fell and hurt myself, that made
it worse.
Besides, the wind and rain made it worse, too. I guess the rain must
have been pouring down off that cliff like a water-fall. Anyway, I could
hear the sound of water splashing.
I just groped about, pressing the scarf tight against my forehead to
keep the cut from bleeding. I didn’t know which way I was going, I
bunked into rocks and trees, and sometimes I was up to my ankles in
water. If I had come to the place where Pee-wee was, it would just have
been luck. I wondered why some one else didn’t come down, but I guessed
they couldn’t manage it, maybe because the rain was pouring over the
edge.
Pretty soon I knew I couldn’t go any more; I tried, but I just couldn’t.
I had to sit down on a rock, I was so dizzy. I held my head in my two
hands. Pretty soon I lay down on the rock and all the while I could hear
the wind and the swishing of water and I wished they would stop. It was
dark so I couldn’t see anything. I guess I didn’t know anything either,
after that.