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"It would give me a big pain if you let it drop out of your pocket while you were wading in the river." "Can't. I've fastened the pocket up snug with a big safety pin," chuckled Max. He soon caught up with Bandy-legs, who was following the now plainly marked trail that stretched through the forest between the river and the camp.
"Listen, fellows," he went on to say, "it strikes me that when we set about discussing this matter, we ought to remember that there's one chap who's considerably more interested in the outcome than any of us can ever be." "'Course you mean Obed when you say that, Max?" ventured Bandy-legs. "He's the one," the other admitted. "And we ought to invite him to join us in figuring out our plans.
You c'n see the drift hanging to the butts of some of the trees right now, and all pointin' downstream." "Good for you, Bandy-legs!" exclaimed the pleased Max; "I never thought you'd notice such things. Owen and myself were talking about it; but when you get to paying attention to such small matters it shows that you're just bound to make a good woodsman some fine day."
"Yes, say what you like," called Herb, as the canoes began to leave the shore, and the paddles to flash in the noonday sun's bright rays; "you'll have another story to tell when you show up to-morrow, or I miss my guess." "Wait till you see that old cabin, that's what!" called out another, in a mysterious way that somehow caused Bandy-legs to look uneasy, Max thought.
Ain't another clump like that anywhere around, I reckon," was the smart reply Bandy-legs made. The old trapper nodded his head. "He's right," he said. "I took them same five leaves for my mark, too. The trap was set just beyond. But, of course, that ain't sayin' we'll find it there now." "Not find the trap, do you say, Uncle Jim?" exclaimed Bandy-legs; "why, whatever could happen to it?"
That dampened the enthusiasm and ardor of Bandy-legs considerably. Like the rest of them he realized that what Max said was about true, and that they could not expect to pay much attention to the parting timbers, once they reached the house. It would be all they could do to get up on the roof.
"When they got a new play that they want to try out in some small city away from New York, they say they're trying it on the dog first. And looks like you " "Shut up!" roared Bandy-legs, turning on his tormentor. "I wanted to see if it would go off, that's all." "Well, it did!" remarked Steve, dryly.
"That's right, we're going to have the bully little compass along with us," declared the doubting one, looking considerably relieved; for truth to tell, if Bandy-legs feared any one thing more than another, it was the haunting idea of being lost in a great big wilderness, and meeting a slow and dreadful death through starvation.
At the touch he snorted protest, and was off and away, upsetting Bandy-legs and the basin ignominiously into a high-piled drift. Bandy-legs sat up, scraped the snow out of his collar and his ears, and swore. It was then that Rowdy appeared like an angel of deliverance. "Want that horse caught?" he yelled cheerfully.
"They're warning everybody to keep away from the bridge," added Bandy-legs, as he shook his head dubiously, yet seemed inclined to side with Steve; for like all boys, the spirit of daring and love for adventure lay strong within him. To the surprise of the others Toby piped up just then in a strain they had not imagined would appeal to him.
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