Part 13 (1/2)

”What?” demanded Joe.

”This great old forest, this silence, this grandeur of solitary nature?”

”It ought to do first rate for lunatics, and such like,” answered Joe, gazing with disfavor at the bare trees and desolate looking bushes.

”What have you boys been doing that you've got to spend a fortnight away from comfortable livin'?”

”Why, we're doing this for pleasure,” said Dan Dalzell.

”Humph!” muttered Joe, and there the matter rested.

It was nearly half past two when the horses were finally hauled up before the log cabin. But now the truck was bare of boys. d.i.c.k & Co. had leaped overboard the instant they came in sight of the cabin, and had scampered on before for a look at the place.

”Say, this is great!” cried Greg. ”The old cabin looks good and solid, too.”

”But how do you get in?” queried Dan, bracing his shoulder against the door and pus.h.i.+ng hard. ”The place seems to be locked.”

More boys tried their shoulders against the door, but it did not yield.

”We'll have to try the windows,” proposed Dave. ”Hurry and see if they're fastened. This one is.”

All the windows proved to be fastened.

”We don't want to break any gla.s.s,” said Tom Reade ruefully. ”We might have a big freeze around here, and then we'd appreciate window gla.s.s.”

Here was a poser, indeed.

”There doesn't seem to be any keyhole, and yet the door is locked,”

muttered d.i.c.k, studying the door. ”Hold on! What's this string for?”

He took hold of a cord that appeared to run through the wooden barrier.

Giving the cord a hard pull, d.i.c.k once more pushed against the door. It yielded and swung open.

”Hurrah!” sounded the chorus.

”We're bright ones,” laughed d.i.c.k. ”Thought we knew a lot about log cabins, and we clean, plumb forgot the latch-string.”

”Let's get inside and get warm,” begged Dan.

”Let's get warm by tumbling the things off the wagon,” dissented Prescott. ”I know Joe is in a big hurry to get started back.”

So the stuff was bundled off in rapid order, after which Joe backed his team and swung it around.

”I hope you fellows have a real, nice, loony time!” was Joe's parting salute.

”Now, let's get the stuff inside,” urged Dave. This was done with speed, if not with order.

”Now, I'll go out and chop firewood,” proposed Dave. ”Who'll go with me?”

”Let's all go out and take a look around,” suggested d.i.c.k. ”We want to know all of our surroundings before dark, which isn't a great way off.”