CHAPTER XX
A NIGHT OF MISERY
Bart's announcement brought looks of blank astonishment and dismay tothe faces of his chums. They had so depended on him, that, to have himgo back on them in this fashion, was a shock.
"Are you sure we're lost?" asked Ned, slowly.
"No doubt of it, in my mind," answered Bart, and he laughed a little.The strain of keeping up the pace on a route he was not at all sure of,was harder than admitting the fact of being lost in the wilderness.
"What are we going to do?" asked Fenn, rather helplessly.
"The first thing to do will be to gather wood for a fire before it's toodark to see," announced Bart, with assumed if not real cheerfulness."Then we'll make a blaze, and eat."
The mention of food was cheering in itself, to say nothing of theprospect of a fire, and then, too, the act of being busy took from theminds of the lads the thoughts that they were lost.
In a short time they had gathered quite a pile of wood. Some of it wasdry, for it was under the low-lying branches of spruce and hemlocktrees, and the snow had been kept from it. From the interior of hollowlogs some "punk" was obtained, and this, together with some deadbranches, that had lodged in a hollow under a big rock, made enough fuelto get a blaze started.
"But where are we going to stay to-night?" asked Frank, when theflickering flames had dispelled some of the darkness.
"Don't worry about that," advised Bart. "Some of these fir trees are asgood as a tent, and nearly as dry. We can stay under them untilmorning."
"Will we be any better off by morning?" asked Ned, dubiously.
"Lots better," replied Bart, cheerfully. "But let's get ready for somehot coffee. Lucky we brought the pot along. Ned, you gather some snow init, and we'll put it on to melt. Fenn, you get some flat stones, to makea sort of fireplace. Frank, you cut some branches from that hemlock, andmake cots under that big tree over there. I'll help. That will be ourtent to-night. Everybody get busy, now."
Ordering his chums about in this way was the best thing Bart could havedone, and, in a short time, everyone was so occupied that he had no timeto think of the unpleasant situation. Soon the coffee was boiling away,and Bart had arranged an old log, under the shelter of a tree, for atable. Thereon their frugal meal was spread out.
Luckily each lad carried a drinking cup with him, and this served inwhich to dispense the coffee. They had no milk, of course, but Bart hadbeen thoughtful enough to bring along some sugar, so the beverage wasnot at all unpalatable. Then, by the light of the campfire, they satabout, munched their sandwiches, drank the strong coffee, and talked oftheir afternoon's adventure.
"Why, that isn't a half bad place to sleep," remarked Fenn, as he lookedat the "bunk" Bart and Frank had made.
"Sure, it's great," added Ned, but it was probably the cheerfulnessengendered by a hot drink and food that made them see things with morehopeful eyes.
They had no blankets, but they wore thick clothing, and had on heavycoats, so their situation was not so bad. Besides, the weather was notcold, though it was growing more so, and the snow still fell thickly.The heavy branches of the tree under which the boys crawled, served toprotect them.
They stretched out, and hoped to be able to sleep, in order that morningmight come the more quickly, but either the strong coffee, or theunusual situation, kept them wide awake. They lay close together, forthe sake of warmth, but first Bart would turn over, restlessly, andthen, in sequence, Fenn, Ned and Frank would do the same thing.
"What's the matter; can't you fellows sleep?" asked Ned, at length.
"No; can you?" inquired Bart.
"Nope. Let's talk."
"All right. Say, what do you suppose that man was doing around the mudvolcano?" ventured Frank.
They had discussed this, in all its bearings, several times thatafternoon, but it was a subject full of new possibilities, and theyeagerly welcomed another chance to talk about it.
"I think he was after mud turtles," said Bart.
"Say," asked Fenn, suddenly, "did it ever strike you fellows that thisfellow might be a detective?"
"A detective?" gasped the other three.
"Yes; after us," went on Stumpy. "You know we're suspected of takingthat bracelet. It hasn't been found, and what would be more natural thanfor Professor Long to hire a private detective, and have him shadow us.I didn't think of that until just now, but I'll wager I'm right. You'llfind that man is a detective, and he's watching us; trying to get atrace of the bracelet. Maybe he thinks we have it, and are going tohide it off in the woods here."
"Say!" cried Bart, "that's not a bad 'think' of yours, Stumpy. Iwouldn't be surprised but what you are right," and then they fell todiscussing that aspect of the case. It was quite a reversal of theformer situation. Instead of them being after the mysterious man, hemight be after the chums.
"But how do you account for him entering the school that night, beforethe bracelet was stolen?" asked Frank.
"Maybe he was shadowing us--or, rather, you fellows--" said Fenn, who,as will be remembered, was not present on that occasion. "Or, maybewe're mistaken, and the man Bart saw to-day may not have been the onewho entered the school."
"Oh, he's the same one," declared Bart, with conviction.
There was more discussion, and, if it did nothing more, it served a goodturn, for it shunted the thoughts of the lads into new channels, andthey began to feel sleepy.
But, just as they were about to doze off, there came an exclamation ofdismay from Bart.
"What's the matter?" asked Bart.
"Stream of water trickling down my neck," was the answer. "I believeit's raining!"
There was no doubt of it. Instead of turning colder it had grown warmer,and the snow had changed to rain. The tree, thick as were the branches,was little protection against the rain, and, as it increased to aregular downpour, the plight of our heroes was miserable in the extreme.There was nothing to be done but make the best of it. They huddledtogether, turned up the collars of their coats, and tried to crawl tospots more or less protected. But they were soon pretty wet, and, to addto their misery, they saw their fire die down, and go out.
"Wow! This is fierce!" exclaimed Ned, as a stream of water trickled downhis neck. "I wish it was morning. It wouldn't be so bad if we couldtravel." But there was no help for it, and they had to sit there in thestorm and darkness, waiting for daylight.