CHAPTER XL
_Tom's Journey_
Tom had not gone far on his journey before he discovered that the newCamp Venture was in fact situated very nearly at the base of themountain. The headquarters of the railroad people lay a mile or so tothe west, and perhaps two hundred feet or so lower. But along the footof the hill was accumulated all the debris that had come tumbling downthe steep for ages--great and small fragments of rock split off thecliffs above by the frosts of a multitude of winters and now piledhaphazard wherever they could find a resting place.
In the midst of such a mass of rocky debris, now thickly overgrown withforest trees, Tom at first despaired of finding a practicable wagonpath. But he toiled diligently at the task, retracing his steps manytimes and little by little tracing out a way, which he marked as he wentby cutting branches of trees and setting them up as landmarks to showhim the way when he should return with a wagon load of supplies.
All this occupied so much time that Tom did not reach his destinationthat night, but slept by a little fire on the mountain side.
In the morning there was a drenching, discouraging spring rain fallingwith pitiless persistence, and Tom's clothing and blanket were soakedthrough, and his limbs were stiff with cold. Fortunately his fire hadnot been entirely extinguished by the rain, and when he had replenishedit with seasoned branches, and steamed himself in its glow for a time,his energy returned, and he cooked and ate a scant but refreshingbreakfast which included the two drumsticks of the Doctor's turkey.These had been roasted the night before, but Tom threw them on the coalsto broil a little. "I prefer a hot breakfast," he said, "particularly ona morning like this. How I wish I had a cup of coffee!"
Then gathering up the few things that he carried, he left his camp fireand continued his task of picking out a way by which a wagon might bedragged up and along the rocky hill. It was high noon when he reachedthe little railroad station where Dr. Latrobe's father had establishedhis headquarters as a contractor. Tom was enthusiastically received bythat gentleman, who was naturally pleased to hear news of his son'sthoroughly restored health. There was a little tavern alreadyestablished near the station and there Tom was made to dry and warmhimself. Having assured Mr. Latrobe that he could conduct a loaded wagonup the hill to the new Camp Venture, Tom speedily left his occupation ofwarming himself and joined the older gentleman in choosing the materialsthat were to constitute the load. Mr. Latrobe had assigned for thepurpose a heavy, stoutly built wagon, capable of enduring rough roadservice, and to Tom he said: "I've sent a little way down the line forfour of the stoutest mules we have, to draw it, and for a driver who isused to mountain work. They will be here this evening and in themeantime we'll get the wagon loaded, so that you can make an early startin the morning." This suited Tom's plans exactly, and he set himself atwork at once selecting from the contractor's stores, the things mostdesirable for his purpose.
There were ten large sides of bacon; half a barrel of sugar; half abarrel of molasses; half a barrel of corned beef; several hundred poundsof corn meal and a like quantity of flour in bags; a bushel or two ofsalt, and a good supply of potatoes, turnips, cabbages, cannedvegetables and fruits with which to break the long monotony of the campdiet. Mr. Latrobe insisted upon adding some prunes, dried peaches, driedapples, and some other things that he thought the boys would enjoy.Finally a large box of coffee already ground and put up in damp-proofpackages, was placed in the wagon, together with ten pounds of tea.
"You see I've done a great deal of camping, my boy," said the genialgentleman, "and I know how much of comfort there is in tea and coffeewhen you're rain soaked."
All these things were packed into the wagon by some of Mr. Latrobe'smen, and securely lashed into immovability with stout hemp ropes. Overthem a tarpaulin was spread to protect them from the rain and on top ofthat the picks and shovels were lashed into place.
The wagon was ready and that night Tom slept in a real bed for the firsttime in nearly half a year. But he was up at daybreak and off on hisjourney before the sun's appointed time for rising. Whether or not thatluminary left his couch when he should, Tom had no means of finding out,for it was still heavily raining.
It was a toilsome journey that lay before him and Tom foresaw that itcould not be accomplished much before nightfall, even should no delayingmishap occur, and therefore he disregarded the rain and insisted uponthe earliest possible start.
It was Tom's function to walk ahead of the wagon, look out for thelandmarks he had set up, and point the way to the driver who, armed witha long black snake whip, rode upon the "near," or left hand, wheel mule.But the driver was his own sufficient adviser as to how to overcome suchobstacles as were met, and Tom was greatly interested to observe theskill and good judgment with which the man did this.
"There is science," he said, "in everything, even in driving a wagonover a rough mountain where there is no road."
But Tom got no response from the driver, who seemed a taciturn fellow,and who in fact never once spoke during the journey except to scold hismules with shocking profanity. Even when he decided to halt about noonto feed the animals, he said not one word to Tom, but simply stopped thewagon, unhitched the mules and gave them their food, hitching them upagain when he thought it proper to do so and resuming his journey.
"Obviously," thought Tom, "that fellow has been used to driving alone. Iwonder if he has forgotten how to talk? Or is it that he never thinks?Even the weather doesn't inspire him to make a remark, for he hasn'tonce asked my attention to the fact that the rain has ceased and thatthe sun is breaking through the clouds. He certainly can't be classifiedas a companionable personage, but at any rate he knows how to managemules and get a wagon over difficulties, and after all that's what he isemployed to do. He gets on wonderfully, too, considering thedifficulties of the road. I suppose it is like the case of the man whotied his cravats so beautifully because, as he said, he 'gave his wholemind to it.'"
So, silently they proceeded on their way and just before sunset thewagon was stopped on the outskirts of the new Camp Venture.
The boys all rushed out to greet Tom and compliment him on his skill andsuccess in bringing the supplies over so difficult a route. Tom greetedthem all in turn, and then said:
"Try your hands, boys, and see if any of you can extract a singleunnecessary word from that driver. I haven't been able to get anythingout of him except vituperation for his mules."
The driver meanwhile was stripping his mules of their harness andarranging to give them the oats and fodder that he had brought with himfor their use.
The Doctor filled a tin cup with coffee--for the boys had heard Tomcoming and made supper ready against his arrival--and carried thesteaming liquid out to the driver whose clothes were still sopping wet,and offered it to him, saying:
"You are very wet and it must have been a hard struggle to get yourwagon up here. Drink this to warm you and when you get your mules fed,come to our fire and have some supper. You must be hungry."
The man took the cup, drank its contents, handed it back to the Doctorand muttered the single abbreviated word, "'Bleeged," by which theDoctor understood that he meant, "I am obliged to you."
Finally the man having disposed of his mules for the night, came to thecamp fire for his supper. He received it in silence and proceeded todevour it like the hungry man that he was. Still he uttered not a word.At last Jim Chenowith tried his hand at drawing him into conversation.
"It must have been pretty tough work to get a wagon up here," he said,tentatively. The man said not a word in reply. This exasperated Jim andpresently he stood up before the wagoner and angrily demanded:
"What's the matter with you? Why don't you answer a civil question?"
To this the man answered, "Hey?" at the same time putting his hand tohis ear in a futile effort to understand.
"The man is almost stone deaf," said the Doctor. "That is theexplanation of his silence."
Tom laughed at himself for not having made this discovery, and thencrept into the
bunk prepared for him in the new camp house.