CHAPTER VIII FUN IN THE OPEN
Jack's sardonic laugh seemed to be justified, for the boys had been belowstairs for several minutes before the girls came trooping down.
"One more proof that I'm never mistaken," Jack remarked, as he shook hishead sadly at the laughing bevy.
"You boys haven't so much to do as we girls have," said Belle, making alittle face at him.
"We haven't, eh?" replied Walter. "I lost all my hair-pins in that madsprint for the house."
"And the rain took my hair out of curl," added Paul.
"And I had the greatest hunt before I found my box of powder!" said Jackin a high falsetto.
Just then Mrs. King came in from the kitchen, where she had beensupervising the preparations for dinner.
"Come right along now and take your places at the table," she beamed.
"Table is my middle name!" exclaimed Jack, as he led the way, followed bythe others.
It was a sumptuous meal that Aunt Betty had prepared, and with theirappetites sharpened by their long ride, the travelers did it fulljustice. And the warmth and good cheer of the cozy dining room wereemphasized by contrast with the rain that beat upon the windows.
"A regular flood," commented Jack.
"Noah would have felt at home in that," said Bess.
"That reminds me," interposed Paul. "Noah was supposed to take twospecimens of every kind of animal when he went into the Ark. But therewas one species he overlooked."
"What was that?" asked Cora.
"Rats," replied Paul.
"How do you make that out?" inquired Belle.
"Why," Paul answered, "he had been sailing forty days before he saw aryrat."
There was a moment of stunned silence.
"Ararat!" Cora at length exclaimed. "Paul, how could you inflict that onus?"
"You ought to be shot at sunrise," said Bess.
"Now you see, Aunt Betty, what we've had to stand on our journey uphere," moaned Cora.
"I must say you seem to have thrived on it," smiled Aunt Betty, lookingat the rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes of the girls.
"Good for Aunt Betty!" cried Walter. "She appreciates us! You girls willtoo, when you've seen a little more of men and realize how we stand outfrom the common herd."
"Who was that woman," asked Bess, turning to Cora, "who said that themore she saw of men the more fond she grew of dogs?"
"Poor, misguided female," said Paul pityingly. "I suppose she was aninmate of a lunatic asylum."
"More to be pitied than censured," added Jack.
By this time they had reached dessert, and when they had finished, AuntBetty proposed an adjournment to the porch.
"It's perfectly dry and snug out here," she said, "and I think the rainwill be over soon anyway. When it rains so hard up here it doesn't lastvery long. But you girls had better get some wraps, for even though it isAugust, the nights are rather cool, especially after a storm."
There was an abundance of big, comfortable chairs on the porch, and theygrouped them into a semi-circle and sat laughing and talking, on the bestof terms with themselves and the world.
"That was rather a narrow escape we had this afternoon," remarked Bess."If we had been a hundred feet further on the road than we were, thattree would have come down plump on top of us."
"A miss is as good as a mile," returned Jack lightly.
"By the way, I suppose those poor old cars of ours are getting a thoroughsoaking," observed Cora. "What are you going to do about them, boys? Itdoesn't seem to me that we ought to let them stay there all night."
"I guess it's up to us fellows to take a turn down there and look themover," answered Jack. "The fact is that I've had such a good dinner thatI feel too lazy to move. But far be it from me to resist the plain callof duty."
"What's the matter with us girls going along with you?" asked Bess.
Aunt Betty looked aghast.
"What, in all this mud and rain?" she protested.
"You forget that we Motor Girls are used to being out in all kinds ofweather," laughed Cora. "But we'll promise to wrap up well if you let usgo. It's lucky that our trunks were sent on up here ahead of us, so thatwe have our rubbers and raincoats all ready to get into. Besides, it'spractically stopped raining now."
Aunt Betty was very easily won over.
"I'll send Joel, the stableman, along with a lantern," she said. "Heknows the woods like a book by night or day. Then, too, he's as strong asan ox, and he can help to get the cars out of the fix."
"And we'll take a couple of axes along," said Jack. "I have an idea sometall chopping will have to be done before we get the cars where theybelong."
The girls went up to get their raincoats and overshoes, while the boysgot their hats and hunted up Joel.
He was a tall, gaunt backwoodsman, who in his earlier days had been aguide in the Adirondack region. But periodic attacks of rheumatism hadmade it difficult for him to continue his calling, and he had become theman of all work at Kill Kare Camp. He knew the forest thoroughly and hadan intimate acquaintance with the habits of every creature that had fur,fin or feather.
Despite his somewhat advanced years, he was still a powerful man, and hisstrength was equaled by his good-nature and reliability.
The boys liked him at once, and he on his part was very friendly andcordial.
"So you've got a couple o' them buzz wagons stalled there," he said."Never rode in one in my life, but the pesky things suttinly have it allover a hoss when it comes to git up and git."
"You've got a treat waiting for you, then, Joel," laughed Jack. "Some daywe'll take you riding, and you'll go so fast you'll have to hold on toyour hair to keep it from being blown off."
"I ain't prezactly pinin' fur no sich speed as that," said Joel. "I sh'dthink them gals w'u'd be skeered to death to ride in one uv them."
"They drive them as well as ride in them," returned Jack. "My sister canhandle one of them as well as any man can. You ought to have seen therace she gave me yesterday."
"Ye don't say so!" replied Joel, and it was evident that his respect forthe feminine members of the party had gone up several degrees.
They were soon equipped with a lantern and three axes. In addition, Joeltook along some sticks of resinous wood to serve as torches, and theycame around to the front porch, where they found the girls impatientlywaiting for them.
All started out in high spirits, Joel leading the way. The road wasmuddy, but they found fairly good footing on the turf that bordered it.The rain had now entirely ceased.
It was not long before they reached the fallen tree, and they found thecars standing where they had left them.
"Ye needn't hev bin much skeered," grinned Joel. "There ain't many folkscome along this way, an' them that do is giner'lly honest. It's only whenthe gypsies come round thet we hev to keep a tight grip on things,specially hosses. Them gypsies suttinly is light-fingered, an' they kinbeat a weasel in gittin' into places where they ain't got no business tobe."
"We saw a camp of them to-day," said Cora, in whom the word "gypsy" justnow woke an instant response.
"Is thet so?" asked Joel in surprise. "Then they're probably headed upthis way. I heven't seen 'em around these diggin's fur sev'ral years now,and I wuz hopin' I'd never see their ugly faces ag'in."
"I'd like to see Joel go to the mat with that pirate that took the girlaway from us to-day," grinned Jack.
"It would be some scrap," agreed Walter, as he took in the brawn and bulkof the backwoodsman. "I'd bet on Joel unless the other fellow used aknife."
In order to see more clearly what they were doing, the torches werelighted and placed where they would do the most good. Then Joel surveyedthe scene of action.
"There's jist one thing to do," he finally announced, "an' thet is to cutthrough this tree an' git it off uv the road. It might be a leetle biteasier to git the cars around through the brush, but the tree can't belet to stay there blockin' up the road, an' I mig
ht ez well git it out ofthe way fust ez last."
He took off his corduroy jacket and rolled up the sleeves of his shirt,showing the mighty biceps beneath.
"You're not going to do it all alone," protested Jack. "Let us help.There are two axes besides yours."
"Why," said Joel a little dubiously, "you boys ain't used to this kind uvwork, an' I'm afraid it'll use ye up too much. It ain't only thestrength, but there's a knack about usin' a woodsman's ax thet it takestime to git on to. Still, ye kin try it fur a while if ye want to."
Jack and Paul took off their coats, while the girls, who were perchedlike so many birds in Jack's car, clapped their hands in mock applause.
"Behold the gallant foresters," sang out Belle.
"'Woodman, spare that tree, Touch not a single bough!'"
quoted Bess.
"To-day it threatened me, I've no use for it now,"
improvised Cora.
"Listen to the trilling of the merry songsters," said Jack, withimpressive sarcasm. "They toil not, neither do they spin. They mock andfleer at us sons of honest toil. They----"
"Get to work, Jack," Cora interrupted him heartlessly. "I love to see youwork. It's so unusual. Joel will have the trunk cut through before youboys get started."
Thus adjured, Jack and Paul started in with a right good will, eachattacking the trunk at a distance of about ten feet on either side ofJoel.
Both boys were strong and sturdy, and they worked the more vigorouslybecause they were under the appraising eyes of the girls. But their workwas nothing compared with Joel's. Nowhere could there have been found amore striking illustration of the advantages of the professional over theamateur.
Joel's work was the very poetry of motion. Back and forth his flashing axswung tirelessly, biting with resistless force into the very heart of thetree, and in a surprisingly short time he had cut the trunk entirelythrough.
Walter took his turn with the other boys and did valiant execution. Butall were soon winded with their unusual exertions, and were forced torest, while the perspiration poured down their faces in streams.
"This has got it all over a Turkish bath," muttered Jack.
"I'll bet I've lost five pounds in as many minutes," growled Paul.
"There's an idea for you, Bess," said her sister mischievously. "Talkabout reducing. You'd be a sylph in half an hour."
"I'd be a corpse, you mean," responded Bess. "No, thank you. I'll take myreducing in homeopathic doses."
Joel at this point insisted on finishing the job. He had not turned ahair in his previous exertions, and he seemed as fresh as ever when thework was completely done.
"Now how are we going to get the logs off the road?" asked Jack.
"What's the matter with making the car do its share of the work?" askedCora. "We'll fasten a rope to each one of the logs and with you menguiding them we can drag them to one side of the road."
The plan met with instant approval and in a very few minutes the road wasclear.
"Good idea, sis," said Jack approvingly. "Now we'll bundle these toolsinto the cars and go to Camp Kill Kare in style."