CHAPTER IX

OFF FOR SPRUCE MOUNTAIN

Mr. Bentley and Frank Brandon smiled appreciatively at the boys’ enthusiasm.

“You’d have plenty of chances if you were with Bentley in the Spruce Mountain district to which he has been transferred,” said Mr. Brandon.

“I suppose you fellows have heard of Spruce Mountain before now, haven’t you?” inquired Payne Bentley.

“It seems to me I have,” said Bob, somewhat doubtfully. “Doesn’t Dr. Dale own some timberland up in that part of the country? Seems to me I’ve heard him say something about it.”

Mr. Bentley nodded.

“He has about a hundred acres, I believe. And in addition to that, he holds an equal amount in trust for the benefit of the Old First Church. With the price of lumber going higher every day, you can believe that woodland is rather valuable.”

“I should say it must be,” agreed Jimmy, with conviction. “Whenever I want to get a little money from my dad, he tells me that the high price of lumber is keeping him so poor that he can’t afford it.”

“Well, if it weren’t for some of the disastrous forest fires of recent years, lumber would be more plentiful now,” remarked Mr. Bentley. “However, in those days we didn’t have radio to help us, and we hope there will never be other fires of such size as to wipe out whole forests in one conflagration.”

“I wish we could all get a chance to visit you at Spruce Mountain,” said Joe longingly. “I suppose that’s too much to hope for though.”

“Stranger things than that have happened,” replied the forest ranger. “I happen to know that Doctor Dale owns an old hunting lodge up there that was on the property when he bought it. I understand you boys are pretty solid with him, and I’m sure he’d be willing to let you use it. There’d be worse places to spend part of your vacation. Your school, I suppose, will close pretty soon now.”

“Three weeks earlier than usual this year, Mr. Preston told us a few days ago,” answered Bob. “There are going to be extensive repairs, and the ordinary vacation wouldn’t be long enough to do them in. We’ll probably be through school now in a couple of weeks. If our folks think well of it, we might take a trip to Spruce Mountain first and still have plenty of time later on at the seaside.”

“That would be fine,” responded Mr. Bentley cordially. “And I think I can promise you something brand new in the way of experience.”

They sat talking till late and then the party broke up, the forest ranger and Frank Brandon taking a hearty farewell of the boys, as they had to take an early train in the morning.

It was not very hard for the boys to get the required permission from their parents, and Dr. Dale was only too glad to put his lodge at their service. The remaining days of school flew by quickly while they were getting together equipment and supplies for their trip. But when Bob’s father saw the formidable outfit, including a radio set, for both receiving and sending, that Bob proposed to take with him, he threw up his hands with a gesture of dismay.

“If all the rest of you boys intend to take as much apiece as you’ve got, Bob, you’ll need a motor truck,” said Mr. Layton.

“It does look like a lot,” admitted Bob, ruefully. “But there’s hardly anything there that I won’t actually need. There’s no place within miles of the cabin where we can buy stuff.”

“I suppose that’s true,” said Mr. Layton, eyeing the stack of merchandise thoughtfully. “I suppose you’d feel awfully bad if I hired an automobile to take you and the others to Spruce Mountain, wouldn’t you?”

“Dad, we’ll never get over feeling grateful to you if you do!” declared Bob. “It will be the greatest thing that ever happened!”

“Well, in that case, I suppose there’s no choice left me,” declared Mr. Layton, with a twinkle in his eye. “You tell the others I’ll stand for the automobile, and I guess I’d better order an especially big one while I’m about it.”

Bob lost no time in communicating this last bit of good news to the others, and they were all delighted, particularly Jimmy, who had looked forward with considerable apprehension to a long hike through the woods with sixty pounds of food and equipment strapped to his suffering shoulders. To be sure, Dr. Dale had told them that they would find almost everything they would require in the way of furniture and cooking utensils in the cabin, but they had to take all their food with them and several blankets apiece, as Mr. Bentley had warned them that the nights were often cold.

It seemed to the eager boys that the day set for their departure would never arrive, but at length they found themselves, one beautiful summer morning, seated in the big touring car that Mr. Layton had provided and headed for the hunting shack on Spruce Mountain.

Their belongings were piled high in the tonneau, and the boys occupied what little space was left. This was not much, but they cared little for that as the big car hummed along over a perfect road, headed for the cabin in the depths of the forest. Mr. Bentley had returned several days before to the headquarters of the forest rangers at Spruce Mountain, and had promised to be on the lookout for them when they arrived.

“Your dad should have gotten us two cars, Bob; one to ride in, and the other for the baggage,” said Jimmy, as a sudden swerve of the car sent him rolling into a hollow between two bags. “I’ll be getting thrown out, first thing you know, and then what will you fellows do away up there in the woods, with nobody to protect and take care of you?”

“There’s gratitude for you!” exclaimed Joe, indignantly. “You’ll get thrown out fast enough, Doughnuts, but we’ll do the throwing, not the car.”

“Bob wouldn’t let you throw me out,” said Jimmy, with calm conviction. “He knows well enough that I’m the brains of this party.”

“Gosh! that’s a terrible knock at the party, then,” remarked Herb.

“Oh, I don’t know about that,” said Jimmy. “Remember, Herb, that almost any brains are better than yours.”

Herb made an indignant lunge at him, but Bob and Joe caught hold of him before he could take vengeance on their rotund friend.

“Wait a minute, wait a minute,” laughed Bob. “It seems to me there’s a good deal of truth in what Jimmy says, after all, don’t you think so, Joe?”

“There’s no doubt about it,” asserted the doctor’s son. “In fact, I’d be willing to go a step further, and say that brains like Herb’s are a shade worse than nothing at all. Just look at some of the jokes he works off on us.”

“There you are!” crowed Jimmy, triumphantly. “What better evidence could I have against Herb than some of his own jokes? They’d convict him before any jury.”

“You win with us, anyway,” laughed Bob. “Will you promise to leave Jimmy alone if we let you go, Herb?”

“Oh, I suppose so,” grunted Herb. “To get even, I’d have to lick the whole bunch of you, and I don’t feel strong enough for that just now. I’ll wait till we get back in Clintonia, and then I’ll tell you all what I think of you—over the telephone.”

“That will be the safest way, if you care to live a little longer,” Joe returned. “Even then, though, I’d advise you to start for Canada and points north as soon as you hang up the receiver.”

“Well, it might be worth the trip for the sake of giving you a good earful, but I’ll have to think it over,” replied Herb, with a grin. “In the meantime, here’s a good riddle for you. You might use it, Bob, in case you do some more radio broadcasting some day.”

“It hardly seems possible that I’d ever want to repeat one of your riddles, Herb; but let’s hear it, anyway,” observed Bob. “We’ve still got a long way to go, and I suppose we might as well kill time that way as any other.”

“Well, then, here goes,” said Herb, grinning happily in anticipation of his friends’ bewilderment. “What is it that sings, has four legs, and flies through the air?”

“Good night!” exclaimed Jimmy. “That sounds too complicated for me. I’m going to take a nap while you fellows puzzle it out.”

“Talk about brains!” exclaimed Herb. “You always duck out of any kind of headwork by taking a nap, Doughnuts. Why don’t you give that imitation mind of yours a little exercise once in a while?”

The only answer Herb received, however, was a gentle snore from his fat friend, so he turned expectantly to Bob and Joe, who were both cudgeling their brains for the answer to his riddle.

“Haven’t you thought of it yet?” asked Herb. “It’s so simple, that I thought you would guess the answer right off the reel.”

“Of course it seems easy when you know the answer,” said Bob, impatiently. “Shut up a few minutes and give us a chance to think, can’t you?”

“Oh, sure, take your time,” agreed Herb, and chuckled to himself as he saw them wrestling with the problem.

“Gee!” exclaimed Bob, at length. “I guess it’s too deep for me, Joe. Can you make anything out of it?”

“I hate to give it up, but I guess we’ll have to,” answered Joe. “What is it that sings and has four legs and flies through the air, Herb?”

“Why, two canary birds, of course,” chortled Herb, and gave a shout of laughter that brought Jimmy up to a sitting position with a look of alarm on his round face. As for Bob and Joe, they gazed blankly at each other for a few moments, then had to join in their friend’s laughter in spite of themselves.

“What’s the joke?” inquired Jimmy, suspiciously. “Is it that phoney riddle of Herb’s? I’ll bet any money there was a trick in it somewhere. It didn’t sound on the level when I first heard it.”

“You were wise to go to sleep, Doughnuts,” Joe assured him. “The next time I ever pay any attention to one of Herb’s jokes, I hope somebody comes along and shoots me. It would be no more than I’d deserve.”

“Don’t get sore just because you couldn’t guess it,” Herb adjured him. “I’ll try to think up a nice easy one next time—something that even you goofs can solve.”

Joe was about to make a withering reply when the driver of the car uttered a startled shout and gave the wheel a twist that almost threw the boys out in the road.