by Quincy Allen
CHAPTER III
GETTING READY
"Somebody hold me up!" exclaimed Bluff Masters, weakly. "I'm afraidI'm going to faint!"
"Wait till you hear the particulars before you drop off," Will advisedhim.
"Then for goodness' sake hurry up and get started," said Jerry. "Lookat Frank's face, would you? Just remember that Maine's his nativeState, and you can understand what good news you've brought him, Will.Start in now, and explain."
"Oh, there isn't so very much to tell," the other began. "Uncle hashad his letter, and it necessitates his getting a paper signed by acertain well-to-do lumberman up in the heart of the loneliest regionin Maine. Unless this is done inside of two weeks Uncle Felix says hestands to lose a big sum of money. And there he is, laid up with therheumatism so he can't straighten up, much less take such a longjourney."
"So he wants the outdoor chums to go in his stead; is that it, Will?"cried Jerry, as well as he was able; for Bluff had thrown his armsaround his neck and was hugging him as savagely as any black bearcould.
"That's all arranged," Will announced proudly. "Kept me longer than Imeant to stay; but then I thought you'd like to have things settled."
"And how about the expense?" asked Bluff cautiously.
"Uncle stands every cent of it!" came the reply.
"Three cheers for Uncle Felix!" exclaimed Frank; and they were givenwith a vim that must have quite tickled the old traveler inside theMilton house, who could not fail to hear the chorus and must know whatit signified.
"When do we start?" demanded Jerry.
"How long would it take us to get ready?" asked Will.
"Let's see, it's just ten-forty-nine now by the town clock," Jerryhastily observed; "I reckon eleven o'clock would fill the bill withme. Eleven long minutes, and you can do lots in that time, when youhustle."
Frank laughed.
"Well, you do like to rush things, Jerry," he remarked. "We couldn'tgo off like that on such a long journey. There are heaps and heaps ofthings to be looked after; clothes to be gathered and examined, forit'll be pretty cold up there at this time of year; shells to beloaded, other stuff to be bought, and packed, and all that sort ofthing. To-morrow we'll make a start, and it'll keep us all on the jumpeven at that to get properly stocked."
Jerry looked disgusted, and muttered to himself; but his laterjudgment was likely to be to the effect that Frank knew best.
"Uncle wants you to come in and have a talk with him, first of all,"Will went on. "He'll give Frank the paper that has to be signed in thepresence of three witnesses--ourselves, if there are no others handy.Then he means to put the thing in our hands to do as we please. He wasa little anxious about our having to get the consent of our parents;but I told him that if my mother was willing I should go, the rest ofyou would have no trouble at all."
"I should say not!" declared Bluff.
"Oh, it's hard to believe such a chance has come to us just when wehave all this time hanging heavy on our hands!" Jerry cried.
Their interview with Will's bachelor uncle turned out verysatisfactorily. Uncle Felix was only too willing to leave everythingin the way of details in charge of Frank, whom he knew to be theleader of the chums.
"Never mind the expense, lads," he told them; "only get that signaturefor me, and I'll not count the cost. Besides, you can hardly know thepleasure it gives me to offer you such a fine trip into the Big Woodsof Maine. You'll find them well worth going all that distance to see.It will be a great deal finer than if you were simply heading up intothe pine woods of Michigan."
"That's what Frank's been telling us, sir," declared Jerry. "Perhapsyou don't know Frank's home used to be in Maine; and that's where helearned most of what he knows about the big outdoors. He's often saidhe only wished we might have a chance to run up there and visit someof the old stamping grounds with him."
"Well, that's better than I thought," Uncle Felix told them; "and whenyou come back I hope you'll have some great stories to tell of youradventures in the woods. I only regret that I can't be one of theparty, because all my life I've been an advocate of outdoor life."
"I expect to take a good stock of films along," Will said, "and thatnew-fangled flashlight apparatus, too, so I can try to get pictures ofgame taken at night time by themselves. That's a stunt I've beenreading up lately, and I'm as anxious as can be to see what I can do."
"Well, if we want to get off by morning," Frank warned them, "we oughtto be at work. Let's sit down for a few minutes and figure out justwhat we want to take along."
"How about the grub?" asked Bluff; for it would be strange indeed forhim not to consider that important subject the first thing.
"We'll make sure to get some things here, because we know what thequality is," Frank commented, "such as tea and coffee and a fewothers; but the heavier stuff we ought to pick up after we get to thejumping-off place. That'll save us lots of carrying, you see."
"Why, yes," Jerry agreed, "we wouldn't want to have our trunk so heavyit couldn't be lifted without a derrick. That was the trouble with thefirst boat old Robinson Crusoe built, remember? I've heard of othercases just as bad. A fellow was telling me about a time he went off ona trip with another chap and they kept adding this and adding that tothe things that they thought they must have on their outing, till atlast they had to take two tents along and hire a team to draw thestuff up and back."
With that Jerry ran off, and both Frank and Bluff were not long infollowing his example. Each of them had made out a long list of thingshe must personally attend to in the time that remained before night.
Frank's positive declaration that everything necessary must becompleted before they went to bed had been accepted by his chumswithout a single murmur.
"Don't try to load any shells until the last thing," Frank had toldthem all. "If there's no time for that, we can buy what we want. As arule, though, all of us much prefer to get our own powder and shot,for then we know what's coming; and sometimes we've been fooled whenwe used machine-made shells."
Frank was a little anxious until he had received calls over thetelephone from both Bluff and Jerry. After they assured him that fullpermission had been given by their parents, so that the last possibledoubt was removed, Frank's spirits grew lighter.
Nothing remained to be done but get in readiness, and on the comingmorning start upon the long railroad trip to Maine.
When supper-time came four tired boys sat down to what they expectedwould be their last meal with the home folks for some time. Of coursenothing was talked of around those family tables but the possibilitiesthat awaited them in that wonderland of game and summer tourists.
If the anxious eyes of mothers occasionally filled with unbidden tearsbecause of the separation to come, they bravely kept from displayingtheir emotions before the others, not wishing that any regrets shouldinterfere with the happiness of those who were bound on such anenjoyable journey.
Of course every boy solemnly assured his mother that he meant to bevery careful every minute of the time, knowing she would be worried;but that there was not the slightest danger of any harm befallingthem.
Frank went the rounds, looking over the accumulation of traps, andlightening the collections in many ways.
"Just remember," he told them when they murmured against his decree,"we have to tote every pound of this, and a heap of grub besides, overeach foot of the way, up and down hill, and over snow fields besides.So leave it to me."
In the end he had reduced every pack to its proper proportions; andfinally returned home with the understanding that they would all meeton the station platform for the eastbound train.
Little sleep visited four pairs of eager eyes that last night underthe home roofs in the little town of Centerville.
