The Young Wireless Operator—As a Fire Patrol eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 317 pages of information about The Young Wireless Operator—As a Fire Patrol.

The Young Wireless Operator—As a Fire Patrol eBook

This eBook from the Gutenberg Project consists of approximately 317 pages of information about The Young Wireless Operator—As a Fire Patrol.

He began to look for a place where they could sleep.  When he had selected a spot, he took the hatchet and with the back of it smoothed the ground, removing all stones and little stumps.  Charley, meantime, put the food away and piled the dishes.  They could not be washed.  Then the two boys rolled themselves in their blankets, put their pack bags under their heads and were asleep almost instantly.  Their difficult climb had tired them utterly.

The next morning found them fully refreshed.  No clouds hung above them, and the sun’s rays awoke them early.  Aside from their intense thirst, neither felt any the worse for his hard experience.

“It’s still early,” said Lew, as he looked at the sun that had hardly more than cleared the summit of the eastern hills.  “Let’s push on down to the bottom and cook breakfast after we reach water.  It won’t take very long to get down, and then we can have some coffee.  Oh boy!  I never knew how good coffee was.”

“I could drink anything—­even medicine,” smiled Charley, “so it was wet.”

Rapidly the packs were assembled and the blankets rolled.  “Put things together good,” said Lew, “for it will be a tough journey even if we are going down-hill.  I’ve been looking at some of the tangles we came through last night and I don’t see how we ever made it.”

“Sometimes,” replied Charley, “it’s a good thing a fellow can’t know exactly what he’s attempting.  If he did know, maybe he’d never have the nerve to try.”

They started down the slope, their packs and blankets securely slung about them and even tied fast with strings, to prevent them from catching among the fallen trees.  Unintentionally they followed the dry bed of the stream.  It led along a slight depression that ran diagonally down the mountainside.  But quickly they realized that this was the most difficult path they could have chosen.  For along the margins of the brook, the timber, fed by the flow of water, had been much denser and larger than the timber farther from the bank of the stream.  So dense was the tangle now that at first the boys could see only a few hundred yards ahead of them.  Presently they noticed that they were traveling through the thickest part of the timber, or what had been timber.  If possible, their way was more difficult than it had been in ascending the mountain.  But daylight and the fact that they were going down-hill made it possible for them to travel with comparative rapidity.  Once they noticed that they were advancing by the most difficult route, they left the margin of the brook and cut straight down the slope.

Now the way was more open.  They could see farther.  But both were so preoccupied with what lay immediately around them that for a time neither gave heed to more distant views.  Furthermore, the bottom was still obscured by a heavy night mist.  The warm spring sun rapidly dissipated this, opening the valley to view as though some invisible hand had rolled back a giant cover.  Presently Lew reached a little area that was swept absolutely bare of everything.  Nothing remained but the nude rocks and soil.  Lew, who was leading the way, paused to spy out the best path.  Then he cried out in dismay.  A moment later Charley stood by his side and both boys gazed in speechless horror at the scene before them.

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The Young Wireless Operator—As a Fire Patrol from Project Gutenberg. Public domain.