“Oh! if that’s the case, hold up that tool, and I bet they light out faster than they come—­who wouldn’t, I’d just like to know, when—­”

“Hey, Jerry, can the wagon get in here?” asked Will, knowing what the dispute would lead to if allowed to go on any further.

“Why, yes, I think so, if Toby knows how to manage right; you see he can turn to the right, cross behind that thicket, and bring up here; certainly the wagon can haul up here—­if it ever gets to this point safe,” replied the other.

“You and I will look out for that, and when we ride back to convoy it here, depend on it, we’ll have our guns ready to make a good showing,” remarked Frank.  “I don’t think those three fellows will dare attack us, especially when they see Erastus.  They know him all right, from sad experience.  You see ’Rastus used to be something of a prizefighter in a small way among his kind, and nothing delights him half so much as a scrap once in a while; and the town rowdies have suffered at his hands.”

“All right; say when, and I’ll be ready to go.”

“Plenty of time.  I figure that the wagon won’t get to the lumber camp until noon, so in the meantime we can be using that nice ax Will has strapped to his machine, and doing a number of things.  Firewood is a mighty handy article to have around a camp, boys, and it’s simply wonderful what a big lot of it is needed.”

“A hint is as good as a command, Frank; just understand that we’re ready to do anything you suggest, for we all want to learn the ropes as soon as we can.  What are you going to do?” he asked, as Frank unsheathed a camp hatchet, and commenced to look around, as if in search of some particular kind of wood.

“Well, you see, I remember that I lost my tent pegs the last time I camped in Maine, and it’s up to me to cut a new supply.  No better time than now, while we’re waiting for the wagon.  Then I expect to lay out several poles on which to stretch the tents—­one tall one for the center, and a couple of others outside for the fly that forms a shelter,” remarked Frank, commencing operations on what seemed a suitable piece of hickory.

“What sort of tents are they?” asked Jerry, watching all that the other did, so as to catch the true spirit of the thing from practical observation, which somehow seemed vastly different from what he read in his books on sport.

“The kind which most canoeists like in these modern days.  They’re big enough to accommodate four in a pinch, although it’s much better to have only two in each, and that’s why I brought both along.  Then, when the fly in front is raised it makes a splendid place for the table, being sheltered from sun and rain.  Each tent has a waterproof floorcloth, to keep the dampness out.  Wait and see, Jerry.”

They worked like beavers for a time.

When one tired his muscles chopping firewood another was eager to take up the job, and it was wonderful how the pile of fuel increased.