The patrol leader returned, in less than an hour, accompanied by Paul
and a farm hand employed by Mr. Hunter. They brought with them not
only four mattresses, but the shotguns and rifles shipped by the boys
from the academy for their mid-winter hunting. Ernie announced that
their trunks and valises also had arrived and that George, the farm
hand, would return for them in the automobile.
The work progressed rapidly and by the time the trunks and valises
arrived the mattresses were all in position, the food and cooking
utensils were stored away in the narrowest compass of space that could
be arranged for them and a large pile of resinous wood had been
gathered.
It was now 4 o'clock and the boys felt that they were entitled to a
rest. A large boulder with a flat end two and a half feet in diameter
was rolled into the cave and propped into position, with slabs of
stone for a table. On this was placed a large kerosene lamp, which,
when burning, lighted up the cave very well. A supply of camp chairs
had been brought with the first load, so that everybody had a seat.
"I call this something swell, from the point of view of a smart rustic
who hasn't absorbed any city nonsense," observed Miles Berryman,
seating himself comfortably in a chair and gazing about with great
satisfaction.
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