CHAPTER XXV
_A Difficulty_
Little Tom was now in a quandary. He was on the bluff overlooking andsouth of the camp, but he did not know how to get into the camp. To walkin would be dangerous, of course. The sentinel might mistake him for anenemy and shoot at him. A high wind was blowing from the direction ofCamp Venture, so that no call of Tom's could be heard there. It was alittle after three o'clock in the morning, very dark, very cold, and Tomwas very tired with his labor in bringing the meal down the mountain.
Finally an idea dawned in his mind.
"If I can't go to Camp Venture I can at any rate bring Camp Venture tome," he said to himself. With that he collected some of the dry broomstraw that protruded above the snow and such sticks and othercombustibles as he could find, and set to work to build a fire.
"When the sentinel sees a fire here," he said to himself, "he'll callthe other boys, and they'll all get their guns and come out here to seewhat's the matter. I'll stand up in the full glare of the light and onthe camp side of the fire, so that they can recognize me."
His plan worked to perfection. It was not five minutes after he got agood blaze going before the whole company surrounded him.
"What is it, Tom?" they cried. "Why did you build a fire here?"
"Wait!" said Tom. "There are two bags of corn meal down there just underthe bluff. Some of you go and carry them to the house. I'm fearfullytired and cold."
The boys quickly saw how true this was, and they plied the poor,exhausted fellow with no more questions. He strode away to the hut,entered it, threw down his remaining partridges, set his gun in itscustomary place and stood for a few minutes with his back to the bigfire, warming himself. Presently, when the boys all came in with thebags of meal, Jack, seeing the look of almost helpless exhaustion inTom's face, himself removed the blanket from the boy's shoulders, untiedit and spread it out upon the bunkful of broom straw, for by this timeEd had got all their bedding dry again.
Meantime the Doctor went to a kettle that sat near the fire, placed itupon some very hot coals, and a minute later dipped up a tin cup of itscontents.
"Here, Tom, drink this," he said. "It'll do you good and give youstrength."
It was a soup that Ed had made--or a broth rather--from the bones andscraps of their bear dinners, and to Tom's exhausted system it seemedwonderfully refreshing. Meantime Harry asked:
"Are your feet frozen, Tom?"
"No," answered the boy. "They are scarcely at all cold. You see, I'vebeen using them too vigorously for that. But they are dreadfully soreand tired."
With that Harry filled their one foot tub with hot water and directingTom to sit down Harry himself removed the boy's boots and socks, felt ofhis feet to make sure that they were not frosted, and placed them in thehot water. The Doctor applauded the performance and when it was over,and Tom's whole body was warm again, the boys rolled him up, not in hisown blanket alone, but in all the other blankets there were in the campand tumbled him into his bunk.
"There now!" said Jack, "sleep till you wake of your own accord. We'llall keep as still as mice."
"No, don't," said Tom. "I shall sleep better if you go on talking asusual. Then I'll know when I half wake that I'm here in camp and I'll goto sleep again easily." Then, after the boys thought him asleep Tomturned over and said, with much solicitude in his voice:
"Boys, I'm sorry I broke up your sleep so early this morning, but Icouldn't very well help myself."
"Never you mind about that," said Jim Chenowith. "You're on dutynow,--sleep duty,--and if you don't shut up and go to sleep I'll pourbuckets of cold water over you. We're not suffering for sleep justbecause we were waked up an hour or so earlier than usual."
Tom was too tired to argue or to resist. He turned over on his side anda minute later he was asleep.
Meantime the boys busied themselves with breakfast. Ed was still thehead cook, partly because he knew more about cooking than any body elsedid, and partly because the Doctor still refused to let him work with anaxe. But all the boys helped him with this meal, as they always did whenthey were in the house at the time of the preparation of meals.
"How long will it be, Doctor, before Tom will wake up hungry?" asked Edsolicitously.
"Not more than two hours at farthest," answered the Doctor. "But why?"
"Well, I want to have something ready for him when he wakes--somethinghot and appetizing."
And Ed accomplished his purpose. He gave the other boys their breakfastof broiled bear's meat and ash cakes and then he set to work on Tom'sbreakfast. He dressed two of the quails and laid them aside. Then hemixed some of the meal and made pones of it, baking them in a skillet.When Tom began to stir restlessly Ed raked out a fine bed of clean coalsand placed the two quails upon them to broil. They required very closeand constant attention, of course, to prevent burning, and just as Edwas finally taking them off the fire Tom sat up in his bunk and asked:
"Hello, Ed! what's up? You've got something there that smells mightygood to a hungry fellow like me. What is it?"
"I'll answer your questions one at a time," answered Ed. "'What's up?'Why, you are, of course. 'What is it'--that I'm cooking? You just getout of bed and see."
Tom obeyed. Creeping stiffly out of bed he seized the foot tub that hadstood there for two hours or more and felt of the water. It was by thistime sharply cold. Tom stripped off his clothing, soused his head intothe water and then taking a sponge, sluiced his whole body with thenearly freezing liquid. A rapid rub down followed, and Tom called out:
"Now, Ed, bring on your breakfast as soon as you can. I'm nearlystarved."
With that he slipped again into his clothing and a minute later wasdevouring a quail and a big pone of very coarse corn bread which Ed hadbuttered with the scant remains of the ante-Christmas bacon drippings.
"Where are the other fellows?" asked Tom, as he ate.
"Out chopping," answered Ed.
"Did they have bacon dripping butter on their bread this morning?"
"Indeed they didn't. That was saved, by unanimous vote, for you. For butfor you there wouldn't have been any bread in Camp Venture to butterwith anything."
"Oh, well," said Tom, "but you see it isn't fair. You ought to havedivided the bacon fat--"
"Now look here, Tom," Ed broke in, "if you'll find a single boy in thiscompany who is growling about the breakfast he got this morning--thebest part of it due to your exertions in getting us the meal,--I'llagree to eat that boy and all his complaints. I tell you this bacon fatwas saved for you by special request of every fellow in the camp, andthat's all there is about it. I foresaw that you'd want to divide it up,so I put it on your bread myself instead of leaving that for you to do.You see you can't help eating it now."
"Ed, you fellows are the very best and kindliest that ever were in thisworld," said Tom, with so much of emotion that he did not venture to sayany more.
"But I say, Tom," said Ed, eager to turn the course of the talk, "whereand how did you get this meal?"
"Oh, that's a long story," answered Tom, "and the other fellows willwant to hear it, and really I can't tell it twice. Besides, now thatI've had my breakfast I'm going out to do my share of the chopping. I'lltell you all about it while we sit around the fire to-night."