A few days later, when a train stopped at the small station of Rockton, a crowd of boys accompanied by two older persons and a smiling colored man, jumped from the cars. They seemed to carry innumerable packages, and not a few had in addition knapsacks fastened to their backs.
Besides this, from the baggage car an astonishing amount of stuff was thrown, consisting of tents and cots and blankets.
Most of the provisions had been properly packed at the store. But Dick saw to it that such things as eggs were carried by some of the boys, since they would not stand much rough handling. They expected, however, to secure further farm products from some farmer not a great distance away from the camp on the shore of Bass Island.
Then the train began to puff again, and the score of boys, together with Harry Bartlett, Mr. Asa Rowland, the physical culture director at the Y. M. C. A., and “Sunny Jim,” the negro cook, found themselves left at the small station.
“They say it’s all of four long miles to the lake,” remarked Peg Fosdick, taking a look over the camp duffle that had been thrown in a great pile alongside the track.
“Oh! if you think that would be too long a tramp for your game leg, Mr. Bartlett would let you ride on one of the two wagons we’ve hired to haul the stuff over,” Dick told him. To this, however, Peg protested, saying:
“Huh! what d’ye take me for, Dick? If I’m not good for a little hike like that I ought to have stayed at home and be tied to mother’s apron strings. I was only wondering how much of this stuff I could hoist in case those wagons failed us, that’s all.”
“Well, don’t bother about that,” called out Leslie just then. “From the cloud of dust rising along the road over yonder I reckon our teams are coming now.”
His prediction turned out a true one, and it did not take the eager boys long to get their possessions loaded. There was more or less merriment as this labor was in progress; and many were the comments made concerning the piled-up wagons.
“Looks just like a gypsy outfit on the road,” suggested Clint Babbett.