The wisdom of this was so apparent that the rest waited patiently while the other two went on.
George walked cautiously along the bank of the river, and when the rising moon threw a faint shadow of his figure on the bark of the evergreen, he halted. Stephen, however, stepped up so briskly and boldly, and so near the brink, that shovelfuls of loose earth rattled down into the water. When he reached George he whipped a homemade folding ruler out of his pocket, and applied it to the shadow.
“Just four feet!” he cried, excitedly.
George looked on complacently, and the boys in waiting, hearing Steve’s remark, uttered a shout of surprise and delight.
“Stop! stop!” George cried, angrily: “I cannot allow such a noise!”
A dead silence ensued. The four moved on till they had passed the tree, and then George and Stephen joined them.
“That tree is very thick up among the branches,” Jim observed.
“Never mind that,” Charles said. “Now, George, it’s time to go to work. Are you sure you know the verses?”
“What verses?” the Sage asked, indignantly.