Of course that excited the curiosity of the two greenhorns, and seeing the look of bewilderment which they exchanged, Elmer took occasion to explain just a little.
"If Jem has been badly hurt in any way, and lies several miles away from home," Elmer told them, "we would want to make some sort of stretcher so as to carry him back to his cabin. A hatchet or an ax is indispensable under such conditions; and you may have a chance to see just how it's done."
George saw them go away with a wry face, for he did not like to be cheated out of any pleasure; still, when he stepped around and found how his foot hurt if he made any unusual exertion, he must have realized on second thoughts that Elmer knew best.
Elmer had an idea at first of getting Conrad to head toward home, when they were well upon the trail leading toward the lake, and which the boy had said he could show them. Upon suggesting such a thing, however, he immediately met with a prompt refusal.
"No, mother told me to take you to the second lake, and I shall," Conrad said firmly. "Oh! I can stand much more than you would believe; I am stronger than I look. And I have been over the trail with father, many times. What does a few miles matter when father may be lying there, and suffering terribly? Besides, mother depends on me to take you there. What if you went alone and could not find it, for, you see, it is hidden in the woods, and not at all easy to see if you haven't been over the trail before. He might lie there for hours if that happened. So I must go."
Of course that settled it. Elmer could not have the heart to deny the lad the privilege he demanded. Besides, he knew that on the whole it would be much better for them to have some one along who was acquainted with the lay of the land. They might go astray, experienced though two of them were in the secrets of woodcraft; for confusing trails might deceive them, especially after the storm had washed away Jem's late footprints.
And so they hurried along. Little Conrad walked as though eager to even run; and more than once Elmer had to restrain the anxious lad. He saw that Conrad was worked up to a feverish pitch that was not good for him; and accordingly Elmer made it his business to try and reassure the little fellow.
"Depend on it we'll find your father, Conrad," he went on to say in that steady tone of his that carried weight, and could soothe even the most troubled breast like "balm of Gilead," as Lil Artha slily told Rufus, trotting along at his side. "And the chances are a broken leg will be the extent of his injuries. Why, he may not even be so badly off as that, you know. Perhaps he was called on to help some other unfortunate family in that storm, and has been held up on that account."
But Conrad sadly shook his wise little head. He knew Elmer only meant to encourage him; and that even he could have little hope such a strange thing had happened.
"Oh! I'd like to believe that, Elmer," he said, with half a sob, "but there is no other family near enough for such a thing to happen. But I'm still hoping for the best. Mother told me to keep thinking that way. She will not believe he could be taken away from us while we need him so much. Yes, we must find him, poor, poor father!"