"Nobody knows where I am, but——"
That last "but" was to much for Bill. He couldn't find anything to go with it, for he began to think of what Pa had told us, that if a person should get hurt on the mountain he might die there and not be found for weeks or years. His ankle was aching fearfully, too.
He tried yelling for a while and Bill is the best yeller that I ever saw or heard.
"Help! Help!" he cried. "HELP!"
He might as well have saved his breath for all the good it did.
Then he lay still for a long time, trying to think what to do. That was what Mr. Norton had told us.
"If anything happens," said he, "don't lose your heads. Think it over calmly. Decide what is best to do and then do it."
"I'm a Scout," said Bill to himself, "and, bet your life, I ain't a going to stay here and die on no mountain."
He took off his shoe and stocking and bathed his ankle in water from one of the bottles—not much water because he couldn't spare it, and he took a little sip himself. Then he thought of his "first aid to the injured" package.
"What's the matter with bandaging myself?" said he. "It will be good practice."