CHAPTER XXVII
ORDERED BACK
“Hurry up and get me down!” pleaded Budge, as he tried to grasp the sapling with his hands, to ease the strain on his foot.
“I’m coming,” replied Jack, who was laughing heartily. “Guess I’ll have to cut the tree down, though.”
“No; I have a better plan than that,” spoke Will. “I’ll show you.”
In another moment he was climbing up the thin trunk of the hickory that served to hold Budge Rankin suspended. Then Will’s plan was apparent. As he climbed up farther, his weight, added to that of Budge, caused the sapling to sway toward the ground.
“Grab me and cut the rope!” cried Budge.
“All right,” replied Jack, and when his queer chum was near enough to him, Jack seized him around the waist. Nat, with his hunting knife, severed the thongs of deer sinew from which Long Gun had made the loop. Then Budge was released, and he assumed an upright position on the ground, while Will dropped from the bending tree, which straightway sprang back to its place.
“Hu!” grunted Long Gun, with just the suspicion of a smile on his copper-colored face. “Boy go up heap fast.”
“’Sright,” admitted Budge, while he began hunting through his pockets for a piece of gum.