“Oh, Professor. Will you please repeat that? I didn’t get it,” called the fat boy.
“You must listen if you wish to hear what I am saying. Your mind wanders.”
“I hope it doesn’t do much wandering here. I’ll surely be a dead one if it does,” retorted Stacy, peering down the sheer walls that dropped into the gloomy pass below him.
64“To give you another illustration, were you to combine England, Ireland, Scotland, France and Italy, you still would lack considerable of having enough to make an Alaska. Then, added to this, are the great mountains, thousands of feet high, and one great river–not to speak of the smaller ones–that flows through more than two thousand miles of wonderful country. I have given you a bird’s-eye-view of the country, a small part of which you have started to explore.”
“Yes, a fellow needs a bird’s-eye up here. He has to have or he’s a goner,” declared Chunky.
“And by the way, Professor,” said Tad. “Your pony is yawning with his left hind leg.”
“Haw, haw, haw! That’s a good one,” laughed the fat boy.
“What do you mean?” wondered the Professor.
“He is stretching himself. His left hind foot at this moment is suspended over several hundred feet of space. But don’t startle him for goodness’ sake,” laughed Tad.
The Professor glanced back. Afterwards the boys declared he had gone pale at the sight of that foot held so carelessly over the yawning chasm, but the Professor denied the accusation. He clucked very gently to the pony. The 65little animal lazily drew the foot in, and, after trying several places, at last found a spot that appeared to suit it and on which it placed the small foot. The boys drew a sigh of relief.