"Cheer up," laughed Tad. "The worst is yet to come for you, Chunky. Do you realize that we haven't a penny left, and that we've no credit in this town? We can't eat until Mr. Perkins' remittance arrives—after a few days."
"Can't eat?" gasped Stacy, his face paling a little. "I won't stand that."
"Hurrah!" cheered Ned Rector. "Chunky is going to save us! He's going to find food for us. We shall eat—right away!"
"Now, you fellows know I can't do anything," uttered young Brown reproachfully. "But some of you ought to have the brains to find a way to get food."
Tad and Ned whispered apart, then announced that they were going to the village.
"Bring back half a dozen big steaks," Stacy called after them.
Tad and Ned trudged on into town. There they found an opportunity to saw and split a large pile of wood for fifty cents. That was a fearfully close bargain, as they knew very well, but the Pony Rider Boys needed food, and so did their companions. They took the job, spent perspiring hours over it, then collected their money, and invested it in a fairly large piece of bacon, to the delight of Stacy Brown and the keen satisfaction of the Professor.
"We have a big job tomorrow for which we are going to get a dollar and a half," announced Tad. "Stacy will have to go along and help."
"What doing?" demanded the fat boy.
"Cutting wood."