“Why, he was told to remain here.”
“He has been told that before,” Jack said, “and he’s never obeyed orders. He followed Ned from Manila to Yokohama, not long ago, and made a hit in doing it, too. Oh, it is a sure thing that Jimmie is not far from Ned at this minute.”
“The little scamp!” grinned Pat.
“He seems to think that Ned can’t get along without his constant presence and his pranks,” Jack continued. “He generally stirs something up in his immediate vicinity, but he’s a pretty good scout at that.”
“I hope he is with Ned,” Pat said.
The wind now died down a bit, so that it was no longer necessary to hold the aeroplane, and the boys, after seeing that the rope still held, began the work of repairing the tents.
The clouds drifted away and the moon looked down as bravely as if it had not just hidden its face from sight at the threats of the wind! The electric flashlights with which the boys were well provided seemed inadequate and Pat started in to build a fire.
“I don’t know about that,” Jack said. “If there had been a fire here when that wind came up it would have been roaring in the cañon now. The storm would have swept it down on the trees there, and the whole gully would soon have become a roaring furnace. Better cut out the fire.”
“I guess you are right,” Pat said, reluctantly laying his dry faggots aside.
While the boys worked, trying to restore the shelter tents to something like form, the wind came up once more and reached out for the aeroplane. Pat and Jack renewed their holding efforts, and thanked their stars that no fire had been built on the plateau, for the forest about was dry as tinder.