"That's a good idea," said Mr. Waterman. "That will take some time. There's a lot of cleaning up to do along the shore front also, so that we'll put in a little time each day on that. We'll kill two birds with one stone, as we'll get out a lot of firewood at the same time. That will leave the guides free to make us a landing."
"Where will you get the boards?" asked Bill.
"Leave it to Joe," said Mr. Anderson. "He'll have as nice a landing out there in a day or two as you would care to see, and there won't be a nail in it and it will be made entirely with his axe."
"I'll watch them do it," said Pud, with an air of unbelief.
They all then went to their tents and for an hour they lounged around, dozing and talking. Mr. Anderson then roused them out. They got their short axes and went into the woods. Each had a big bag and it was not very long until they returned laden with the fragrant tips. More than one trip was necessary, but at last all had downy balsam beds on which to lay their blankets. They made up their blankets for the night and did various other things around the tents.
"Let's go for a paddle," at last said Bob.
This was agreed to eagerly, and they all got into a canoe and went on an exploring expedition. First they went opposite and started to climb the bluff. They found it a harder task than they had supposed, as finally they had to go back some distance before they could get to the top. At last they came out on the edge and brought Mr. Waterman and Mr. Anderson down to the edge of the opposite shore by their shouts. They waved to the boys and then slowly disappeared in the trees.
"This is some little mountain, isn't it?" said Bob.
"It certainly is," said Bill.
"Let's roll down one of these big bowlders and see what happens," said Pud.