"What's that 'huh'? Boy Scout for sir?" cried Jerry hotly.
Phil jumped to his feet, but to the surprise of Jerry, who had put up his fists, the Scout Leader brought his heels together with a click and his right hand went to the salute.
"I stand convicted," he said simply. "You're the boss of this expedition. What's orders?"
"Orders are to break camp—it's already pretty well broken—and take ship for Lost Island. Patrol Leader Fulton will take charge of the job while Boss Ring goes off and kicks himself quietly but firmly."
They all laughed and good feeling was restored. The Scouts made short work of getting their traps together, even in the dark, and it was not many minutes before the first load was on the way to Lost Island.
Jerry, Phil and Dave followed silently afterwards in the Big Four with the rest of the dunnage.
"You think they did it?" asked Dave of no one in particular. No one asked who they were, nor did anyone answer, but each knew what the others were thinking.
Mr. Fulton showed no surprise when told of their decision to camp henceforth on the island. "Good idea," was his only comment.
They were not disturbed that night, and the next day passed without incident, save that Budge had the bad luck to break a truss he had been all day in making. "Good!" said Mr. Fulton. "That wood might have caused a serious accident if it had got into the Skyrocket." Budge, knowing his awkwardness and not the timber was to blame, felt grateful that he had been spared the reproof that would have been natural.
They had been making good progress, in spite of their greenness; next day Mr. Fulton was planning to stretch the silk over the planes; it had already been given a preliminary coat of a kind of flexible varnish which was also a part of Mr. Fulton's invention. The carpenter had done his part handsomely. The launch had come down the day before with all of the heavier framework and trusses. A few rods were still to come from the blacksmith, and the rear elevator control was still awaited, but enough of the material had been mended and put in place to make the aeroplane look less like a wreck.