“But it was you who said that was enough to start out on,” retorted Katherine. “And you wanted the balsam boughs the worst, so it’s your fault.”
“Don’t let’s quarrel about who’s fault it was,” said the Captain. “None of us were obliged to come; we came because we wanted to. It’s everybody’s fault, and what is everybody’s is nobody’s. We’re here now and we’ll have to make the best of it.”
“Maybe it will calm down before very long,” said Gladys hopefully.
“Not much chance,” said the Captain, “with the wind rising every minute.”
There seemed nothing else to do but wait, so they crouched behind rocks to find shelter from the gale and tried to be patient. Every little while a dash of spray would find someone out and then there would be a shriek and a scramble for another rock higher up on the shore. Thus the afternoon wore away. It had been practically twilight since noon.
“What are you doing, Captain, admiring the 230 view?” asked Slim, when the Captain had been looking out over the tossing lake for fully five minutes.
“Quite some view,” said the Captain, who was deeply impressed by the ferocity of wind and wave, “but I was doing something besides admiring it. I was thinking that it won’t do us much good to sit here any longer. The lake is getting rougher all the time and there is no hope of Uncle Teddy’s being able to come for us tonight. I think the best thing to do would be to try to walk to St. Pierre, where we can find shelter.”
“Would we be able to make it?” asked Hinpoha doubtfully, measuring the distance that lay between them and the little cluster of toy houses that shone ghostly white against the black sky. “It must be miles.”
“Not quite three,” replied the Captain. “We can make it. The wind will be coming from the side, so we won’t be walking squarely against it.”
They formed a line, each boy taking a girl by the arm, and struggled along the shore, keeping out of the woods as much as possible, and made slow but steady progress toward St. Pierre. It was during one of their frequent stops for breath that Sahwah, who had turned her head to look out over the wild water, suddenly screamed, “Look!”