“I doubt it,” said Uncle Teddy. “He found out once that it wasn’t his mate calling him.”
“Try it again, anyway,” begged Sahwah.
Uncle Teddy sent the call of the birchbark trumpet echoing far and wide, but though they watched 58 in breathless silence, no moose appeared in answer to the call.
“He’s ‘wise,’” said the Captain. “You can’t blame him. Nobody could fool me twice either.”
“We might as well start back now,” said Slim, beginning to think longingly of the supper cached under the first cedar by the river. “We’ve had our hunt, and seen the moose, which was what we came for. Aren’t you all satisfied yet?”
“Oh, Slim, are you very hungry?” asked Sahwah. “Katherine and I want to go up the hill a little way and poke into that ravine up there; it’s so dark and mysterious looking.”
Slim sighed and looked longingly back toward the trail by which they had come.
“Oh, never mind, we won’t go,” said Sahwah, seeing the look.
“Oh, go on,” said Slim good naturedly.
Katherine fished in her pocket and drew out a tin foil-covered package. “Here’s a piece of chocolate I’ve been carrying around with me ever since I’ve been at Ellen’s Isle,” she said. “It’s pretty stale by this time, I guess, but it’ll keep you from starving while Sahwah and I go and explore the ravine.”