But the river road, which had been very good at first, soon became so rough that the auto had to be driven slowly, and not as good time could be made. Also the distance was farther than Mr. Martin thought, or at least farther than the men on the raft had told him.
When the evening shadows began to fall they were still traveling along, with no signs of the lumber camp in sight.
“I guess we shall have to camp out again to-night alongside the road,” remarked Mr. Martin, as he scanned the highway ahead of him and saw no sign of a house.
“That’ll be fun!” declared Ted.
“Maybe a horse will visit you to-night instead of a cow,” his sister said.
“I don’t want either one,” declared the lad.
Mr. Martin drove the auto on for another mile or two and then, coming to a place he thought would make a good camp—an open space near a spring—he stopped and the work of making camp for the night was begun.
The tent was stretched out from the side of the auto and the folding cots put beneath the shelter. As before, Janet and Trouble would sleep in the auto itself.
Mrs. Martin got the supper over the alcohol stoves, which, though small, gave good heat. Ted and Janet gathered wood, for their father had said they might make a campfire and sit about it before going to bed.
When the meal was finished Ted was allowed to light the fire. The children sat about it on smooth stumps, pretending they were early settlers living in the wilderness.