“I propose that we go ahead with the old program,” said P. Jones, Esq., as he occasionally dubbed himself. “We’ve got back our Big Six. She’s all right. Nearly all our luggage and other outfitting stuff is all right. As for gasoline, grub and so on—what’s the odds? We’re not broke yet.”
“Guess you’re right, Jonesy,” put in Worth. “For once in your life, you’ve about stated the case correctly.”
“If the luck keeps up, all right.” This from Dave, who could not let go all his mental bearings without some pessimistic afterthoughts. “But who’s to say it will hold out? One thing I rather insist on, Phil, since you make a sort of bluff at being our leader. Let’s stick to the guide book route, whether we go through Albany to Boston or whether we short-cut through the Catskills and down the Hudson to New York. That’s my opinion.”
They argued it out that last night at Griffin, which they were to leave in the morning for the east.
“Somehow I’d like to see New York more’n Boston, I think,” remarked Way. “It would shorten the time of our vacation, and give us more time for side trips, say to Niagara Falls or, if we went down the Hudson, to West Point.”
“Geewhillikins! Stop it, Phil!” cried Paul, making a grimace. “I tell you what, boys! After all our troubles we’re going to take in the real country from here on. If I don’t see the Falls, ’twill be because you vote against the Big Six going there.”
“And West Point!” This from MacLester, no longer gloomy-viewed. “I’ve wanted to see that place ever so long.”
“Tell you what we can do,” chimed in Billy, who had been listening intently. “Let’s have a sort of elastic program, a go-as-you-please route, governed each day by taking a vote as to how we’ll go from then on, subject always to approval of a majority of the voters.”
“Will that do?” queried Phil humorously. “There are only four votes. Suppose it’s a tie, what then?”
“Aw, Phil!” from the irrepressible Paul. “If it comes to a tie, we’ll keep talking and voting until it’s unanimous or three to one. I guess we’ve all got some horse sense!”