"Where are you going?" Joe asked quickly.
"Back to the tractor," the lieutenant replied. "Hurry! We still have time, but none to waste."
"But we can't repair the tractor," Frank argued.
"No, we can't," Lieutenant Mackinson admitted, "but we may do something even better than that."
"What?" queried all the lads at once.
"Come with me and we'll see what can be done."
And without granting them any further information then, Lieutenant Mackinson swung his share of the burdens to his shoulder and started down the rough mountain road, the others following, and likewise bearing the various necessities which, only a short time before, they had labored so industriously to carry up the mountain.
As they neared the point where they had left the wrecked machine the young officer turned to Joe, who was nearest to him.
"Do you remember," he asked, "seeing that wire of the old telegraph line just about a hundred yards below where we ran the truck into the wall?"
"I saw it," Joe admitted, "but I didn't pay any further attention to it."