As the evening grew, all of them felt an inclination to turn in. They had covered many miles, and not over level ground, since the morning, and with those heavy packs on their backs it had proved to be quite a tiresome journey.
Tubby, in particular, was yawning terrifically, nor did he take the trouble to put his hand over his extended jaws. Often Andy would pretend to shudder, and warn him to be more careful, or both of his chums would fall into the huge opening.
Tubby would make no reply; he was too sleepy to enter into any argument. He may have had an object in his repeated yawning, knowing how contagious it is, and that presently he was bound to start both the others along similar lines.
Presently Rob was seen to copy his example. Andy followed suit.
“Guess we might as well turn in,” said the latter, with a grin, as he caught the eye of Tubby on him. “Tubby here will surely fall to pieces unless he gets some sleep.”
“Huh!” grunted Tubby scornfully. “Now that you’ve begun, too, Andy, and Rob gives like signs, we’ll be making it unanimous. What about the fire, though? Do we let that cheery blaze die out during the night?”
“No need of that,” said Rob immediately. “It promises to be pretty chilly, and our blankets aren’t any too thick at that; so I plan to get up once in a while and throw an armful of wood on the fire. If I don’t oversleep I think I can keep the thing going up to morning. Andy, if you chance to wake up any time, and find that the fire has got down to red ashes, you might crawl out and take a turn. Plenty of fuel handy, you know.”
“I’ll try and remember, Rob,” promised the other, “though I must say I do sleep as sound as a top. If you depended on me to attend to the fire the chances are it would expire long before dawn. But I may wake up once or twice, and I’ll do my duty, Rob, only too gladly. Pile in, Tubby. Your blanket is over there on the left of the entrance, and we’d have a nice time of it letting you crawl over us.”
Rob did not follow immediately, for he was busying himself at the fire. They were careful to take their belongings into the brush shanty with them, except certain things that could just as well hang high from a limb of the tree. There was no sign of rain or snow, so that they did not worry on that score.
Finally Rob came crawling inside the shelter. He fancied that one or both of his chums might already have dropped asleep, and did not mean to do anything to disturb them. Yes, he could hear Tubby’s heavy breathing, which announced that the stout boy had drifted across the border of slumberland and was perhaps already dreaming of Hampton folks, or some past scenes in his ambitious career as a scout.