"I think," said Nat, "that it is the most terrible agent of destruction I have ever seen."
"I t-t-t-think we need a w-w-w-ash," stuttered Ding-dong.
They burst into a laugh as they looked at one another and recognized the truth of their whimsical comrade's words. With faces blackened and blistered by their fiery ordeal and with their clothes scorched and singed in a hundred places, they were indeed a vagabond looking crew.
"I'll bet if old Colonel Morello could see us now we'd scare him away," laughed Joe, although it pained his blistered lips to indulge in merriment.
"Wall, there's a stream a little way down in that hollow," said Cal, pointing, "we'll have a good wash when we reach it."
"And maybe I won't be glad, too," laughed Nat, setting the brakes for the hill ahead of them.
Suddenly Ding-dong piped up.
"S-s-s-s-say, m-m-m-may I m-m-m-make a remark?"