"Right, uv course," said Tom Ross.
Not far beyond the thicket was a brook of uncommon beauty, a clear little stream bordered by wild flowers.
"Paul would stop here to drink an' look at all these here bee-yu-ti-ful scenes," said Shif'less Sol.
"He would," said Henry, "and, being terribly hungry, he would then climb that wild plum tree there beyond the oaks."
"Might throw up a stick an' knock 'em down," said Long Jim.
"There is no fallen wood here," said Henry, "and, being so ragingly hungry, Paul would not hunt for a stick. He'd shin up that tree at once."
"Tree itself will show," said Tom Ross.
"And it certainly does show," said Henry as they looked.
Little pieces of the bark on the trunk were broken off, evidently by a heavy body as it had struggled upward. Shif'less Sol also found two plum skins on the ground not far from the tree. The shiftless one held them up for the others to see.
"Now, ain't that Paul all over?" Tom Ross said. "Knows all about how the Carthygenians fit the French, an' how the English licked the Persians, but here he goes droppin' plum skins on the groun' fur any wanderin' warrior to see."