But had he? True, the pink pajamas and a shirt were seen floating about on the bubbling waters, while, with the pole that Hippy had passed to him, Tom was trying to tow them in.
“Hiss! Boom!” With a roar the steam jet shot up once more, carrying the articles of clothing fully a hundred feet into the air. It was as though these pieces of clothing had been shot out of a cannon. Stacy had ventured close to the pool, but now he and Tom Gray ran for safer ground.
As for the spectators, they could not keep back their laughter. Higher, yet higher, soared the pink pajamas, a blotch on the water’s rainbow of colors.
“The tendency of men’s wear is upward,” averred Emma Dean demurely.
That was the last the Overland Riders saw of the lost garments that day. During the next three days, however, Tom’s and Stacy’s things were quite frequently on exhibition in the air, supported by a column of hot water, but it seemed impossible to recover them, so the campers finally decided to abandon their quest and move on in search of other adventures in the Yellowstone Park.
CHAPTER XIX
FISH COOKED ON THE HOOK
Tom Gray and Stacy Brown came in for much chaffing as the party rode away. The Overlanders teased them unmercifully over their experiences at the “Little Fountain.”
In the meantime Tom had devoted some thought to the occurrences that led up to the loss of his clothing, and little by little was getting nearer to the truth than his companions realized. He finally arrived at the conclusion that someone, probably Stacy, had played a trick on him. Then there was the missing soap, and the suds on the surface of the pool. It looked suspicious. There was, however, satisfaction in the conclusion that, though he had lost a shirt and a pair of pink pajamas, Stacy had suffered an even greater loss.
“Jim, where may I find a store?” he asked, turning to the guide.