“Wall, from what I’ve heard ’bout you byes ye kin do it if anyone kin.”
“Would you advise us to take snow-shoes?” Bob asked.
“Sure would,” Sim replied. “Ye see, while the snow’s gittin’ prutty thin in spots round here, up thar in the thick woods whar the sun don’t git more’n a peek in, ’twill be prutty deep an’ they’re light ter carry. I got two pair o’ good ones here that I’ll lend yer.”
The boys thanked him both for his advice and the loan of the shoes.
“How about guns? Ye got any?” Sim asked.
“Why, no. You see, I hadn’t thought about taking any.”
“Ye’d better think right serious about it,” Sim declared. “Never kin tell what yer goin’ ter run into up thar in that wilderness. Might run into wolves, though ’tain’t likely.”
“We know it’s possible though,” Jack declared, and proceeded to give the old storekeeper an account of the fight they had had, only a few months before, with a big pack of timber wolves.
“Yer don’t say,” Sim said, as soon as he had finished. “’Tain’t often a pack o’ those fellers gets down so far south now-a-days. But it’s best ter be on the safe side and yer better take guns along. I gotta fine 32 Winchester an’ a couple o’ automatics that ye’re welcome to.”
The boys thanked him again for his kindness, and by ten o’clock they were all ready to start so far as equipment went.