I was just trembling all over when I heard him say that.
"It was the only way he could do, anyway," I said. "It must come out somewhere."
Mr. Elting said, "We're not blaming you, my boy, nor Winton, either." Then he said, kind of serious, "Let me go ashore, Uncle Jeb. Some of you row over to the cave. Here, some of you boys, come along with me. Who wants to volunteer to go back through the mountains? George," he said (he's in a Boston troop, that fellow George), "you row across and get some lanterns—quick. You go with him, Harry; get your fists on those oars—hurry up. Bring some rope and an aid kit. You stay with Uncle Jeb, Roy."
Gee, I can hardly tell you how things happened. The next second fellows were hurrying back and forth, getting in and out of boats, while the one boat skimmed across to the camp landing.
In a half a minute Mr. Elting and about a dozen scouts were standing on the cove shore, waiting for the boat to come back, and meanwhile we rowed down along the south shore to where the cave is. It's about half way down to the outlet. You can see about where it is. Several other boats went down there with us. Westy was in one of them and I made him come in our boat, because now that Bert was gone, maybe dead, and Skinny, too, I just felt as if I'd like to have one of my patrol near me—I just felt that way. Besides, Westy was my special chum and after all I liked him best of any. When you're feeling kind of shaky, that's the time you like to have one of your own patrol with you—you bet.
Soon we heard the boat coming back and could see the lanterns bobbing. "Pull hard," I heard Mr. Elting call from the shore. It sounded awful clear in the night. The fellows in the boat rowed straight for us and gave us an aid kit and a couple of lanterns.
"That you, Blakeley?" I heard a fellow say. It was young Mr. Winter; he's Mr. Temple's secretary, and he always spends his vacations at Temple Camp. "Who's there?" he asked.
"Uncle Jeb and Westy and I," I said; "I don't know who's in the other boats; everybody, I guess."
They didn't stop but a second and they pulled for where Mr. Elting and the fellows were waiting. I could hear their voices and see the lanterns rocking, as they hiked up the side of the mountains.
"Maybe I ought to have gone with them," I said.