“Is that you?” muttered Nelson sheepishly.
“Hu—hallo, Tommy!” grunted Dan, pulling him up.
“‘Hallo, Tu-tu-tu-Tommy’ be bu-bu-blowed!” muttered that youth as he found his feet and viewed Dan angrily; “wha-wha-what kind of a fu-fu-funny fu-fu-fool are you?”
At that instant the rain, which had momentarily let up as though interested in the proceedings, came down harder than ever, and the Four crowded inside the hut, Dan and Nelson, however, keeping close to the doorway and casting uneasy glances into the darkness. At length the matter was explained, and Bob, lighting a match, advanced toward the back of the cabin, the others following breathlessly and gazing nervously over his shoulder. As the match flared up, there lay the skeleton, and even Bob drew a sudden breath and backed away a foot, thereby stepping on Nelson’s toes and eliciting an exclamation of pain that almost resulted in another stampede to the door. It was Tom who stayed the rout.
“Huh!” he cried; “it’s nothing but a calf!”
And so it proved. Grown suddenly brave, they examined more carefully, and Bob began to tease Dan and Nelson for being frightened at the skeleton of a calf.
“That’s all right,” said Nelson, “but I noticed you were looking up the exits a minute ago!”
“Let’s have that fire,” suggested Dan. “Any matches left?”
Tom had a pocket full of them, and in a minute they had found several dried branches on the floor and a box nailed to the wall. They tore down the latter and soon had a fire going. As the heat began to penetrate their chilled bodies their spirits arose.
“I wish it had been a human skeleton,” said Dan regretfully.