“If I’m still alive,” Quiz said wearily. “I feel as if I’d walked a hundred miles today.”
Russ grinned. “Not quite. Maybe twenty.”
Jerry looked up from a heaping mess kit of beef stew. “Twenty miles! Say, that’s pretty good. Bet you never figured you’d ever be walking that far, eh, Sandy?”
“I’ll say.” Sandy, who had removed his shoes and socks, lifted one bare foot and blew on it. “The soles of my feet feel all puffed up.”
“Before you go to bed soak them in the river,” his uncle told him. “Matter of fact, we can all use a good bath.”
After they had finished eating, the boys teamed up to wash the mess kits and pans. Then they stripped off their clothes on the river bank.
“Last one in gets KP tomorrow night,” Russ said. He dove off a small bluff, cleaving the water in a perfect racing dive. Prince was right at his heels, yelping excitedly.
“Boy, that dog sure loves to swim,” Jerry said.
Russ surfaced and flicked water at the Doberman with the back of his hand. “He’s a regular porpoise. Come on in, boys; it’s great.”
Sandy walked gingerly down the steep bank and stepped into knee-deep water. “Wow, is it cold!”