"Possibly he is on some mission," replied the Professor. "It does not seem likely that he has determined to desert us; but it may be he has grown tired of this existence. It is a curious phase of these matters, however, which, I believe, will apply in his case, that when he goes back he will find his old life a very disquieting one to him, and I predict he will be here again within a month."
"By that time we will be on our way toward his section, and I hope we shall have the opportunity of meeting him," responded John.
What required more attention than any part of the equipment, aside from the ammunition, was the structure of the wagon. This had to be a fort for them, and so arranged that it could be put up to meet an attack from any quarter.
But this, unfortunately, left the yaks exposed to the assaults of the spears and arrows, and John suggested a novel addition to the wagon equipment.
"My idea is this: As we are all pretty strong, excepting the Professor, to stand the march on foot, I would convert our wagon into a vehicle which would carry the fort with us, and this fort, whenever we camped, could be set up so that the yaks would be inside, and thus protected as well as ourselves.
"To effect this the more readily, my plan would be to make three sections of boards, in the form of a fence, each section to be six feet high and ten feet long. These should be either folded together in the middle lengthwise, so they could be nested together and swung below the axles between the wheels, and set up to form a square at one side of the wagon.
"One side of the wagon body could be made to be let down, so as to form a protection below the body of the wagon. Within that enclosure the yaks could be stationed, if we should be attacked, and for the purpose of defense, four of us would be within the enclosure and two in the wagon to protect it from that side.
Fig. 33. The Portable Fort.
"The sketch which I have made shows these features, in which you will see (Fig. 33), the side boards (A) hinged along the middle line, as at B. These would be held at the outer corners by posts C. In the sketch the side board of the wagon body has been let down, so access can be had to the wagon."