“They’re only human, and you know what is said about it being the common lot of man to err,” Elmer told him. “But if we make it a practice to learn something every time we find we’ve figured wrong, well soon be all puffed up with knowledge.”
So they chatted, often in a joking vein, as boys sometimes will on whose shoulders troubles fall even as lightly as water on a duck’s back.
“About time we thought of starting out, isn’t it?” asked Amos, showing a return of his eagerness, the others could easily guess why, knowing what they did about his intense interest in the tramp whom their coming had disturbed when in possession of the cabin at the Bend.
“Yes, for now the sun is up, and by degrees the woods will dry out,” Elmer decided. “After such a drenching rain we’ll find every little creek full to the banks, though they’ll soon lower again, I reckon.”
“What about my tuning up, and giving Perk the merry ha! ha?” demanded Wee Willie, who apparently must feel in good voice.
“Whenever you please,” Elmer told him; “we’ll try not to be frightened at the racket, knowing it’s only you.”
Wee Willie looked queerly at him, and then went on to say half humorously:
“Huh! don’t know whether to take that as a compliment or not. Makes me think of that fable of old Æsop about the lion and the donkey going hunting in company, and coming to a cave where a flock of goats had taken refuge. You see, it was arranged that the donkey should go inside, and frighten the game out; while the lion would lie in wait, and kill the goats as they appeared. Well, Jack went in and began to hee-haw, and carry on something fierce; the goats came rushing out, and the lion got his dinner all right. After everything was over the proud donkey appeared, and asked his partner what he thought of his performance. ‘Did I do my part well?’ he wanted to know. ‘Elegantly,’ the lion told him; ‘you made the greatest noise I ever heard; and in fact I myself might have been frightened if I hadn’t known that you were only a donkey!’”
Of course both Amos and Elmer laughed, and Wee Willie, too, joined in, for he was one of that kind of fellows who are capable of appreciating a joke, even at his own expense.
Elmer showed his careful woodcraft training by making sure that every ember of the fire was utterly extinguished before quitting the scene of their night’s camp. He knew full well about the danger that always lurks in a fire left smouldering by those breaking camp; for later on perhaps a violent wind might arise that would carry the red embers into some patch of dead leaves, and thus result in a serious conflagration. Tens of thousands of acres of most valuable woodland have been annually destroyed just through such criminal carelessness. If hunters and campers would only exercise the proper amount of care, most of these forest fires might be avoided, and beautiful timber tracts remain intact, to delight the eyes of those who sought their solitudes for rest and recreation during vacation times.