“It’s going to be a lively tune while it lasts, I’ll bet,” grinned Joe. “Let’s make a flank movement, and by the time they get there, we’ll be out in the river a bit.”
“But how about George and the others?” asked Jack, in perplexed tones.
“You’ve got me there, Jack; but come on, or that crowd will be away ahead of us in no time.”
Already Colonel Ellison’s tall form was following the students.
Pierre Dufour, leaning back on the cushioned seat, rubbed his hands with satisfaction, and murmured, “Ma foi, we have it, zis boat-house, yes.”
The academy boys had again taken up their jolly refrain; and soon their forms were lost to view in the dim and silent woods.
Jack and Joe found that their plan of executing a side movement was much more difficult than they had imagined. Neither was sure of the way, and the woods were now very dark. An astonishing number of obstructions seemed to spring up on all sides. Joe tripped over a fallen log and fell in the midst of a mass of bushes; Jack ran full tilt against a low-hanging branch, and soon they were floundering about in such a dense growth of underbrush that Jack halted.
“What silly chumps to come in here!” he exclaimed, impatiently. “If those mean lobsters weren’t nearly yelling their heads off, I’d never know what direction they took.”
“Fierce lot of trees and stuff,” grumbled Joe. “Come within a foot of these vines and they make a grab for a fellow.”
“And that branch swooped down and banged me on purpose,” grinned Jack. “Aren’t we in a mess, all tangled up in the woods? Redfern’s going to catch fits; and I guess George will be yanked back to Nyack.”