“Well, I oughtn’t to let you go. I’m responsible to your parents for you chaps. But, after all, you’re big enough to take care of yourselves. All right, but be back at the landing before the sun gets off the middle of the lake. Promise me that?”
The boys promised, and set off down the trail in high spirits, some sandwiches, hastily made, and some sweet chocolate in their pockets for lunch. There were a dozen or more other parties starting down the trail, too, or getting ready to start, so the scouts made the descent in record time, in order to be sure of getting a boat.
Once out on the water, they decided it would be too much of a pull to try to circle the entire lake, under the cliffs—a matter of about twenty miles or more. But they could pull straight for the grotto on the east side of the lake, beyond the Phantom Ship, a matter of five miles, then cut across to Llao Rock, about four and a half miles, and then four miles home.
“Sure we can row that,” said Bennie. “That’s only thirteen and a half miles. Call it thirteen, ’cause we won’t land, probably, at Llao.”
“Sure,” answered Spider. “Easy.”
Well, it was easy to the grotto, which they finally found by rowing along the edge of the cliffs. The grotto is simply a shallow cave, only a few feet up from the water, but once you are in it you look out on the blue lake, through the opening, as if you were looking through a big window. The boys ate their lunch in here, and then started directly across for Llao Rock.
But the very first thing that they noticed was that the wind had come up, blowing directly against them, and with the wind a chop of water, which went slap, slap, slap under their bow. They pulled hard, and made slow progress.
About half-way across, Bennie, who was rowing, said, “You pull a while, Spider. I’m through for a bit.”
Spider took the oars and tugged. The wind and waves were certainly rising. They were slapping the how hard now, and swinging around so that the rower was half the time tugging at one oar or the other to keep his course.
“You know what your uncle said,” Spider panted. “Strikes me we’re a long way from shore, and this old lake is kicking up a sea. I think we better turn with the wind, and beat it back to the other shore, and then make for home.”