"That"s too much work," commented Fenn.
"You"re getting so fat you"re lazy," remarked Ned. "But I think myself walking is a little too tiresome."
"Oh, I only just mentioned it," Bart hurried to add. "I don"t insist on it. Let"s hear what Frank has to say."
"I"m in favor of going camping," was Frank"s answer. "I think it would be fun to go to the farther end of the big woods."
"Away off there?" asked Ned in some surprise.
"That"s a good distance," commented Bart.
"And lonesome," added Fenn.
"But it"s just right for camping," Frank went on. "We don"t want to put up our tent in the middle of a village. The wilder place we can find the better."
"There"s something in that," Bart admitted. "I"d like to camp where we couldn"t hear a railroad whistle or a factory bell. But what"s your idea going so far into the woods, Frank?"
"Nothing in particular, I only happened to think of it," but Frank"s manner showed that he had some reason for the suggestion, and did not want to tell his chums. Ned was the only one of the three who noticed it, however, and he concluded to say nothing, but to keep close watch over Frank.
"The far end of the big woods," mused Bart aloud. "That is the place Mr.
Hardman was inquiring about. By the way, Frank, did you ever catch him?"
"No, he went to Lockport. I wrote to a friend there, as I didn"t have time to go myself, and I got an answer that no one of that name was at any of the hotels. So I concluded there wasn"t much use bothering any more. But I"ll find him some day, and when I do--" Frank paused. His chums looked at him, wondering at the emphasis he put in his words. "But let"s talk about camping," the boy went on. "What do you say? Shall we go to the woods?"
"Suits me," remarked Ned, and the others agreed that it would be as much fun, for the vacation season, as anything they could propose.
They were soon busy talking over the details, arranging about the tent and the cooking utensils, and discussing the best way of transporting their camp stuff. They made some inquiries the next day and learned that by going to Lockport they could enter the woods by an old trail, seldom used, and could travel much more easily than if they worked their way in by the corduroy road.
"That"s what we"ll do," decided Ned. "Then, Frank, maybe you can have a chance to find your friend, Mr. Hardman."
"I don"t believe I"ll look for him," Frank replied. "We"ll not have much time in Lockport anyhow. I have another plan now," but he did not tell his chums what it was.
Two weeks later school closed, and the boys completed their preparations for going camping. They packed up their tent and other stuff and shipped it to Lockport. They followed it two days later, and one bright morning, having seen their things loaded upon a wagon, they started off for the depths of the big woods.
CHAPTER XIV
THE TELEPHONE WIRE
"Well, this is something like camping," observed Bart that evening, when, having pitched their tent in midst of a particularly lonely bit of the big woods, they sat down to rest. The selection of the spot had been Frank"s, and, though his chums had wondered somewhat at it, they agreed with him that it was a good place.
There was a little stream running through the forest, not far from where they pitched their tent, and their first attempt was rewarded by a catch of several fine fish. Fenn, who had been elected cook, soon had them frying with some bits of bacon, and Bart, leaning back comfortably against a big tree, made the remark quoted above.
"Say, are you a visitor, or only a day boarder?" asked Fenn, as he looked up from his cooking and observed Bart. "There"s lots to be done yet.
Lanterns to fill, the cots to get ready, and a trench to dig around the tent to keep the water away when it rains. You"d better get busy."
"Just as you say," answered Bart good-naturedly. "I"m willing to do my share."
He got a shovel and began digging the trench. Ned was busy with the lanterns, and seeing that the guy ropes were tight, while Frank looked after putting the folding cots up, and getting out the blankets. In a short time the camp was in fair shape, and Fenn announced that supper was ready.
In the cool of the evening, after the meal, they sat about the tent, before the campfire, and felt very well satisfied with the place.
"To-morrow we"ll take our guns and take a tramp through the woods," said Bart. "I don"t s"pose there"s anything much to shoot, but we may get a chance at a hawk or something."
"Hawks aren"t good to eat," remarked Fenn.
"Who said they were? Just because you"re cook you needn"t think every time we take our guns we"re going out to stock up the pantry. We"ll kill the hawks and save the farmers" chickens. They"ll appreciate that."
"I don"t believe there"s a farmer within two miles of here," commented Ned. "We"re quite a way from civilization. It"s five miles to Lockport, the nearest town."
Tramping through the woods the next day the chums found the forest even wilder than they had antic.i.p.ated. There were no trails or paths to be seen, and it looked as though few, if any persons, ever visited the vicinity. But the boys liked it all the better on this account. As Bart had said, there were no sounds of civilization to be heard; no locomotive whistles or factory bells.
"I had no idea there was such a wilderness in this part of the country,"
remarked Ned, as they walked along, looking in vain for something to shoot at. "I wonder if we"ll come across a lonely cabin, where a hermit or a wild man lives?"
"It"s lonesome enough for any sort of a hermit," said Fenn, as he paused and looked about him. The silence of the deep woods was broken only by the wind moving the branches of the trees, and by the songs of birds. "It looks like the jumping-off place. I guess--h.e.l.lo! What"s that?" and he pointed to something up in a tree.
"A hawk?" questioned Bart, raising his gun.
"No, it looks like a telephone wire."
"A telephone wire in these woods?" inquired Ned.
"That"s what it is," Fenn went on, as he stepped back to get a better view, and caught sight of the two twisted strands of insulated copper.
"There"s no mistaking a telephone wire."
"That"s queer," murmured Frank. "I wonder if--" then he paused. "Let"s follow it and see where it leads to," he added, after a moment.
"What for?" asked Bart.
"Why, just to find out," Frank answered. "If there"s a telephone wire there may be people near at hand!"
"I don"t know"s it makes much difference if there are," was Ned"s comment. "These woods are open to any one who wants to come in, just as they are to us. Why should we bother to follow a telephone wire?"
"Oh, I just mentioned it," Frank hastened to add. "I"m not particular."
The wire was fastened to trees, about twenty feet above the ground, and ran in a zig-zag direction through the woods. It had evidently been put up by men not familiar with the telephone business, for no attempt had been made to go in a straight line, and, in some places the porcelain insulators were carelessly fastened to the trees. The wire was run through the branches with little regard for the safety of the conductor, and the boys noticed several places where better support might have been had for it, than was taken advantage of by those who put it up.
The chums tramped for an hour or more, coming across the wire several times in the course of their wanderings. Frank was generally the first one to see it, and finally Ned remarked:
"You must be very much interested in that, Frank.""
"No, not specially. I"d like to know where it runs to, that"s all."
"You can trace it this afternoon."