“Should think you did!” said Art. “You woke me up about forty-’leven times bumping your back into mine. I wasn’t very cold. Been warmer, though.”
“If it’s cold here,” put in Rob, “at four thousand feet, what’ll it be on Washington at six thousand?”
“I guess we’ll sleep inside on Washington,” said Mr. Rogers.
“Well, you can bunk outside, and the rest of us’ll go in,” laughed Frank. “Look, there’s the sun!”
Sure enough, in the east, across the white cloud which hung below them in the Notch, and beyond the wall of the Lafayette range, a great red ball was rising. It seemed to heave up above the mists as though somebody was pushing it from underneath, and as it got up and cast its rays across the Notch to their feet, Lafayette looked like a huge island of rock above a white sea of vapor. This vapor rolled up and blew away as they were eating breakfast. The morning was fine and clear. Mr. Rogers pointed toward Moosilauke. “That’s where we’ll be at night,” he said.
“It won’t be, if we don’t start,” said Art. “Got your flag, Peanut, or did you leave it on the south peak?”
“I got it, all right,” Peanut replied. “Are we ready? How far is it, Mr. Rogers?”
“Hm--four miles down this mountain,--ten to the base of Moosilauke--five miles up--nineteen miles.”
“A pickle,” said Peanut, and pack on back he plunged over the summit, and down the path into the spruces, the rest trailing behind.
“Go after him, Rob,” said the Scout Master, “and hold him back. He’ll tire his front leg muscles all out, if he doesn’t break his neck.”
Rob went, and held Peanut by main force till the rest came up.
“You couldn’t have held me,” cried Peanut, “if I hadn’t wanted to say that we could go down easier with poles. We ought to have brought our poles. What can we cut for ’em?”
“Moose wood,” said Art. “I saw moose wood a bit further down, as we came up.”
So the party plunged on, finding the steep descent quick work, the chief difficulty being not to go too fast. At the first sign of moose wood, Art gave a cry, and soon the whole party had cut staves six feet long.
“I’m going to leave this pretty green and white bark on mine, and cut my initials in it to-night,” Lou announced.
Shouldering their packs again, they put out the staves ahead of them, threw their weight forward, and with this assistance descended with even greater rapidity and much more safety. They stopped in the Flume only long enough for a drink, and again plunged down. As they came out into the level pasture near the base, Peanut slowed down.