"Do you know I believe it's most supper time--I'm getting powerful empty," declared the insatiable Skeeter.

"Supper time! Nonsense! I betcher 'tain't three o'clock," and Frank peered knowingly at the sun. "That mountain over yonder is so high, that's the reason the sun is getting behind it. I betcher anything on top of the mountain it is as light as midday."

"I do wish we could find Jude's cabin. This has been the longest walk we ever have taken," sighed Lil. "Not that I am the least bit tired."

Lil was not quite so robust as Lucy, but wild horses would not drag from her the admission that she could not keep up with her chum.

"Let's sit down a minute and rest," suggested Frank, "and kinder get our bearings. I'm not sure but perhaps it would be less loony if we start right off for home."

The sun had set for them and it was growing quite gloomy down in the valley where the path had finally led them. Of course they well knew that it was shining brightly on those who were so fortunate as to be on the heights, but the thing is they were in the depths.

"All right, let's go home," agreed Skeeter. "We will strike them at supper, I feel sure."

They retraced their steps, stopping occasionally to argue about the trail. There seemed to be a great many more bypaths going up the mountain than they had noticed going down.

"This is right. I know, because here is the fox grape vine we stripped on the way down," cried Lucy, when there was more doubt than usual about whether or not they were on the right road.

"Well, more have grown mighty fast," declared Skeeter. "Look, this is still full."

"But we couldn't reach the high ones and decided like Brer Fox that they were sour."

"Brer Fox, indeed! That wasn't Brer Fox but the one in Aesop," laughed Lil.

"Well, he acted just like Brer Fox would have acted, anyhow, and I bet Aesop got him from Uncle Remus. But see, Lil! This isn't the same vine.

We never could have skipped all these grapes. Only look what beauts!"

"We might just as well pick 'em," said Skeeter, suiting the action to the word. "They might come in handy later on for eats if we can't find our way home."

"Not find our way home!" scoffed Frank. "Why, home is just over the mountain. All we have to do is keep straight up and go down on the other side. These paths have mixed us up but the mountain is the same old cove. He can't mix us up."

CHAPTER XV

BABES IN THE WOOD

The pull up that mountain was about the hardest one any of those young people had ever had. As a rule Lil and Lucy required no help from the boys, as they prided themselves upon being quite as active as any members of the opposite s.e.x, but now they were glad of the a.s.sistance the boys shyly offered.

"Just catch on to my belt, Lil; I can pull you up and carry the grapes and my gun, too," insisted Frank, while Skeeter made Lucy take hold of his gun so he could help her.

"We are most to the top now," they encouraged the girls. Their way lay over rocks and through brambles, as they had given up trying to keep to a trail since the trails seemed to lead nowhere. They argued if they could get to the top they could see where they were.

The top was reached, but, strange to say, it wasn't a top, after all, but just an excrescence on the side of the mountain, a kind of a hump.

It led down sharply into a dimple covered with beautiful green gra.s.s, and then towering up on the other side of this dimple was more and more mountain.

"Well, ain't this the limit? I didn't know there was a place like this on our mountain!" exclaimed Frank.

"Th'ain't! This is no more our mountain than I'm Josephus," said Skeeter.

"Do you think we are lost?" asked Lil.

"Well, we are certainly not found," and Skeeter's young countenance took on a very grim expression.

"Somebody please kick me, and then I'll feel better," groaned Frank.

"Why kick you? You didn't lose us; we lost ourselves," said Lucy.

"You just say that to keep me from feeling bad. I said all the time we were on our own mountain and I was certainly the one to suggest our climbing up to the top. I don't see how or when we managed to get in this mix-up."

"You see, we were down at the foot of the mountain and we must have spilled over on another one without knowing it. They so kinder run together at the bottom," soothed Lucy.

Lil was so worn out after the climb that she could do no more than sink to the ground; but she smiled bravely at poor self-accusing Frank as she gasped out:

"What a grand, romantic spot to play 'Babes in the Wood'! I bid to be a babe and let you boys be the robins."

"In my opinion it is n.o.body's fault that we have got lost, but lost we are. Of course Frank and I ought to have had more sense, but we didn't have it, and I reckon what we ain't got ain't our fault.--But if it wasn't our fault for losing you girls, it is sure up to us to get you home again and now we had better set to it somehow."

Skeeter deposited his gunnysack of squirrels beside the one of grapes and threw himself down beside Lil on the green, green gra.s.s of the unexpected dimple.

"Well, Lil and I are not blaming you. If we haven't got as much sense as you boys, I dare one of you to say so. We could have told we were getting lost just as much as either one of you, and it is no more your business to get us home than it is our business to get you home, is it, Lil?"

"I--I--reckon not," faltered Lil; "but I've got to rest a while before I can get myself or anybody else home." Poor Lil! She was about all in but she kept up a brave smile.

"There must be water here or this gra.s.s would not be so pizen green in August," said Skeeter. "Let's go find the spring first, Frank." The boys wanted to get off together to discuss ways and means and hold a council of war.

"Say, Skeeter, what are we going to do?" asked Frank, as they made for a pile of rocks down in the middle of the dimple, where it seemed likely a spring might be hidden.

"Darnifiknow!"

"Do you know it's 'most night? I thought when we got to the top there would be lots of light, but all the time we were coming up the sun was going down, and blamed if it hasn't set now."

"Yes, and no moon until 'most morning. What will Miss Douglas and Miss Helen say to us?"

"I'm not worrying about what they will say, but what will they think? I am afraid Lil can't take another step tonight. She is game as game, but she is just about flopped."

"We might make a basket of our hands and carry her thataway," suggested Skeeter.

"Yes, we might! Lil is not so big but she is no dollbaby, and I don't believe we could pack her a mile if our lives depended on it."

"Well, what will we do? Can you think of anything?"

"Well, I think that one of us must stay with the girls and the other one go snooping around to try to find somebody, a house, or something. You stay with them and I'll go. I bid to!"

"All--right!"

But Skeeter did think, considering he was at least two months older than Frank and at least three inches taller, that he should be the one to go the front. The role of home guard did not appeal to him much, but when a fellow says "he bids to," that settles it.