Page:Boy scouts in the White Mountains; the story of a long hike (IA boyscoutsinwhite00eato).pdf/289

 right. You go back to the hut—and take it easy, too."

The man and both the women who had been rescued said goodbye to Peanut, Rob and Art over and over, shaking their hands till the boys grew embarrassed.

"Heaven knows what would have become of us if they hadn't heard our shout!" the uninjured woman exclaimed, again close to tears. "We were lost, and Bessie was hurt, and we'd have perished!"

"Not so bad as that," the doctor said, with a smile, "because the cloud cleared, and you'd have found the path, and we four would have come by just the same."

Peanut's face clouded. He had thought of himself and his two companions as rescuers, and here the doctor was proving that if they hadn't done it, somebody else would! The doctor evidently guessed his thoughts, for he added:

"That's not taking away any credit from these Scouts, though. If we hadn't happened to be headed for Washington you would undoubtedly have been in bad trouble, and if the cloud had lasted longer, you might have been in for a night on the mountain without shelter, and that never did anybody any good. Pretty good work for the boys, I think!"

Peanut looked happy again, and the two parties shouted goodbye to each other, as those with the