Page:Cornelia Meigs-The Pirate of Jasper Peak.djvu/192

 he could be moved Oscar himself would take him home; they would go by water, the whole length  of Red Lake, a two or three days’ journey by  canoe. He stated the plan and its urgency very briefly, even more briefly told the need of the  boys’ staying behind.

Both immediately raised their voices in clamorous objection. Dick must get back, he was going to enlist; Hugh wished to go with him, in  fact the two boys had been laying their heads  together and making plans of their own. But in all of their arguments they found Oscar’s calculations had been before them.

Did Dick know the bars and channels and bays between here and Rudolm? He did not. Could he, or could he and Hugh together, be sure of  handling a heavily laden canoe successfully in the  face of chance winds on the open stretches of the  lake? They were not able to say they could. Could John be taken overland, paddled up rivers, carried around portages, risk a meeting in the forest with Half-Breed Jake or some of his followers? No. Or could Oscar go with Dick and