Page:Hugh Pendexter--The young timber-cruisers.djvu/161

 “Ordinary man would have clipped ye good and hard,” added Abner. “What possessed ye to do it?”

Stanley, his cheeks two coals, hung his head in dejection. “If there’s a high cliff handy I guess you’d better shove me off,” he muttered. “I was simply curious to see if the leaves were dry enough to burn.”

“Any other experiments ye’d like to try?” asked Abner.

Stanley shook his head. “I’m sorry. Seems as if all I’ve said on this trip is that ‘I’m sorry’ for one thing or another.”

“Can ye think of any more breaks he can make, Bub?” queried Abner anxiously.

Bub gravely shook his head. “The only thing I can think of is to let him carry the rifle and observe if he looks down the muzzle to see if it’s loaded.”

“I don’t blame you two,” cried Stanley. “I ought to have stayed at the mills. I’m not fit to be out alone. Of course I had no idea that I couldn’t stamp out the blaze in a second. It seemed impossible that it could get beyond my control.”

Abner slowly rose to a sitting posture and not unkindly said, “Younker, I ain’t going to jaw ye; ’cause it’s too serious. I’d carry on