"The forward compartment was pretty well smashed, but another hour's
work in the morning will make the old girl as good as ever."
"She'll never be the boat the Na-che was," groaned Jonas mournfully
from his fire. "What are we all going to do now, with just one boat?"
For a moment no one spoke, then Enoch said drily, "Well, Jonas, seeing
that you and I don't really belong to the expedition anyhow and that we
invited ourselves, I think it's up to us to walk."
There was a chorus of protests at this. But Enoch silenced the others
by saying with great earnestness:
"Milton, you know I'm right, don't you?"
Milton, who had been saying nothing, now raised himself on his elbow.
"Two of you fellows will have to walk it; which two we'd better decide
by lot. We're up against a rotten situation. It would be bad, even if
I weren't hurt. But with a cripple on your hands, well--it's awful for
you chaps! Simply awful!"
"With good luck, and no Survey work, how many days are we from the
Ferry?" asked Enoch.
"Between four and five, is what Milton and I calculated this
afternoon," replied Harden.
"What's the nearest help by way of land?"
"There's a ranch, about eighty miles south of here. I guess the
traveling would be about as bad as anybody would hope for.
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