Steve Brown joined Sam, and, turning occasionally to make sure that none of the nineteen youths who comprised the squad was straggling, the two councillors and the boys about them chatted and laughed and had a very merry time of it in spite of the steady downpour of rain. The first half-mile was across country and, toward the end of it, the going was mostly up-hill. At last, though, they came suddenly on the road, a narrow and ever-winding country lane just wide enough for one vehicle. Fortunately, the soil was mostly sand and the roadway was consequently fairly dry. At least, there were few of the puddles and muddy stretches which they were to encounter later on. The woods closed in on each side of them, although occasionally they had a brief view of the lake, grey and sullen, a half-mile or so below. It was shortly after reaching the road that Sam called the first halt after consulting what he called his “one-jewelled watch.”
Some of the boys had not yet found their second wind and were glad to perch themselves for a few minutes along the side of the road. The weather was by no means chilly and those whose raincoats were of rubber found them much too warm, especially as they also had their blanket-rolls across back and chest. Several begged to be allowed to remove their coats, but this neither Sam nor Steve thought it wise to consent to. A few minutes past three they went on, some of the older and stronger fellows inclined to grumble over the slowness of the pace. The road presently turned abruptly toward the east and led them out on the summit of a sparsely-wooded ridge from which they had a view of the lower end of the lake and of the country on the other side. On a fair day, as Steve said, they might have seen the camp very easily, for they had reached a point nearly halfway around the end of the lake and much of the eastern shore was visible. The councillors discussed the advisability of cutting across near the lake and trusting to pick up the road again later, and the boys were much in favour of the plan, but it was finally decided that, although they might gain in distance, the more difficult travelling would equalise matters and that it would be best to keep to the highway even though it insisted on fairly turning its back on their destination.