They knew none of the delights of sleeping in woodland quarters, with
only a canvas or bark roof, or perhaps a few spruce boughs, between them
and the sky--
"While a music wild and solemn
From the pine-tree's height
Rolls its vast and sea-like volume
On the wind of night."
Small wonder, then, that when they heard Cyrus Garst tell of his
camping excursions, of his jolly times, long tramps, and hairbreadth
escapes, their hearts swelled with a tremendous longing to accompany him
on the trip into northern Maine which he was then projecting for the
following October.
Now, Cyrus at the first start-off conceived a liking for these English
fellows, to whom, for his father's sake, he played the part of genial
host. With a lordly recognition of his superior years he pronounced them
"first-rate youngsters, with lots of snap in them." And as the
acquaintance progressed, Neal Farrar, with his erect figure, broad
chest, musical voice, and wide-apart gray eyes,--so clear and honest
that their glance was a beam,--proved a personage so likable that the
student adopted him as "chum," forgetting those five years which had
been a gulf between them.
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