"Humph!" said Peanut, "I guess we're as strong as the next."
Then he realized that Mr. Sheldon had got a rise out of him, and grinned.
"What's the weather going to be to-morrow?" asked the Scout Master.
"Clear," the other man replied. "I didn't hear the mountain talking as I came across the knoll."
"The mountain what?" said Rob.
"Talking, we say. You get it real still down here sometimes in the valley, and way up on top there, if you listen sharp, you can hear the wind rushing through the trees. Then we look out for bad weather."
"That's a funny way to put it," Lou mused. "It makes the mountains seem sort of human."
"Well, you get to know 'em pretty well, living under 'em all the time, that's a fact," the man answered. "A good sleep to you."
"Good-night," called the Scouts, as he disappeared.
As soon as the supper things were washed, they were ready for bed, curling up in their blankets around the fire, for it was chilly here, even though it was the night before the Fourth—a fact Peanut quite forgot till he had rolled himself all up for the night. He crawled out again, set off a couple of firecrackers, and came back to bed.
