The lot of us couldn't scare a baby now!" "I can still say, boo!" Prescott laughed.
"Is it wise to try to do so much walking ?" questioned Darry, as Greg went back to the creek to wash the blood from the shallow cut on his forehead.
"Yes; for I don't want to grow stiff until I'm where I can take care of myself," Dick answered, taking a few more steps.

"No; don't help me.

I want to move alone, and I'm strong enough for that." So Dave threw himself on the grass to rest until he bethought himself that, wet as they all were, it might be a good idea to build a fire for drying purposes.
He busied himself in that way, while Dick started slowly, very painfully, down the road.

Only a step at a time could he go.
Greg, returning, ran after him, but Prescott sent him back, so Holmes stretched himself on the ground near the fire.
At times Dick found he could move about very easily.

Then the hip would stiffen and he would be obliged to lean against a tree for a few moments.
For ten minutes or longer he moved thus down the road.
"I'd better be getting back soon, I guess," he mused, "or I may find it too much of a job." Looking back, as he turned, he could just make out the glow of the fire, very dim, indeed, from where he stood.
"I've got a beacon," smiled Dick, as he rested against a tree trunk just off the road.