  Two months later at Fort Good Faith, Dick received a letter which caused him to exclaim excitedly and then call out in an eager voice to Sandy, who stood just across the room conversing with a half-breed trapper from Willing River. “Sandy, come here!” Dick’s chum swung obediently on his heel and hurried over. “Yes, Dick. What’s up now?” “A letter about the dinosaur,” explained Dick. “Arrived here just now from the Canadian Geographical Society.” Sandy’s expression changed suddenly from eagerness to surprise. “Our dinosaur up there at the Lake of Many Islands!” he gasped. Dick nodded. “The very same.” “You mean to tell me you’ve been corresponding with the Canadian Geographical Society about that mountain of bones?” inquired the other wonderingly. “Yes, Sandy, that’s what I’ve been doing.” The next question was a very natural one: “But why?” “To prove the old saying that the man who laughs last laughs best,” answered Dick enigmatically. “What do you mean by that?” “I mean just this: Up until the time we encountered the dinosaur, we never tackled any task we didn’t successfully finish. But that dinosaur stuck us. We didn’t know how we’d get the brute out of the country. We lost a certain amount of prestige when we set out upon that undertaking. It made us look like fools. With the exception of Corporal Rand, everybody had a good laugh over it.” “But it was our first experience of the kind,” Sandy expostulated. “We knew nothing about fossil hunting. Except in a hazy way, we didn’t even know what a dinosaur was. The mistake was natural. I’ll admit that the joke was on us, but almost anyone else, even an older person, might have been taken in by it.” “True enough, Sandy.” Dick’s hand rested lightly on his friend’s shoulder. “Still I think you’ll agree with me that if we succeed in getting the dinosaur away from the island, we can feel more like facing the world again.” “Well, what have you done about it? What does the letter say?” Dick handed over the sheet of paper. “Read it,” he said.
Sandy glanced up when he had finished reading, thoughtfully folded the letter and handed it back to his chum. “I suppose you know what you’re doing, Dick. Made all your plans?” Dick nodded emphatically. “Yes, down to the last detail.” “Taking Toma and me with you?”—a slight frown and an assumed air of great indifference. “You bet I am,” grinned Dick. “You ought to know that without asking. You and Toma are to furnish the brains for my working party.” THE END |
|
