“there ought to be plenty of apples on that branch,” i said, as i went along.
“what branch?” the kid wanted to know.
“the old railroad branch,” i told him. “don’t you know that apples grow on a branch?”
i guess none of us knew anything about that old branch but hervey willetts. that fellow knows about the funniest things and places. he can take you to old shacks in the woods and all places like that. he knows all the farmers for miles around camp. he knows where you can get dandy buttermilk. and he knows where you can get killed by quicksand and a lot of other peachy places. he says that’s the kind of sand he likes because it’s quick. he believes in action, that fellow.
i said, “as long as you know where we’re going suppose you be leader for a little while.”
“i’ll be leader,” pee-wee shouted.
“let hervey be leader,” they all said.
so i fell behind and i was glad to get rid of the job of leading for a little while. but, oh boy, it was some job following! that fellow swung up into trees and turned somersaults over stone walls and hopped on one leg over big rocks—good night, we didn’t have any rest.
“you wanted ginger,” he said.
“sure, but we didn’t want cayenne pepper,” i told him. “have a heart.”
gee whiz, that fellow didn’t miss anything, trees, rocks, fences, and all the while he kept singing:
follow your leader,
follow your leader;
follow your leader true.
if he starts to roll,
or falls in a hole;
or shins up a tree or a telegraph pole.
you have to do it too,
you do;
you have to do it too.
i can’t tell you about all the crazy things that fellow did. it looked awful funny to see the rest of us following, especially pee-wee with a scowl all over his face. i guessed hervey knew where he was going all right because no matter what he did he always came back to a trail.
pretty soon we came to the old railroad branch. a long time ago that used to go to some mines. we followed the old tracks through the woods. hervey walked on one of the rails and we all tried to keep on it, but it was hard balancing ourselves he went so fast.
i guess maybe we went a half mile that way and then we saw ahead of us a funny kind of a car on the track. it wasn’t meant to carry people, it was meant to carry iron ore, i guess. it was about as long as a very young trolley car. a long iron bar, a funny kind of a coupling i guess it was, stuck out from it. it was all open, like a great big scuttle, kind of. there were piles of stones and earth and old holes all caved in nearby. those were the old iron mines, hervey said.
“gee whiz,” i told him, “i’ve been to temple camp every summer and i never saw this place before. christopher columbus hasn’t got anything on you.”
“follow your leader wherever he goes,” he said, and over the end of the car he went and, kerflop, down inside, all the rest of us after him. there was straw inside.
that fellow couldn’t sit down long. in about ten seconds up he jumped and shouted, “follow your leader.”
i was so tired i could have just lain in that little car till christmas, but i got up and so did the others, all except pee-wee.
“come on, follow your leader,” i said.
“not much,” he said; “i’m going to lie here and take a rest. i’ve had enough funny-bone hiking. if you think i’m going to follow you all over the catskill mountains without any dinner, you’re mistaken. i know the way home from here, it’s easy. go ahead and march into the hudson river if you want to for all i care.”
“which way do we go from here?” hervey asked him.
“we follow the tracks straight along,” the kid said. “that will bring us to the turnpike and all we have to do is to go through leeds. there, you think you’re so smart.”
“righto,” hervey said; “just climb out of the other end of the car and keep going, right along the track.”
“smart kid,” i said.
“do you think i’m going to be turning somersaults all the way home?” he wanted to know. “the next time i join a parade it won’t be with a lot of monkeys.”
“those somersaults were all good turns,” bert said.
“this place is good enough for me,” pee-wee shot back at him.
so we left him there sprawled out on the straw and followed hervey in and out of old holes, kind of like caves, and all around and over piles of earth and everything till pretty soon he stopped and said, panting good and hard, “what do you say to a plot?”
“i take them three times a day and before retiring,” i said. “what kind of a plot? a grass-plot?”
“let’s have some fun with pee-wee,” he said. “did you hear him say he knows the way home from here? he thinks all he has to do is to climb out the other end of the car and keep going along the track to the turnpike.”
“well, isn’t that right?” warde asked.
“sure it’s right,” hervey said; “only it depends on where the other end of the car is. see? that car’s on a turntable if anybody should ask you.”
“if it were a dinner table it would interest pee-wee more,” i said.
“i noticed there was a kind of platform under it with grass growing through the cracks,” warde said.
“come on, let’s see if he’s asleep and we’ll turn it around,” hervey said. “the woods look the same no matter which way you go. follow your leader.”
he started tiptoeing over to the tracks holding his finger against his lips and we all did just the same. i had to laugh, it seemed so funny. he kept singing, follow your leader, in a whisper.
that fellow ought to be in my patrol, he’s so crazy.
