“Well, whatever it is, we’re here,” said Ed. “What are we going to do? That’s a nice way to do, not lock the door of the car or anything.” “Maybe they’ll back up,” said Westy. “They might,” said Warde, “if they knew we were here, but who’s going to tell the conductor?” It seemed quite unlikely that the train would return. Even as they indulged this forlorn hope the distant flickers of smoke appeared farther and farther away against the background of the mountain. Then they could not be seen at all. The three honor boys sat down on the lowest step of the old car platform and considered their predicament. One thing they knew, there was no other train that day. They had not a morsel of food, no camping equipment, no compass. For all that they could see they were in an uninhabited wilderness save for the savage life that lurked in the surrounding fastnesses. “What are we going to do?” Warde asked, his voice ill concealing the concern he felt. Ed Carlyle looked about scanning the vast panorama and shook his head. “What would Shining Sun do?” Westy asked quietly. “All I know is we’re going to Yellowstone Park. We know the railroad goes there, so we can’t get lost. Thirty miles isn’t so much to hike; we can do it in two days. I wouldn’t get on a train now if one came along and stopped.” “Mr. Wilde has got you started,” laughed Ed. “That’s what he has,” said Westy, “and I’m going to keep going till I get to the park. I’m not going to face that man again and tell him I waited for somebody to come and get me.” “How about food?” Warde asked, not altogether captivated by Westy’s proposal. “What we have to get, we get,” said Westy. “Well, I think we’ll get good and tired,” said Ed. “I’m sorry I haven’t got a baby carriage to wheel you in,” said Westy. “Thanks,” laughed Ed, “a scout is always thoughtful.” “He has to be more than thoughtful,” said Westy. “If it comes to that, if we had been thoughtful we wouldn’t have come into this car at all. It’s all filled up with railroad junk and it wasn’t intended for passengers.” “They should have locked the door or put a sign on it,” said Warde. “Well, anyway, here we are,” Westy said. “Absolutely,” said Warde, who was always inclined to take a humorous view of Westy’s susceptibility. “And I’ll do anything you say. I’ll tell you something right now that I didn’t tell you before. Ed and I agreed that we’d do whatever you wanted to do on this trip; we said we’d follow you and let you be the leader. So now’s our chance. We agreed that you did the big stunt and we voted that we’d just sort of let you lead. I don’t know what Shining Sun would do, but that’s what we agreed to do. So it’s up to you, Westy, old boy. You’re the boss and we’ll even admit that we’re not scouts if you say so. How about that, Ed?” “That’s me,” said Ed. “We’re just dubs if you say so,” Warde concluded.