San Francisco.

“Throw some camping gear into your car,” Mr. Cook had advised. “We might all take a run up to Lake Tahoe for some fishing. Sandy and Mike have never met, but I can’t think of a better way for the two boys to get acquainted than in the middle of a trout pool.”

To Sandy’s intense disappointment they had to turn down the offer. His father was snowed under with paper work at the office and he couldn’t spare the time.

But by return mail a second letter arrived. Why not send Sandy alone? There didn’t seem to be any objections, and so it was arranged.

Mike was a chunky, junior-sized version of his father, with dancing blue eyes and a tendency to leap into things without thinking. Sandy was on the slender side, with a strong, good-humored mouth and a shock of unruly blond hair that never seemed to stay down properly. Despite their differences in appearance and personality, the two boys hit it off right from the start. And when Mr. Cook announced his plan for a month’s trip through Idaho, it was assumed that Sandy would come along, provided, of course, that he got his parents’ approval.

Mr. Cook appeared at the dining-room door. “Your father’s on the wire,” he said. “Want me to talk to him first?”

Sandy nodded briefly and followed Mr. Cook out into the hallway. Mike, who had overheard the exchange from the kitchen, slipped out and joined them.

Mr. Cook picked up the receiver, winked at Sandy and spoke into the mouthpiece. “Hello, John; how have you been?... Good. John, I have a favor to ask. Mike and I are planning a camping trip up to the Rockies and we’d like Sandy’s company.... Where? North of the Snake River country, in the Lost River Range. It’s for a month, but I think it would be four weeks the boys will never forget.... What?... Oh, don’t worry about that. We have plenty of equipment.... Yes, we’d leave in three days and be back about the tenth of next month.... What’s that? Well here, why don’t you ask him yourself?”

Mr. Cook cupped a hand over the mouthpiece and nodded to Sandy. “He wants to know how you feel about it.”

“Let me talk to him!” Sandy nearly tripped over the rug in his hurry to get to the phone.

“Hello, Dad!” he shouted. “How do I feel about it! I think it’s a chance of a lifetime!” There was a pause as Sandy listened carefully for several minutes. 

 Prev. P 5/97 next