"In this fog--"
"Don't be a silly goat," interrupted the other fretfully. "I tell you
I'll be all broken out tomorrow! And it's perfectly beastly, too. You
have blisters all over you and they itch so you can hardly stand it."
"Too bad," said Perry, trying to sound sympathetic but failing because
he caught his foot in a bramble at the moment and almost pitched on his
face.
"Well," continued Han, more cheerfully, "there's one good thing. Salt
water is fine to bathe in when you have ivy poisoning, and there'll be
plenty of that around."
"Sure; and it won't cost you a cent, either." They reached the beach
then and gazed hopelessly about them as they crossed the softer sand.
"If only they'd blow their old whistle we'd know where we are."
"If I had some alcohol I might backen it," observed Han.
"Alcohol? Backen what?"
"The ivy poison."
"Oh! Well, there's plenty of alcohol on board. Wonder what time it is,"
Perry drew out his watch and whistled surprisedly. "Only a quarter to
ten, Han! We couldn't have walked very far, after all. And they won't
signal us until ten-thirty. Here, I'm going this way."
"It's the alkali that counteracts the poison," explained Han. "They say
that if you can bathe the places in alcohol soon after you come in--in
contact with the ivy--"
"For the love of Pete!" exclaimed Perry.
Pages:
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101