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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Boy Scouts in the Blue Ridge, by Herbert
+Carter
+
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+
+
+
+Title: The Boy Scouts in the Blue Ridge
+       Marooned Among the Moonshiners
+
+
+Author: Herbert Carter
+
+
+
+Release Date: May 3, 2010  [eBook #32240]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE BLUE RIDGE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by David Edwards, Emmy, and the Project Gutenberg Online
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+
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE BLUE RIDGE
+
+Or
+
+Marooned Among the Moonshiners
+
+by
+
+HERBERT CARTER
+
+Author of "The Boy Scouts First Camp Fire," "The Boy
+Scouts On the Trail," "The Boy Scouts In the Maine
+Woods," "The Boy Scouts Through the
+Big Timber," "The Boy Scouts
+In the Rockies"
+
+
+[Illustration: "Good shot, Bob!" cried Thad. "Get another stone, quick,
+for he's coming after you." Page 146.
+
+                                 --_The Boy Scouts In the Blue Ridge._]
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+A. L. Burt Company
+New York
+
+Copyright, 1913
+By A. L. Burt Company
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE BLUE RIDGE.
+
+
+
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE BLUE RIDGE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE HIKE THROUGH THE SMOKY RANGE.
+
+
+"DID anybody happen to see my knapsack around?"
+
+"Why, you had it just a few minutes ago, Step Hen!"
+
+"I know that, Bumpus; and I'd take my affidavy I laid it down on this
+rock."
+
+"Well, don't whine so about a little thing like that, Step Hen; it ain't
+there now, and that's a fact."
+
+"Somebody's gone and sneaked it on me, that's what. I'm the unluckiest
+feller in the whole bunch, for havin' queer things happen to him. Just
+can't lay a single thing I've got down anywhere, but what it disappears
+in the most _remarkable_ way you ever heard of, and bobs up somewhere
+else! I must be haunted, I'm beginnin' to believe. Do _you_ know
+anything about my knapsack, Giraffe?"
+
+"Never touched your old grub sack, Step Hen; so don't you dare accuse
+me of playing a trick on you. Sure you didn't hang it up somewhere; I've
+known you to do some funny stunts that way;" and the tall boy called
+"Giraffe" by his mates, stretched his long neck in a most ridiculous
+manner, as he looked all around.
+
+Eight boys were on a hike through the mountains of North Carolina. From
+the fact that they were all dressed in neat khaki uniforms it was
+evident that they must belong to some Boy Scout troop; and were off on a
+little excursion. This was exactly the truth; and they had come a long
+distance by rail before striking their present wild surroundings.
+
+Their home town of Cranford was located in a big Northern State, and all
+the members of the Silver Fox Patrol lived there; though several of them
+had come to that busy little town from other sections of the country.
+
+Besides two of those whose conversation has been noted at the beginning
+of this chapter there was, first of all, Thad Brewster, the leader of
+the patrol, and when at home acting as scoutmaster in the absence of the
+young man who occupied that position, in order to carry out the rules
+and principles of the organization. Thad was a bright lad, and having
+belonged to another troop before coming to Cranford, knew considerably
+more than most of his fellows in the patrol.
+
+Next to him, as second in command, was Allan Hollister, a boy who had
+been raised to get the bumps of experience. He had lived for a time up
+in the Adirondacks, and also in Maine. When it came down to showing how
+things ought to be done according to the ways of woodsmen, and not by
+the book, the boys always looked to Allan for information.
+
+Then there was a slender, rather effeminate, boy, who seemed very
+particular about his looks, as though he feared lest his uniform become
+soiled, or the shine on his shoes suffer from the dust of the mountain
+road. This was "Smithy." Of course he had another name when at home or
+in school--Edmund Maurice Travers Smith; but no ordinary boy could
+bother with such a high-flown appellation as this; and so "Smithy" it
+became as soon as he began to circulate among the lads of Cranford.
+
+Next to him was a dumpy, rollicking sort of a boy, who seemed so clumsy
+in his actions that he was forever stumbling. He had once answered to
+the name of Cornelius Jasper Hawtree; but if anybody called out "Bumpus"
+he would smile, and answer to it. Bumpus he must be then to the end of
+the story. And as he was musically inclined, possessing a fine tenor
+voice, and being able to play on "any old instrument," as he claimed it
+was only right that he assume the duties of bugler to the Cranford
+Troop. Bumpus carried the shining bugle at his side, held by a thick
+crimson cord; and when he tried he could certainly draw the sweetest
+kind of notes from its brass throat.
+
+Then there was Davy Jones, a fellow who had a sinuous body, and seemed
+to be a born athlete. Davy could do all sorts of "stunts," and was never
+so happy as hanging by his toes from the high branch of some tree; or
+turning a double somersault in the air, always landing on his nimble
+feet, like a cat. Davy had one affliction, which often gave him more or
+less trouble. He was liable to be seized with cramps at any time; and
+these doubled him up in a knot. He carried some pills given to him by
+the family doctor at home, and at such times one of the other boys
+usually forced a couple between his blue lips. But some of the fellows
+were beginning to have faint suspicions concerning these "cramps;" and
+that the artful Davy always seemed to be gripped nowadays when there was
+a prospect of some extra heavy work at hand.
+
+The last of the eight boys was a dark-haired lad, with a face that,
+while handsome, was a little inclined to be along the order of the
+proud. Robert White Quail was a Southern-born boy. He came from Alabama,
+but had lived many years in this very region through which the Silver
+Fox Patrol was now hiking. Indeed, it had been at his personal
+solicitation that they had finally agreed to take their outing in
+climbing the famous Blue Ridge Mountains, and tasting some of the
+delights of a genuine experience in the wilderness. Among his
+companions the Southern lad went by the name of "Bob White;" and
+considering what his last name happened to be, it can be easily
+understood that nothing else in the wide world would have answered.
+
+Of course Step Hen had another name, which was plainly Stephen Bingham.
+When a mite, going to school for the first time, on being asked his name
+by the teacher, he had spelled it as made up of two distinct words; and
+so Step Hen he was bound to be called by his comrades.
+
+Giraffe also was known in family circles as Conrad Stedman; but if any
+boy in Cranford was asked about such a fellow, the chances were he would
+shake his head, and declare that the only one he knew by the name of
+Stedman was "Giraffe," For some time he had gone as "Rubberneck," but
+this became so common that the other stuck to him. Giraffe loved eating.
+He was also passionately fond of making fires, so that the others called
+him the fire fiend. When Giraffe was around no one else had the nerve to
+even think of starting the camp-fire; though after that had been done,
+he was willing they should "tote" the wood to keep it running.
+
+The day was rather warm, even for up in the mountains, and if the signs
+told the truth they might look for a thunder storm before a great while.
+
+As the scouts had no tents along, and were marching in very light order,
+they would have to depend upon their natural sagacity to carry them
+through any emergencies that might arise, either in connection with the
+weather, or the food line. But they knew they could place unlimited
+dependence on their leaders; and besides, as Bob White had spent many
+years of his young life in this region, he must know considerable about
+its resources.
+
+They were now in what is known as the Smoky Range, a spur of the Blue
+Ridge Mountains, which borders on Tennessee. Not a great many miles away
+was Asheville, a well-known resort; but few of the society people
+frequenting that place had ever ventured up in these lonely localities;
+for they did not have the best reputation possible.
+
+Among these wild peaks dwelt men who, in spite of the efforts of revenue
+officers, persisted in defying the law that put a ban on the making of
+what has always been known as "moonshine" whiskey. Occasionally an
+arrest might be made; but there was much danger attached to this thing;
+and the country was so rugged, that it would take an army of United
+States regulars to clean out the nests of moonshiners holding forth
+there.
+
+It would seem as though this might be a rather strange region for the
+hike of a Boy Scout patrol; and had the parents or guardians of the boys
+known as much about it as those living in Asheville, they might have
+thought twice before granting the lads permission to come here.
+
+But it had been partly on the invitation of Bob White that the
+expedition had been planned and mapped out. He seemed to have a strange
+yearning to revisit the region that had been his former home; and when
+some one proposed that they explore some of the mysteries of the famous
+Blue Ridge, Bob eagerly seconded the motion, in his warm Southern way.
+And that was how it started. Once boys get an idea in their heads, it
+soon gains weight, just like a rolling snowball.
+
+And now they were here, with the grim mountains all around them, silence
+wrapping them about, and mystery seeming to fill the very air. But
+healthy boys are not easily impressed or daunted by such things; and
+they cracked jokes and carried on as boys will do with the utmost
+freedom.
+
+The conversation between Step Hen, Bumpus and Giraffe having attracted
+the attention of the scoutmaster, he called out at this juncture:
+
+"Whose knapsack is that you've got strapped on your back right now,
+Number Eight?"
+
+A shout went up as Step Hen, quickly turning the article in question
+around surveyed it blankly; but apparently both Bumpus and Giraffe had
+known of its presence all the while, though pretending ignorance.
+
+"Who strapped that to my back?" demanded the owner. "I don't remember
+doing it, give you my word for it, fellers. Mighty queer how things
+always happen to _me_, and nobody else. But anyhow, I'm ready to
+continue the march, if the rest of you are."
+
+Five minutes later, and the boys were straggling along the rough road
+that wound in and out, as it pierced the valleys between the peaks
+looming up on either side. There was no attempt at keeping order on the
+march, and the boys, while trying to remain within sight of each other,
+walked along in groups or couples.
+
+Giraffe and Bumpus, a strange combination always, yet very good chums,
+were at some distance in the lead. Bringing up the rear were Thad and
+Allan, examining some chart of the region, which Bob White had drawn for
+them, and talking over what the plan of campaign should be.
+
+In the midst of this pleasant afternoon quiet there suddenly arose the
+piercing notes of the bugle, followed by a loud and hoarse shout; and
+looking up hastily, Thad Brewster was surprised to see Bumpus wildly
+waving both his arms. Although he was at some little distance away, and
+at the bottom of the decline, what he shouted came plainly to the ears
+of the young scoutmaster, giving him something of a thrill:
+
+"Hey! come along here, you fellers; Giraffe, he's got stuck in the
+crick, up to his knees, and he says it's quicksand!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+SEEING GIRAFFE THROUGH.
+
+
+"QUICKSAND!" shrieked Step Hen, who happened to be keeping company with
+Davy Jones just ahead of the two leaders of the patrol. "Hey! hurry your
+stumps, fellers, and get there before poor Giraffe is pulled under.
+Ain't it lucky he c'n stretch his neck so far? Anyhow he ought to keep
+his head above water."
+
+Everybody was on the run by now, and as Bumpus kept sounding the
+assembly on his silver-plated bugle, what with the shouts of the
+advancing khaki-clad boys, the picture was an inspiring one.
+
+When they reached the border of the little stream that crossed the
+mountain road, sure enough, there was the tall scout up above his knees
+in the water, and looking rather forlorn.
+
+"What had I ought to do, Allan?" he bawled out, naturally appealing to
+the one whose practical experience was apt to be of more benefit to him
+at such a time than all the theories ever advanced. "You see, I was
+crossing here, and stopped right in the middle to turn around and say
+somethin' to Bumpus. Then I found that both my feet seemed like they was
+glued down. When I tried to lift one, the other only sank down deeper.
+And it came to me like a flash that I was gripped in quicksand. When I
+told Bumpus here he squawked, and blew his horn to beat the band."
+
+"Horn!" echoed Bumpus, indignantly; "why can't you ever learn to say
+bugle. You're the only one I know of that owns to a horn; and you blow
+that often enough, I'll be bound."
+
+"Ain't you goin' to get me out?" demanded the now alarmed Giraffe, as he
+felt himself slowly but surely sinking deeper. "Say, is that the way to
+treat a fellow you all have known so long? I ain't foolin', let me tell
+you. And if you stand there much longer, grinnin' at me, it'll be too
+late! You'll feel sorry when you only see the top of my head above
+water. I tell you there ain't no bottom to this crick. It goes clean
+through to China, it does, now. Give us a hand, Allan, Thad. One scout
+ought to help another, you know; and I bet some of you haven't done a
+single good deed to-day, to let you turn your badge right-side up."
+
+Among Boy Scouts it is considered the proper thing to invert the badge
+every morning, and not change its position until the owner has something
+worth while to his credit, even though it may only be the helping of an
+old man across the busy street; or the carrying of a basket for a lame
+woman coming from market. This was what Giraffe evidently had in mind,
+when trying to spur his comrades on to helping him out of the mire into
+which he had fallen.
+
+"What can be done for him, Allan?" asked the scoutmaster, turning to the
+other.
+
+"Yes, think up something, Allan; and for goodness sake be quick about
+it," called the one in the water. "Just hear how that sucks, will you,
+when I work my foot up and down? And now, there, the other leg's deeper
+by two inches than it was. Be quick about it, or you'll be sorry."
+
+"If there was a tree above his head I'd say get a rope over a limb, make
+a loop at the end, and drag him out that way," remarked Allan.
+
+"And pull my neck longer than it is; I'm glad then there ain't no tree!"
+snapped the alarmed Giraffe.
+
+"Oh! rats, he meant we'd put the loop under your arms, silly!" called
+out Davy.
+
+"Some of you get hold of those old fence rails over there," Allan went
+on. "We can make a mattress of them, and get over to Giraffe in that
+way. Jump, now, boys, for he is really and truly in a bad fix; and if
+left alone would sure go under."
+
+"Hurry! hurry!" shouted Giraffe, waving his long arms; "don't you hear
+what Allan says? It's sucking like anything. P'raps it'll open up, and
+pull me under before you can get started. Quick, boys! For the love of
+misery stir your stumps like true scouts!"
+
+They came running up, each bearing one of the old fence rails that had
+been at some time washed down the stream during a freshet. Allan took
+these as they arrived, and began to make a species of corduroy road out
+to the boy who was caught fast in the grip of the quicksand.
+
+"Throw yourself forward as much as you can, Giraffe," he said. "Never
+mind about whether you soil your uniform or not. You can get a new one;
+but you never will have another life you know. There, rest your weight
+on that rail, and begin to work both feet free. When you get to lift
+them up, we'll lend a hand, and yank you out in a jiffy. Get busy now,
+Giraffe!"
+
+And the one addressed certainly needed no second urging. He worked with
+a vim, and presently called out exultantly:
+
+"She's coming now, boys; I felt both feet give that time. Oh! it's going
+to be all right, after all. Bumpus, I promised you my stamp book; but I
+reckon I'll need it a while longer myself, so consider the thing off.
+Please come out, and give me that lift now, Allan. Two of you can do it
+easy enough."
+
+Bob White, with his usual promptness, when any one was in need of help,
+volunteered to assist Allan. Between them they succeeded in dragging the
+scout who was trapped in the quicksand, out of his unpleasant
+predicament; and while about it all of them crossed to the other side of
+the creek, where they were speedily joined by the balance of the patrol;
+though every boy took advantage of the fence rails that lay scattered
+through the shallow water, in order to prevent any possibility of a
+repetition of the disaster that had overtaken their comrade.
+
+A halt was called, to enable Giraffe to wipe some of the mud from the
+lower portions of his uniform. And of course all sorts of talk passed
+back and forth, as might be expected among a parcel of lively boys out
+for a good time. Even the one so lately in dire danger had apparently
+gotten well over his nervous shock, for he laughed with the rest at the
+ludicrous nature of the event.
+
+"Say, what kind of natives do you have down here, Bob White?" asked
+Bumpus.
+
+"The same kind, I reckon, suh, that they raise in all mountain regions,"
+came the ready reply of the sensitive Southern boy. "Some are pretty
+tough; but then again, I give you my word, suh, that there are others
+you can't beat for being the clear quill. But may I ask why you put that
+question to me, Bumpus?"
+
+"Sure. There was a feller perched up on that rock stickin' out above
+us," declared the fat boy, pointing his finger upward along the rugged
+and rocky face of the mountain side; "I called to him to come and help
+get poor old Giraffe out; but he never made a move; just sat there, and
+grinned. He had a gun along with him, and I s'pose he was a specimen of
+the Blue Ridge mountaineer. Gee! you ought to a seen the long white
+beard the old feller sported!"
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Bob White, looking excited, a fact that aroused the keen
+interest of all his comrades at once.
+
+"Do you know who he was?" demanded the indignant Bumpus.
+
+"I'm sorry to say, suh, that I think I do," replied the Southern boy,
+slowly. "If your description is correct, and believe me, I have no
+reason to doubt it, that man you saw must have been no other than Phin
+Dady!"
+
+"Phew! ain't that the moonshiner we heard so much about over in
+Asheville?" asked Step Hen.
+
+"The same man," answered Bob White, glancing a little nervously up
+toward the rock indicated by his comrade, and which, jutting out from
+the steep face of the mountain; offered a splendid outlook for any one
+who wished to see who might be coming along the winding road.
+
+"Well, I don't like his ways, that's all," muttered Giraffe, who was
+still trying to make his uniform look half-way decent after its recent
+rough usage. "Anybody with one eye could see that I was bein' sucked
+down like fun; and for him to just watch Bumpus here, blowin' his
+bugle, and shoutin' for help, without offerin' to lend a hand,
+wasn't--well, decent, that's what. P'raps some day it'll be my turn to
+grin at him when he's in trouble."
+
+"But you wouldn't do it, you know that, Giraffe," said Thad, smiling.
+"You don't forget that a true scout must return good for evil. And if
+the time ever comes when old Phin Dady needs help that you can give, I'm
+dead sure you wouldn't hold back."
+
+Giraffe grumbled some more, but the scoutmaster knew that at heart he
+was not an ungenerous boy, though a little inclined to hold a grudge.
+
+"What are you thinking about, Bob White; you look as sober as though you
+didn't just like the looks of things any too much?" asked Allan, turning
+upon the other.
+
+"That's just right, suh, I can't say that I do," replied the Southern
+lad. "You see, I was wondering what old Phin would think about us. He's
+the most suspicious man in the mountains, and with reason, suh. Foh
+years, now, he's been hunted high and low by the revenue agents. They've
+done all sorts of things trying to capture old Phin, and raid his secret
+still; but up to now it's never been done. He likes a revenue man like
+he does a rattlesnake; and I give you my word for it, suh, the next
+thing on his list of hates is the uniform of a soldier!"
+
+Thad uplifted his eyebrows to indicate his surprise.
+
+"I think I get your meaning, Bob White," he remarked, slowly and
+seriously. "Our uniforms might give this old moonshiner the idea that in
+some way we must be connected with the army; perhaps a detachment of
+scouts sent in here to get him in a corner, and knock his old moonshine
+Still, to flinders. Is that it, Bob?"
+
+"You hit the nail on the head when you say that, suh," replied the
+other. "When I lived down this way, I used to hear a heap about Old
+Phin; and I reckon he'd know who I was if you mentioned my name to him.
+That's the main reason why he just sat and laughed to see the wearer of
+the hated uniform now used by the United States army stuck in the
+quicksand. I reckon he only thought that it would mean one the less
+enemy for the Blue Ridge moonshiners to go up against."
+
+"It seems to me," spoke up Smithy at this juncture, "that in justice to
+ourselves we ought to seek an early opportunity to secure an interview
+with this gentleman, and explain our position. He should know that we
+have no relation with the army, and that in fact the mission of a Boy
+Scout is peace, not war."
+
+"Second the motion, boys!" exclaimed Bumpus; "and I hope our scoutmaster
+will appoint a committee of three, Bob White, Allan, and, well, Smithy
+here, to hunt up the said gent, and show him--hey, jump out of the way
+there, Step Hen; the whole side of the mountain's coming down on top of
+you! Hurry! hurry!"
+
+But as the startled Step Hen hastened to obey, with considerable
+alacrity, Thad Brewster, looking up, saw a head withdrawn from the point
+whence the round stone that was rolling down the side of the steep
+incline must have had its start.
+
+Jumping in zigzag curves from one side to another, the rock finally
+landed with a great crash in the mountain road not ten feet from where
+the scouts were huddled in a group, watching its coming with staring
+eyes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+IN THE DESERTED LOG CABIN.
+
+
+"KEEP your eyes about you!" shouted Davy Jones; "mebbe there's more
+where that stone came from!"
+
+But after the rock had settled quietly in the road, silence again fell
+upon the scene; a little trickle of dirt glided down the face of the
+descent, in the track the round rock had made; but that was all.
+
+"Whew! that's a pretty hefty stone, believe me, fellers!" cried Step
+Hen.
+
+"Whatever loosened it, d'ye s'pose?" asked Giraffe, who had jumped
+several feet when he heard the alarm given; for his recent adventure in
+the bed of the treacherous stream seemed to have unnerved the tall boy,
+usually as brave as the next scout.
+
+Thad stepped forward. The others saw him bend over the big rock that had
+just played such a queer trick, narrowly missing falling among the
+gathered scouts.
+
+"Look at Thad, would you?" exclaimed Step Hen.
+
+"What's he taking out of that crack in the rock?" Giraffe added. "Say,
+looks like a dirty piece of paper; and that's what it is, sure as
+shootin', fellers!"
+
+"A message from the enemy; p'raps he's goin' to Surrender
+unconditionally--ain't that the way they always put it?" Bumpus called
+out, in high glee.
+
+Thad, however, after glancing down at the paper he had extracted from
+the crack in the rock, looked serious. Evidently to him at least it was
+no laughing matter.
+
+"What does she say, Thad?" demanded Giraffe, always curious.
+
+"Sure, if we've got any right to know, read it out, Mr. Scout Master,"
+Bumpus echoed, in his merry way, his eyes shining with eagerness.
+
+The scouts clustered around Thad as he once again held the scrap of
+soiled paper up so he could see the comparatively few words scrawled
+upon it with a pencil, that must have been a mere stub, since it
+evidently had to be frequently wet in order to make it do duty.
+
+"It's brief, and to the point, I give you my word, boys," he said.
+"Here, let me hold it up, and every one of you can push in to read for
+yourselves. The writer believes in making his words correspond with
+their sound. With that for a tip you ought to be able to make it out."
+
+And this, then, was what they read, as they bunched together on the
+mountain road running through the valley of the Smoky Range:
+
+"Beter tak my advis an skip outen this neck ov the woods. The men round
+heer aint gut no use fo you-uns in thes mountings. That's awl. Savvy?"
+
+There was no signature to the communication.
+
+"Well, that's cool, to say the least," remarked Allan, after he had read
+the uncouth note that had come down with the rock that fell from above.
+
+"Tells us to turn right around, and go back," declared Giraffe, who was
+inclined to be peppery, and a bit rash. "Now, I like the nerve of the
+gent. Just as if we didn't have as much right to wander through these
+mountains and valleys as the next one."
+
+"We're minding our own business, and I don't see how anybody would want
+to shoo us away from here," said Smithy, brushing off some imaginary
+specks of dust from his neat khaki uniform, always spic and span in
+comparison with--that of Bumpus for example, showing the marks of many a
+tumble.
+
+Thad was rather puzzled himself. He knew that it would be hardly wise
+for a parcel of boys to deliberately defy such a notorious character as
+Old Phin the moonshiner, whom the Government had never been able to
+capture; but then again there was a natural reluctance in his boyish
+heart to retreat before making some sort of show with regard to carrying
+out their original design.
+
+Besides, when he happened to glance toward Bob White, and saw how
+cruelly disappointed the Southern boy looked, Thad immediately changed
+his mind. Still, he wanted to hear what his comrades thought about it;
+since they had long gone by the wise principle that majority rules.
+
+"Shall we take this kind advice, and go back, boys?" he asked.
+
+A chorus of eager dissenting voices greeted his words.
+
+"Not for Joseph, not if he knows it!" Giraffe chortled.
+
+"We never turn back, after once we've placed our hand to the plow,"
+remarked the pompous Smithy; and his sentiment was cheered to the echo.
+
+"Take a vote on it, Thad," advised the sagacious Allan, knowing that if
+trouble came along after they had decided to continue the advance, it
+would be just as well to point to the fact that by an _overwhelming
+majority_ the patrol had decided upon this rash course.
+
+Every fellow held up his hand when Thad put the question as to whether
+they should continue the mountain hike. And the sad look vanished from
+the dark face of Bob White, as dew does before the morning sun.
+
+So the march was immediately resumed, and nothing happened to disturb
+their peace of mind or body. No more rocks came tumbling down the face
+of the mountain; and as the afternoon advanced they found themselves
+getting deeper and deeper into the heart of the uplifts.
+
+"Wow! but this is a lonesome place, all right," remarked Step Hen,
+looking up at the lofty ridges flanking their course. "I give you my
+word for it I'd hate to be caught out nights alone in this gay
+neighborhood. If ever there was a spooky den, this is it, right here.
+Glad to have company; such as it is, fellers."
+
+No one took any notice of the pretended slur. The fact was, the scouts
+no longer straggled along the road as before that incident of the
+falling rock. They seemed to feel a good deal like Step Hen expressed
+it, that under the circumstances it was a good thing to have company. In
+union there was strength; and eight boys can do a great deal toward
+buoying up one another's drooping courage.
+
+"And say, looks more like a storm comin' waltzin' along than ever
+before," Bumpus observed, as he nodded his head toward the heavens,
+which were certainly looking pretty black about that time.
+
+"Thought I heard a grumble, like thunder away off in the distance; might
+a been that same Old Phin Dady speakin' his mind some more, though,"
+remarked Giraffe.
+
+"Only a little further, suh, and we'll come to an old abandoned log
+cabin, unless my calculations are wrong; which ought to serve us for a
+shelter to-night," was the cheering news from Bob White, who was
+supposed to know this country like a book.
+
+"Bully for the log cabin!" ejaculated Bumpus, who, being heavy in build,
+could not stand a long hike as well as some other fellows, the tall
+Giraffe, for instance, whose long legs seemed just made for covering
+ground rapidly.
+
+Ten minutes later Davy Jones, who had pushed to the van, gave a shout.
+
+"There's your deserted log cabin!" he remarked, pointing. "Am I correct,
+Bob?"
+
+"You surely are, suh," replied the Southerner. "And as I fail to see
+smoke coming from the chimney at the back, it looks to me as though
+nobody had got ahead of us there. If the roof only holds, we can laugh
+at the rain, believe me."
+
+When the scouts hurried up to the cabin, for there was now no longer any
+doubt about the storm being close at hand, since lightning flashed and
+the grumble of thunder had changed into a booming that grew louder with
+every peal, they found to their great satisfaction that it seemed in a
+fair state of preservation, despite the fact that it must have been left
+to the sport of the elements for many a long year.
+
+"Nothing wrong with this, boys," announced the scoutmaster, as they
+pushed inside the log house, and looked around. "And if we know half as
+much as we think we do, there'll be a pile of wood lying here before
+that rain drops down on us. Just remember that we've got a whole night
+ahead."
+
+"Hurrah! that's the ticket! Get busy everybody. We don't belong to the
+Beaver Patrol, but we can work just as well as if we did. Whoop her up,
+fellers!"
+
+Bumpus was as good as his words. Dropping his haversack and staff in a
+corner, he pushed out of the door. Although the evening was being
+ushered in sooner than might have been expected, owing to the swoop of
+the storm, there was still plenty of light to see where dry wood was to
+be picked up for the effort. And immediately every one of the eight
+scouts was working furiously to bring in a good supply.
+
+No doubt the rattle of the thunder caused the boys to hurry things; for
+by the time the first drops began to fall they had secured as much as
+they expected to use. And already there was Giraffe on his knees in
+front of the big fireplace that lay at the foot of the wide-throated
+chimney, whittling shavings with which to start a cheery blaze.
+
+This had just started into life when the rattle of a horse's hoofs came
+to the ears of the boys who had clustered at the door to witness the
+breaking of the summer storm.
+
+"Hey! looks like another pilgrim overtaken by the gale," said Davy
+Jones, as a man on horseback came riding furiously along the wretched
+road, heading straight for the old cabin; as though he knew of its
+presence, and might indeed have found its shelter acceptable on other
+occasions.
+
+He was evidently greatly astonished to find the place already occupied
+by a bevy of boys dressed in khaki uniforms. At first Thad thought he
+could see an expression akin to fear upon the thin face of the man, who
+seemed to be something above the average mountaineer; possibly the
+keeper of a country store among the mountains; or it might be a doctor;
+a lawyer, or a county surveyor, for he had rather a professional air
+about him.
+
+Allan had immediately assured him that they were only seeking temporary
+shelter in the old cabin, and that he would be quite welcome to share it
+with them until the storm blew over, or as long as he wished to stay.
+
+As the man, leaving his horse tied outside to take the rain as it came,
+pushed inside the cabin, Thad saw Bob White suddenly observe him with
+kindling eyes. Then to his further surprise he noticed that the Southern
+boy drew the rim of his campaign hat further down over his eyes, as
+though to keep his face from being recognized by the newcomer.
+
+Another minute, and Bob had drawn the young scoutmaster aside, to
+whisper in his ear a few words that aroused Thad's curiosity to the
+utmost.
+
+"That is Reuben Sparks, the guardian of my little cousin Bertha, a cruel
+man, who hates our whole family. He must not recognize me, or it might
+spoil one of my main objects in coming down here into the Blue Ridge
+valleys. Warn the boys when you can, please Thad, not to mention me only
+as Bob White. Oh! I wonder if this meeting is only an accident; or was
+guided by the hand of fate?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+AFTER THE STORM.
+
+
+THAD remembered that on several other occasions the Southern boy had
+mentioned the name of his little cousin, and always with a certain
+tender inflection to the soft voice that stamped him for one who had
+been born below the Dixie line.
+
+And while Bob White had not seen fit to take his friend into his
+confidence it had always been plain to Thad that the other must have
+cherished a deep affection for the said Bertha; perhaps, since he had no
+sister of his own, she may have been as dear to him as one, in those
+times when he lived among the Blue Ridge mountains.
+
+Before now Thad had strongly suspected that Bob had some other object in
+coaxing his comrades to make the pilgrimage to the Land of the Sky,
+besides the desire to show them its wonders. And now his own words
+proved it. More than that, it seemed to have some strange connection
+with this same little cousin, Bertha; and naturally with her legally
+appointed guardian, Reuben Sparks.
+
+Thad, first of all, managed to pass the word around in a whisper, just
+as Bob wished it done. The boys understood that there was a reason back
+of the request, and expected that their comrade would take them into his
+confidence later on. Besides, there had really never been the slightest
+chance that any one of them would breathe that name of Quail in
+connection with Bob; indeed, most of them would have had to stop and
+think, if suddenly asked what his real name was, so seldom did they hear
+it mentioned.
+
+The man on horseback was chatting with Allan and several others. He did
+not hesitate to ask questions, and was soon put in possession of the
+fact that they were merely the members of a Boy Scout patrol, making a
+strenuous hike through the Big Smoky spur of the Blue Ridge.
+
+Thad saw that he eyed them queerly many times, as though rather doubtful
+whether they were giving him a straight story; but the coming of the
+storm soon held the attention of them all.
+
+Just as they had expected, it was the real thing in the way of a summer
+storm. The lightning flashed in a way that was not only dazzling but
+"fearsome" as Smithy expressed it, in his elegant way. And as for the
+crashes of thunder that followed each and every electric current, they
+deafened the ears of the scouts.
+
+A deluge of rain fell in a short time, and the rush of water near by
+told that the little stream, which they had struck many times during the
+afternoon, had all of a sudden become a raging torrent.
+
+Nobody was sorry when finally the racket began to subside, and the rain
+stopped as suddenly as it had started.
+
+"She's done for," remarked Bumpus, in a relieved tone, as though he had
+been half suspecting that the stream might rise in its might, and sweep
+cabin, scouts and all down through the valley.
+
+The resident of the region who had also sought shelter in the friendly
+cabin by the wayside, looked out first, to assure himself that his horse
+had come through the storm safely. Then he called out good-bye, and
+mounting, rode away.
+
+"Good riddance to bad rubbish, I take it," declared Giraffe. "Whenever
+the fire flashed up that gent would look around the queerest way ever,
+as though he kind of thought we might be revenue agents playing a fine
+game on his friends, the moonshiners."
+
+"Be careful what you say, Giraffe," advised the more cautious Thad.
+"When you're in the enemy's country you want to use soft words. Besides,
+you're only guessing when you say that. He was naturally curious about
+us. Some people would think a bunch of boys stark crazy, to try and hike
+through such wild country as this, when we could have taken to the good
+roads up in New York State, had orchards all along the way, and
+good-natured farmers galore to buy milk and eggs from when we got
+hungry."
+
+"I hope, suh, you won't be sorry you came down this aways," Bob White
+spoke up. "I take it as a great compliment, believe me, that you-all
+would care to keep me company when I said I felt that I just had to come
+back here on a visit, to see what changes there were, and do a little
+private business in the bargain. I'm aware of the fact that there isn't
+anything much worth seeing here, suh; except the untamed wilderness; but
+they's always plenty of excitement going around, I understand."
+
+"I should guess yes," broke out Step Hen, "with that same Old Phin
+hangin' 'round with his eye on the watch for revenues. But see here,
+Bob, don't you think you owe us a little explanation about this
+racket--meaning your relations with the gent who is guardian to your
+sweet little cousin Bertha?"
+
+"So say we all," chorused Davy Jones, Giraffe and Bumpus, solemnly, as
+they gathered around the Southern boy.
+
+Bob White looked at their eager faces for a minute before speaking.
+There was something akin to real affection to be seen there as he turned
+his eyes from one to another of his mates. The boy from Dixie had not
+been in the habit of making friends easily in earlier days; but when he
+landed in Cranford he had soon been captivated by the sincere
+companionship of Thad Brewster; and when he joined the new patrol of
+the scouts he quickly learned to appreciate the many good qualities that
+marked the other members.
+
+"Yes, it's only fair, boys," he began, slowly yet with an evident
+determination to take them at least part way into his confidence; "that
+you should know just why I didn't want any of you to tell the name of
+the town we hailed from, when that man was in here. He would have
+recognized it as my new home, and might have suspected that I brought
+you all down here for a purpose."
+
+"Which you did," interrupted Bumpus; "to admire the scenery; rough it
+awhile in the Land of the Sky; and show us something of your native
+country. If there was anything more, we didn't know it, Bob White. But
+we're comrades, one and all; and if we c'n do anything to help you tide
+over some trouble, why, you've just got to tell now."
+
+"That is fine of you, Bumpus, and I thank you from the bottom of my
+heart," continued the other, strangely moved. "But let me tell you a few
+things first before you make such a rash promise, which I am not going
+to hold you to, suh. The man who was in this cabin, Reuben Sparks, is
+said to be the richest and meanest in these parts. It has been hinted
+more than a few times that he has always been thick with Old Phin Dady.
+But no matter how he came by his money, he is something of a miser."
+
+"No relation of yours, I hope, then, Bob?" asked Step Hen.
+
+"None whatever, suh," replied the other, proudly. "The Quails would
+never have descended to the common methods that man has practiced in
+order to make money. But somehow he managed to gain an influence over my
+Uncle Robert, after whom I was named, as you may guess, suh. When the
+father of Cousin Bertha died, in his will he left the child solely in
+the charge of Reuben Sparks, until she came of age; and he was also
+given control of her little fortune."
+
+The boy ground his teeth hard together, showing how even the
+recollection of this moved him. But recovering his customary calmness he
+continued:
+
+"She was the prettiest little thing you ever saw, suh, take my word foh
+it. And no boy ever thought more of his pet sister than I did of my
+little cousin. My father thought it a shame, and tried to get possession
+of her; but this Reuben Sparks had the law on his side, and all our
+efforts failed. After that he would never even let me see her, so great
+was his hatred for our family.
+
+"One way or another we managed to exchange word, and when our folks went
+up Nawth to look after the mills my father had purchased before his
+death, I had just two letters from Bertha before something happened, and
+they stopped coming. Of course I supposed that her guardian had found
+out about it, and fixed matters so no letter of mine--and I sent seven
+before owning up beaten in the game--could reach her.
+
+"I just stood it till I couldn't sleep nights, thinking that perhaps she
+was being made unhappy by that cruel man. And so I made up my mind I'd
+come down here again, and find out the truth, if I had to steal into his
+house, and see Bertha without his knowing it. I wanted to tell you this
+before, believe me, suh," addressing Thad in particular, as the head of
+the patrol; while his fine eyes filled up on account of his emotion;
+"but somehow I couldn't bring myself to do it. And now, after hearing my
+story briefly, if you-all feel that it would be asking too much of my
+comrades to expect to have their backing in my wildcat scheme, please
+don't hesitate to say so, suh. I'll think just as well of you in either
+case."
+
+Thad reached out, and caught the quivering hand of the Southern boy in
+his own.
+
+"Why, Bob," he said, earnestly, "I think I voice the sentiments of every
+fellow in the patrol when I say most emphatically that we're going to
+stand by you through thick and thin. I'm sure you won't do anything but
+what is right, and what is bound to reflect credit on you as a true
+scout. How about that, fellows?"
+
+"Move we make it unanimous!" cried Bumpus, instantly.
+
+"Ay, ay! that's the ticket," exclaimed others.
+
+"You hear what they say, Bob White?" remarked Thad, warmly.
+
+"We'll back our comrade up, even to kidnapping the cruel guardian, and
+rescuing the pretty little cousin!" Smithy declared with unusual vim,
+for him.
+
+"Oh!" said Bob with a smile, as he looked from one flushed face to
+another. "Of course I don't imagine it'll ever go that far, boys; but I
+thank you for this expression of your friendship. I will never forget
+it, suh, never while I live. And I only hope that some day in the future
+I may be able to repay the kindness to one and to all."
+
+"Then I take it that this Reuben Sparks does not live a great way beyond
+where we happen to be camped right now?" remarked Allan.
+
+"I expected to show you the place sometime to-morrow, suh. It is worth
+seeing, upon my word," replied Bob.
+
+"Now I know that there's a whole lot of truth in that old saying about
+the devil taking care of his own," Giraffe mentioned. "The rest of you
+heard Reuben say he had been tempted to stop under that big tree we
+passed on the way here; but on second thoughts decided to come along to
+the cabin. When that one terrible crack came he got as white as a sheet,
+and told me he believed that that very tree must have been struck. Where
+would Reuben have been if he'd stayed there? Kind of scattered around
+the landscape, I guess."
+
+Thad had just started to say that it was time they thought about getting
+some supper, when he was interrupted in a most disagreeable manner.
+Indeed, for the moment all idea of ever wanting to eat again in this
+world vanished from his mind; for something occurred that caused the
+scouts to rush toward the end of the cabin where the chimney stood, and
+catch hold of each other in sudden terror and dismay.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE JONES BOY COMES TO GRIEF AT LAST.
+
+
+THERE was a rumbling sound, not unlike the roar of a heavy freight train
+coming down the grade of a mountain. All of the scouts plainly felt the
+cabin quiver as though in the throes of an earthquake.
+
+Then succeeded a crash, as the further end was knocked out. For a moment
+Thad really feared they were done for, and his very heart seemed to
+stand still with dread. Then, as the awful sounds died away, save for
+the patter of small stuff on the cabin roof, he breathed naturally
+again.
+
+Whatever it was that had happened, no one had been hurt; and at least
+they could find consolation in this.
+
+"It's an earthquake!" exclaimed Bumpus, being the very first to recover
+the use of his voice.
+
+"A landslide, you mean!" echoed Giraffe, contrary minded.
+
+"Thad, you say?" asked Step Hen; just as though the leader could
+determine the nature of the calamity better than any one else.
+
+"I think Giraffe struck it about right," Thad answered.
+
+"You mean part of the hillside caved away?" further questioned Bumpus.
+
+"Must have been the whole mountain top, by the racket it kicked up,"
+Davy Jones grumbled; "say, my heart turned upside down; and I'll have to
+stand on my head to get it to working again the right way."
+
+"And look at what it did to our snug old cabin; tore the whole end off!"
+observed Step Hen, ruefully. "Now, if it happened to be a cold night,
+why, we'd just be freezing to death, that's what. Anybody seen my cap
+around; my hair stood up on end with the scare, and I must have dropped
+it? Thank you, Allan, for picking it up. I do have the worst luck about
+losing my things you ever saw."
+
+"Seems to me," remarked Allan, soberly, "that instead of complaining the
+way you fellows are doing, we ought to be mighty thankful it wasn't any
+worse."
+
+"Yes, that's what I was thinking," Smithy added, as he let go Allan's
+arm, which he must have unconsciously gripped in his sudden fright;
+"what if we had run to that end of the cabin, things would look somewhat
+different right now."
+
+"Ugh! guess that's right," Giraffe admitted; "and for one I ain't goin'
+to make any more complaint. But what under the sun was it hit us?"
+
+"A big rock must have dropped down from the side of the mountain, and
+tore out the end of the old cabin," Thad explained. "It came on this
+night of all nights, just when we happened to be camped here. And the
+cabin has stood unharmed for as much as thirty years, Bob White says."
+
+"I call that queer, now," said Bumpus.
+
+"It's more than that, Bumpus," Smithy remarked, in his most mysterious
+manner; "I'd call it highly significant, if you asked my opinion."
+
+"Wow! listen to that, would you?" exclaimed Step Hen, shuddering again.
+"He means that the rock was smashed down by somebody who wanted to chase
+us out of this region. And that must be our old friend, Phin Dady, the
+moonshiner!"
+
+Thad bent down, and proceeded to light a handy little lantern which one
+of the boys had carried for emergencies.
+
+"I'm going to take a look out, and see what struck us," he remarked.
+
+"Be careful, Thad," warned Allan; "another rock might follow the first."
+
+"And if you hear the least suspicious sound, jump for all that's out,"
+added Bumpus, ready to admire the nerve of one who could face danger so
+readily, even though not capable of imitating Thad's example himself.
+
+"Oh! I reckon there's little chance of anything like that happening,"
+the other sent back, with a little laugh, as though he wanted to cheer
+his chums up; "you know, they say lightning never strikes in the same
+place twice. It's taken thirty years for a rock to hit this cabin,
+though plenty must have slid down the side of the mountain in that time.
+Be back in a jiffy, boys."
+
+With that he stepped out of the door, which had been burst open when the
+log structure received such a terrific jolt. The other boys clustered
+there by the revived fire, exchanging views, and waiting for the return
+of those who had gone outside; for Bob White had silently followed Thad,
+as though he felt that since it was through his invitation that the
+scouts were placed in this predicament, he ought to do everything in his
+power to ease the strain.
+
+When they entered again in less than ten minutes, of course a
+bombardment of eager questions saluted them.
+
+"Slow up, fellows," Thad said, laughingly. "If I tried to answer you
+all, I'd be apt to get my tongue twisted some, and that's a fact. Yes,
+it _was_ a rock that did the damage, just as we guessed. It rolled down
+from somewhere above; but we could only guess at that, it's so dark out
+there. And after taking a look at the size of the same, Bob and myself
+made up our minds we had reason to be mighty thankful that it only
+touched the end of the cabin, instead of hitting it square in the
+center."
+
+"But whoever started it rolling?" demanded Bumpus; and it was evident
+from the way the others waited to hear what Thad would say to this, that
+they laid great stress on the answer.
+
+"Well," returned the other, soberly, "of course we couldn't make dead
+certain, but after seeing the heft of that rock we believed that it was
+never started by any human hands. The rain and storm must have
+undermined it."
+
+Bumpus heaved a big sigh of relief.
+
+"Well," said he, "I'm glad of that. It's bad enough to think you're
+bein' bombarded by rocks that just take a silly notion to drop when we
+come along; but it'd be a heap sight worse if the men of the Big Smokies
+were throwing such pebbles at us, haphazard. Whew! I'm hungry, fellers;
+who says grub?"
+
+That was just like a boy, to remember his natural appetite right on the
+heels of the greatest fright of his whole life. And as the others
+admitted to feeling somewhat the same way, there ensued a bustle to see
+how soon supper could be gotten ready.
+
+The members of the Silver Fox Patrol were no longer greenhorns, though
+one or two of them gave evidence that they had not yet graduated from
+the tenderfoot class. They had learned a great deal about the things
+that are connected with a camp life, because they had spent some time
+under canvas on Lake Omega, which lay not many miles from their home
+town.
+
+And then again, Thad had belonged to a troop of scouts before coming to
+Cranford; while, as for Allan, he had been through the mill so often up
+in Maine and elsewhere, that he was, as Bumpus declared, a "walking
+edition of what to do, and what not to do when in the woods."
+
+It is true that on this big hike through the mountains they were
+compelled to travel very light, and would miss many of the things that
+had added greatly to their comfort on that other occasion. But then it
+was their desire to learn how to rough it, taking the knocks with the
+good things.
+
+By this time some of the lads were beginning to believe that they would
+rub up against plenty of the "knocks" all right; especially if things
+kept on as they had commenced since striking this wonderful "Land of the
+Sky."
+
+The supper put them in something like their customary good humor.
+Indeed, as they sat around the fire afterwards, Bumpus was induced to
+sing several of their school songs, so that the whole of them might join
+in the rollicking chorus. Strange sounds indeed to well up out of that
+valley, so lately the theater of a war between the elements, as
+lightning and rain vied with each other to produce a panic in the
+breasts of these same boys who now sang and joked as though they had not
+a care in the world.
+
+Only Bob White remained very quiet. Thad often glanced toward the
+Southern lad, with sympathy in his look. He could easily understand
+that, with their arrival in this mountainous region, where the other had
+spent many of his earlier years, old memories must be revived, some
+pleasant, and possibly others of a disagreeable nature.
+
+Finally they agreed that it would be wise to get some sleep, as another
+day lay before them. And accordingly, in the customary fashion, the
+bugler sounded "taps," and each scout tried to find a soft board, upon
+which he might rest his weary body during the hours that must elapse
+before dawn arrived.
+
+A watch was kept up, one fellow taking an hour at a time, and then
+arousing the next on the list; so that at no time was the cabin
+unguarded while the night slowly passed.
+
+But nothing happened to disturb the scouts; and as morning came at last
+they began to get up and stretch, rubbing their limbs as though the hard
+bed had not been the nicest thing possible. But there was little
+grumbling. They had learned to take things as they came; which is one of
+the finest results of Boy Scout experience. The philosophy of the woods
+teaches that in the very start--try for the best results; but after you
+have done your best, accept the situation with cheerfulness.
+
+Again the notes of the bugle sounded the "assembly," as breakfast was
+declared ready; and half an hour later they left their shelter of the
+night.
+
+"Good-bye old cabin!" sang out Bumpus, waving his fat hand back toward
+the wrecked log house; "you treated us pretty decent after all, and
+we'll never forget you. Long may you wave, and offer shelter to other
+pilgrims storm chased!"
+
+As the sun climbed above the rim of the encircling mountains the spirits
+of the boys mounted in proportion. Davy Jones was up to his usual
+pranks, being hard to control. They would miss him for a short time,
+only to hear a whoop; and looking up, discover the acrobatic boy hanging
+by his knees, or it might be his toes, from the limb of a tree, thirty
+feet or more above the ground.
+
+Thad knew from experience that it was next to impossible to restrain the
+Jones boy; he must have his frolic out; and so they only laughed at his
+antics, and wondered what next the daring Davy would attempt.
+
+Ten minutes later he was seen standing on his head on the edge of what
+appeared to be a deep ravine or gulch, and kicking his heels in the air.
+
+All sorts of dire things had always been predicted as going to overtake
+Davy sooner or later, unless he gave up these venturesome pranks; and
+this time it actually looked as though they were about to be fulfilled.
+For even as the seven other scouts were watching his antics, the earth
+at the edge of the gully appeared to suddenly give way.
+
+Davy vanished from their view, the last thing they saw of him being his
+up tilted heels, waving what seemed to be a frantic farewell.
+
+With cries of alarm the scouts rushed forward, fearful as to what they
+would see.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+MORE SIGNS OF TROUBLE AHEAD.
+
+
+"OH! did you see him kick his heels at us as he went down?" gasped
+Bumpus, as they hurried forward to the spot where the venturesome scout
+had vanished so forlornly; "I'll never forget it, never! Just like the
+poor old chap wanted to say 'good-bye boys!'"
+
+Bumpus was too honest and warm hearted a fellow to say this with any
+intention of being hilarious. He sincerely felt every word of it.
+
+Of course the long-legged Giraffe had to be the first to arrive on the
+scene of the late tragedy. Thad felt constrained to call out to him in
+warning.
+
+"Be careful there, Giraffe, or else there may be another of us down in
+that pocket. Look out for your footing, I tell you!"
+
+The other had dropped flat on his chest. He was seen to stretch his neck
+in the endeavor to get the best results with a minimum of risk; and they
+did say that when Giraffe really and truly did his prettiest in this
+respect he could cover more territory than any one else ever seen.
+
+"Oh! is he smashed flatter'n a pancake?" asked Step Hen, as he drew
+near, with his melancholy face looking longer than usual; and the whites
+of his eyes showing strongly, as they always did when he was frightened.
+
+Giraffe twisted his head around with the utmost ease; indeed, from the
+length of his neck it looked as though he might continue the turning
+movement until he had actually made a complete revolution.
+
+And when Thad caught sight of the grin on his face he felt immediately
+relieved; for surely Giraffe loving fun as much as he did, would not
+allow this smirk to decorate his angular countenance unless there seemed
+little danger.
+
+Another minute, and all of them were ranged there along the edge of the
+gully, staring down at Davy Jones. It would seem that the other had been
+agile enough to clutch hold of a small tree that jutted out from the
+steep slope. He was hanging to it now, and straining the best he knew
+how to fling his legs upward, so as to relieve the situation, and the
+terrific pull on his arms.
+
+He looked upward toward the row of faces peeping over the edge above;
+and there was a humorous grin on his face. He knew what his comrades
+were doubtless thinking about "the pitcher that went once too often to
+the well;" and that their natural alarm having passed, they would see
+only the humorous side of the affair.
+
+Again did Davy strain. There was something connected with the way he was
+hanging there that seemed to prevent him from accomplishing the result
+he wanted to attain. For the first time they could remember the boys saw
+that the gymnast and acrobat of the troop had certainly met his match.
+Left to himself he would surely have had to invent some other method for
+drawing himself up on to the slender horizontal trunk of the little
+tree; or else let go, and drop.
+
+As it was a matter of some twenty feet or so to the bottom of the gully;
+and the chances were that he might receive any number of bad scratches
+while making the transit, Davy of course would be averse to trying this
+plan.
+
+"Guess you'll have to lend me a hand this time, boys," he called out,
+when once more he failed to make connection between his squirming legs
+and the body of the tree.
+
+"Who'll go down, and yank him on to that tree?" asked Bumpus; knowing
+full well at the same time that no one could have the nerve to ask a
+fellow of his heft, when there were so many others better fitted for the
+task.
+
+"Don't all speak at once!" advised the hanging Davy.
+
+Somehow all eyes were turned toward Giraffe. As the most agile of the
+lot, he might be expected to volunteer; and yet with not a particle of
+footing between the top of the bank and that tree, some ten feet down,
+the job was hardly one that might appeal to any scout, however nimble.
+
+"Oh! you needn't look at me that way," he complained; "because I'm long,
+and active, you just think I c'n stretch that far; but it's a mistake.
+But if somebody _has_ to try and make the riffle, I s'pose it'll be me."
+
+He started to take off his knapsack as he said this, when Thad stopped
+him.
+
+"Wait, Giraffe," said the patrol leader, quietly; "perhaps, after all,
+nobody has to go down after Davy. You seem to forget, all of you, that
+we've got a stout rope along with us. What's the need of carrying such a
+thing, if it can't help us out in a pinch?"
+
+"Bully! Sure we've got a rope, and a dandy one at that!" cried Bumpus,
+growing so excited that he came near falling over the edge, and had to
+clutch hold of the nearest scout to steady himself.
+
+"If you'd gone that time, Bumpus, think what a splash you'd have made
+down there. Because Davy got hold of a tree don't think you could do the
+same. It'll have to be a whopping big one that could bear up under
+_your_ weight, all right," said Step Hen, who chanced to be the one whom
+the fat boy had caught hold of in his sudden alarm.
+
+It turned out that Bob White was carrying the rope. He had it wound
+around his body in a way Allan had shown him, so that it did not
+interfere with his movements, and was not coming loose all the time.
+
+Quickly then was it unwound. In order to hasten this, the boys even
+began to turn Bob around like a teetotum, until he said he was dizzy.
+
+"Lucky it's got a loop handy at the end," remarked Allan, as he took the
+rope, and sought a position directly above the hanging scout.
+
+"How is it, Davy?" he asked, while lowering the noose.
+
+"If you mean how much longer I could stand it, I'd say not a big lot,"
+replied the one addressed. "You see, the old tree cuts my hands just
+fierce; and I've been twisting around here so long now that I'm gettin'
+tired. How're you goin' to fix it, Allan? Might toss the loop over my
+head; but I'm afraid my neck wouldn't hold out. If it was Giraffe now--"
+
+"Here, you just let up on Giraffe, and pay attention to what Allan's
+goin' to tell you; hear?" called out the party mentioned.
+
+"Do you think you could hold on with one arm, and get the other through
+the loop?" continued the Maine boy. "Of course, if you can't, why, I
+might swing it around, and you could somehow stick your feet through;
+when we'd drag the loop up under your arms. How about that, Davy?"
+
+But Davy made a test, and declared that one hand would hold him for a
+brief time. So, in this way, the rope was finally placed under both
+arms, and tightened.
+
+"Now, get hold here, fellows, and give a pull!" said Allan; "hold on,
+not so rough about it, Giraffe, or you'll rub his face against the rocks
+and make it worse than if he'd let go, and dropped down. Here he comes,
+boys!"
+
+"Heave ho!" sang out the scouts, and foot by foot they drew the unlucky
+acrobat once more to the surface.
+
+"Got off pretty slick that time, eh, Davy?" demanded Step Hen, after the
+other had been landed, and Bob White was coiling the rope around himself
+again.
+
+"Never knew me to miss doin' that, did you, Step Hen?" queried the
+other; and from the flippant tone in which he said this it was plainly
+evident that the lesson had been lost on him; and that Davy would be
+doing his customary stunts right along.
+
+The hike was presently resumed, and the little adventure reckoned a
+thing of the past. Shortly afterwards they came suddenly on a man, with
+an old vehicle, and a slab-sided horse that looked half starved. The
+ramshackle wagon bed was covered to about the depth of three feet with
+poor looking straw, that seemed to have done duty a long time.
+
+As for the man himself, he was a typical mountaineer, thin and scrawny,
+with a small, weasened face, and keen, snapping eyes. Bob White
+instantly pulled his hat down over his face as he saw the man.
+
+Thad noticed that the other looked alarmed at sight of these eight
+khaki-clad boys strung out along the mountain road. Indeed, he had the
+appearance of a man who would have turned and fled, only that he was
+afraid to do so after finding himself face to face with what looked like
+a squad of United States regulars, or at the least, North Carolina
+militia, on the hike.
+
+He returned the greetings of the boys with sundry nods of his head, and
+urged his old nag along by several whacks from the hickory rod he held
+in his hand in lieu of a whip. So ramshackle vehicle and scared driver
+vanished around the bend which had concealed the scouts from his view
+until it was too late to run.
+
+"Looked like he'd seen a ghost!" suggested Step Hen, with a chuckle.
+
+"Well, you can't blame him, if he saw _you_ roll your eyes, and make
+that face of yours look like thirty cents," remarked Bumpus, cuttingly.
+
+"He had mountain dew hidden under that straw," remarked Bob White; "I
+remember the old fellow right well, and I'm glad he was that frightened
+he didn't think to take at look at me. Nate Busby is his name. He always
+was connected with Old Phin, and the others who make the moonshine stuff
+further up in the hills. Right now, you can believe me, suh, he's on
+his way with that load, to hide it where somebody from town can find
+it."
+
+"He don't know what to make of us, seems like?" suggested Giraffe.
+
+"That is the truth," added Thad. "I thought his eyes would drop out, he
+stared so hard. Seemed to me as if he actually expected some of us to
+surround him, and examine his load. How he did whip that old nag of his.
+The beast kicked up his heels, and galloped, perhaps for the first time
+in years."
+
+All of them laughed as they went on, talking by the way. Boys can
+discover a ludicrous side to almost anything. Good health, absence of
+worry, and plenty of food are about all they require; and the world
+looks its brightest.
+
+Sometimes, when Thad glanced toward the Southern boy, he wondered
+whether Bob had taken them wholly into his confidence on the last
+evening when he told them about his life amid the mountains and valleys
+of the Blue Ridge Range. It struck him that Bob frowned too often to
+indicate a clear conscience.
+
+"There's something else on his mind, and that's certain," Thad was
+saying to himself. "He keeps looking in my direction every little while,
+and I wouldn't be surprised if he came over pretty soon to tell me
+something he's been keeping back. But it don't matter; we'll stand
+behind Bob all the time. He's a fine fellow, as true as gold; and one
+scout should always help another in trouble."
+
+His reflections were interrupted by Bumpus, who edged over nearer the
+patrol leader to impart the information that, happening to look back, he
+had discovered some one thrusting his head out from behind a rock, as
+though he might be following in their wake!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+THE MESSAGE OF THE SPLIT STICK.
+
+
+A TEMPORARY halt had been called, and the scouts were consulting as to
+what this new development might mean.
+
+"Sure you saw a man, are you, Bumpus?" asked Giraffe, as though he had
+an idea the stout boy might have deceived himself. "Twa'n't a rolling
+stone, now, I take it? Or it couldn't have been a frisky little 'coon'
+or 'possum,' I suppose?"
+
+"Well, what d'ye think I've got eyes for, if I don't know a biped when I
+see one?" retorted Bumpus, indignantly. "He was as plain as anything;
+and makin' from one pile of rocks to another. You go with me back there,
+and I'll show you, Giraffe. Then you'll believe me when I say a thing."
+
+The two boys made a move as if to carry out this project, only the
+scoutmaster put a stop to it.
+
+"Don't think of doing that, fellows," Thad said, quickly. "These
+mountaineers are a thin-skinned lot as far as I've been able to learn;
+and they won't stand for any poking of your nose into their business.
+Besides, if it was a man, the chances are he would be armed, and you
+might bring a hornet's nest down about our ears."
+
+"Oh! he did have a gun, all right," remarked Bumpus, carelessly.
+
+"You didn't mention that before," broke in Step Hen, with an intaking of
+breath that betrayed excitement.
+
+"'Cause nobody asked me; and every one wanted to have something to say,"
+retorted the other. "It was a gun, and an _awful_ wicked looking one
+too, about as long as my staff, seemed to me."
+
+"Could it have been Old Phin?" suggested Allan.
+
+"How about that, Bumpus; was he an old man with a gray beard?" asked
+Thad.
+
+"Nixey; that is I don't know how old he might a been; but I'm dead sure
+he didn't have any beard at all, just a smooth face. But he was a
+regular mountaineer, all right, Thad, with the dingy old faded brown
+homespun clothes, the slouch hat, and the ragged pants that never came
+near his brogans. He saw me lookin' at him, for he put on a little
+spurt, and dodged behind that pile of rocks, where like as not he's
+squattin' right now, waitin' to see what we're agoin' to do about it,
+and ready to speak to us with that trusty weapon if we try to rush his
+fort."
+
+"Well, we're going to do nothing of the kind, just remember that," said
+Thad, resolutely. "It's only natural that the men of these mountains
+should feel a whole lot of curiosity about us. I suppose now they never
+heard of the Boy Scouts; and these uniforms make them think we're
+connected with the army. Now, we don't want to stir them up any more
+than we can help. They're an ugly lot, Bob here says, if you rub the fur
+the wrong way. We didn't come down here to bother these moonshiners one
+whit; and if they'll only let us alone, we want to keep our hands off
+their affairs. Let the fellow dodge after us if he wants to; he'll find
+that we're only a bunch of happy-go-lucky boys, off for a holiday."
+
+"Pity we can't meet up with that same old Phin, and tell him as much,"
+Smithy went on to say.
+
+"Perhaps it might be managed easy enough," Allan observed, and all of
+them immediately turned toward him, feeling that he had some scheme to
+communicate.
+
+"Open up, and tell us what it is, Allan," urged the impatient Bumpus.
+
+"Yes, don't keep us guessing any more than you can help," added Step
+Hen. "We've sure got enough to worry us, what with the troubles of
+Giraffe getting stuck in that quicksand; and Davy here, falling over
+every old precipice he can find, without you making us puzzle out a
+problem. How could it be done, Allan?"
+
+"Why, we'll send Old Phin a letter," replied the other, calmly.
+
+"Show me your messenger, then!" demanded Bumpus.
+
+Allan picked up a stick, and deliberately split one end so that he could
+open it up. This he thrust into a crevice in the rocks close to the
+wretched road, and in such a position that it was certain to meet the
+eye of the tracker when he again started to follow them.
+
+"Now, I'll write a few lines, and leave it here, addressed to Phin
+Dady," he went on. "I'll print the words in capitals, in the hopes that
+the old mountaineer may be able to read as much as that. If he can't,
+then some other of the clan may; and if all else fails, they'll have
+some boy or girl make it out. How's that, Thad?"
+
+"Splendid, I should say," replied the scoutmaster, smiling. "Here,
+Bumpus, turn around, and bend over."
+
+"What you goin' to do to me?" demanded the short scout, suspiciously, as
+he hesitated before complying.
+
+"Is that the way you obey orders?" scoffed Giraffe. "A true scout should
+never ask questions. S'pose them dragoons at the battle of the Six
+Hundred had begun to want to know the whys and wherefores of everything,
+d'ye think we'd ever had any chance to declaim that stirring poem?
+Shame on you, Bumpus, take a brace, and obey blindly."
+
+"Oh! I only want the use of your broad and steady back for a writing
+desk, so Allan can get his message written," Thad at this interesting
+juncture remarked, easing the strain, and dissipating all the fat boy's
+suspicions.
+
+When Allan had made out to complete his "message" he read it aloud, and
+also let them all have a look at it. Just as he had said he would do, he
+had written it in the most primitive way possible, by making capitals of
+each letter. This was what he had done:
+
+"Phin Dady--We are a patrol of Boy Scouts, come down from the North to
+see the Carolina mountains. We do not mean you, or any one, harm; but
+want to be friends. We carry no arms but a single shotgun."
+
+"That ought to answer the purpose," remarked Thad, approvingly.
+
+"I didn't want to say too much, you see," observed the author of the
+message, as he fastened it in the crotch of the riven stick, where it
+must attract the attention of any one passing. "First, I had a notion to
+mention Bob's name, as a former resident; and then I remembered that he
+said he didn't want it known he'd come back. So I left that out."
+
+"And I'm glad you did," said the one in question, hastily; "it would
+have done no good, suh, believe me; and might have brought us into much
+trouble."
+
+Again Thad saw him send that expressive glance his way; and his
+suspicions concerning Bob having another secret which he had not as yet
+told, received further confirmation.
+
+"This, you know, fellows," remarked Allan, "is the way the Indians
+communicated in the old days; only instead of writing it out as we do,
+they used to make signs that stood for men, camp-fires, rivers, woods,
+animals, trails and such things. You remember, Thad here gave us some
+talk about that awhile back. Now, are we going on again, since we've
+left our wonderful message for Old Phin?"
+
+"Yes, and perhaps we'd better keep somewhat closer together than we've
+been doing up to now," the scoutmaster suggested.
+
+"How'd it do for Giraffe here to stay behind, and watch to see if that
+feller back of the rock pile gets the letter?" Bumpus proposed. "After
+we turned that bend ahead he could drop down, and creep back. Then,
+after he'd seen all he wanted, why it wouldn't be any great shake for
+such a long-legged feller to overtake the rest of the bunch."
+
+But Giraffe evidently did not like the idea of being left all by himself
+after that fashion. He looked worried as he waited to see what Thad
+would say; and was considerably relieved when the other shook his head,
+remarking:
+
+"No need of that, Number Three. It wasn't such a bad idea though, come
+to think of it, and does you credit. I'm glad to see that you're waking
+up, and beginning to work your brain more. But that message will get
+into the hands of Old Phin, all right, there's no doubt of that."
+
+"D'ye reckon he'll take our word for it; or believe it's only one more
+clever dodge of the revenue men to get him when he's napping?" asked
+Davy Jones.
+
+The scoutmaster turned to Bob White.
+
+"How about that, Bob?" he asked.
+
+"Old Phin is narrow minded, as you can easily understand," the Southern
+boy replied. "Besides, he's had so many smart dodges played on him, that
+he'll never believe anybody's word. Now, he may make up his mind that
+because we're only boys he needn't be afraid we expect to capture him;
+but all the same, we might poke around here, meaning to destroy his
+Still, suh. You can depend upon it that Old Phin'll never make friends
+with any one that wears a uniform. That stands for an enemy in his eyes.
+But I'm hopin' suh, that he'll just conclude to let us alone, and go to
+one of his mountain hide-outs, to stay till we leave the neighborhood."
+
+They were by now tramping along again. Trying to forget the ugly part of
+the affair, Thad was picturing in his mind what the home of Reuben
+Sparks might be like. He was a rich man, Bob had said, and in close
+touch with the moonshiners; though the Government had never been able
+to connect him with any of the illicit Stills that had been raided from
+time to time during the last dozen years. And so it was only natural to
+believe that he must have surrounded himself with some of the comforts
+of civilization, while remaining in this wild region. Words let fall by
+Bob had given Thad this impression; as though they were going to be
+surprised when the home of little Cousin Bertha was come upon.
+
+"I'd like to have a little talk with you, Thad!"
+
+The scoutmaster was not very much surprised when he heard these words,
+and realized that Bob White had caught up with him as he strode along at
+the head of the little squad of boys in khaki.
+
+"He just couldn't hold in any longer," was what Thad whispered to
+himself; "and now he's bound to let down the bars all the way, so
+somebody will share his secret with him."
+
+Turning upon the other, he said, pleasantly:
+
+"Why, as many as you like, Bob; what's bothering you now; for I've seen
+you looking my way quite some time, as though you wanted to speak. I
+guess you'll feel better when you've had it out."
+
+"Perhaps I may, suh, though I'm ashamed to have kept it from you so
+long," answered the Southern boy, shame-facedly. "Fact is, I tried to
+deceive myself into thinking that it couldn't interest or concern any of
+my chums. But now, since I've been thinking it all over, and we've run
+across Old Phin, it looks different to me, and I'm of the opinion I had
+ought to have mentioned this before I took the lot of you down into
+these danger mountains!"
+
+Thad knew then that it could be no trifling thing that would agitate the
+other as this seemed to do, and he steadied himself to meet the
+disclosure.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+BOB CONFIDES IN THE PATROL LEADER.
+
+
+"WHAT I want to tell you about is--my father," said Bob, swallowing
+something that seemed to be sticking in his throat; as though the mere
+mention of his dead parent had the power to affect him so.
+
+"Yes?" Thad said, encouragingly, wondering at the same time how one who
+had passed to the other side several years now, could have any sort of
+connection with the mission of the scouts to this region.
+
+"You'll perhaps understand, suh," continued Bob, getting a firmer grip
+on himself; "when I mention the fact that my father, for a year or so
+before he was taken, had filled the office of United States Marshal for
+this district."
+
+"Oh!" exclaimed Thad, beginning to see light now.
+
+"He was induced to take the office by the President himself, who was a
+personal friend of my father," the boy went on, proudly; "and having
+given his word, nothing could make him back out. Up to then we had
+lived at peace with everybody in these mountains; but of course that was
+bound to come to an end after he had sworn to do his duty; which was to
+send out his agents to destroy all the secret Stills, and bring in the
+law breakers, if they could be found."
+
+"He must soon have had the enmity of Old Phin, and every other
+moonshiner about the Big Smokies," Thad remarked, the other having
+paused, as though to give him a chance to express an opinion.
+
+"That is just what happened, suh," Bob went on, hurriedly, as, having
+broken the ice, he wanted to get through as speedily as possible. "After
+he had led several successful raids in person, the mountaineers saw that
+they had a different man to deal with from the other old marshal. They
+sent him terrible warnings of what was going to happen to him if he kept
+up his work; but my father was a Quail; and he didn't know the meanin'
+of the word fear, suh."
+
+"Were you and your mother living near here all that time, Bob?" asked
+the scoutmaster. "Because, I should have thought she might have been
+worried for fear some of those desperate men tried to stop your father's
+work by burning down his home, or doing something like that?"
+
+"There were threats made, suh, to that effect; and my father moved his
+family to Asheville to feel that we would be all safe. Then there came
+a dreadful day for us, when my father never came back, after he had
+gone into these mountains to arrest another batch of moonshiners, whose
+Still had been located. One of the men who had accompanied him told us
+he had seen him shot down. They were surrounded by bushwhackers, and the
+rifles were popping all about, so they had to leave him there. He was
+surely dead, they claimed, before they fled from the spot, and of
+course, suh, they could not burden themselves with his body."
+
+Again Bob White paused to gulp down the obstacle in his throat.
+
+"Now, you are wondering, suh, how it happened that when we came to
+Cranford there was a gentleman with us who was called Mr. Quail, and
+supposed to be my father. That was my father's twin brother, living in
+Philadelphia. He kindly offered to stay with my mother, who never goes
+out at all, until we became settled. Her mother, my grandmother, had
+left me a heap of stock in the bank and mills of Cranford; and as it was
+very unpleasant for my mother down this aways, after father went, she
+had determined to locate up yondah."
+
+"And does she know about you coming down here?" asked Thad,
+suspiciously, as if he feared that the other might have deceived the
+only parent he had left; this bringing a tragedy of the grim mountains
+so close home to them had given the scout leader considerable of a
+thrill, for after all, despite his courage and grit, Thad was only a
+boy.
+
+Bob drew himself up proudly, and his black eyes flashed.
+
+"I would sooner cut off my right hand, suh, than deceive my mother," he
+said. "And, so you may understand the whole thing, I must tell you what
+a strange longin' I've been hugging to my heart these two years back. It
+is this. What if, after all, my father was _not_ dead at the time his
+men saw him fall; what if these moonshiners have kept him a prisoner
+somewhere in these mountains all this while, meanin' to punish him
+because he had given them all so much trouble!"
+
+"That's a stunning shock you've given me, Bob," said Thad, drawing a
+long breath; "but see here, is it just a wild wish to have it so; or
+have you any reason to believe such a thing; any foundation for the
+theory, in fact?"
+
+"I'll tell you, suh," Bob went on, feverishly. "A man came to me one
+day, and said he had been sent by one of the revenues who had been with
+my father that sad time, to tell me what he had picked up in the
+mountains. There were rumors going around that somewhere deep in the
+mountains, at one of the secret Stills, the moonshiners kept a prisoner
+at work. Some said it must be one of the revenue men who had
+disappeared; and that the moonshiners were bent on making him work up
+the mash, as a sort of punishment for having done them so much damage
+when he was in the employ of the Government."
+
+"I see; and of course you jumped to the conclusion that it might be your
+own father, alive and well, though held a prisoner of the moonshiners?"
+
+"Both my mother and myself believed there might be just a little chance
+that way. She was in bad health, and put it all in my hands. We have
+never said a word about it to anybody in Cranford. While I have been
+going to school with the rest of the boys in Cranford, all the time I
+was in correspondence with one of the Government revenue agents, and
+paying him to be on the constant watch for any positive signs. He died
+six months ago, and just when he had begun to think he was getting on a
+warm scent."
+
+"I see," said Thad, as the other paused, overcome with emotion; "and
+ever since then you've been longing to get down here again, to find out
+for yourself if it _could_ be true. I don't blame you the least bit,
+Bob. And I only hope that you'll be able to learn the truth, even if it
+dashes all your hopes. Whatever we can do to help, you can count on.
+Scouts have to be like brothers, you know. It's a part of our
+regulations to help any one in trouble; and that applies stronger than
+ever when it's a fellow scout."
+
+"Oh! thank you, Thad!" exclaimed the warmhearted Southern lad, as he
+squeezed the hand of his companion almost fiercely. "I had no right to
+influence you to come down here. It is a dangerous place. Right now I
+ought to beg you and the rest to back out, and leave me to fight my
+battles alone. But somehow I just can't find the grit to do that. I
+reckon, suh, I'm too selfish. I'm right ashamed of myself at this minute
+to feel such satisfaction in the grip of your hand."
+
+"Of course," continued wise Thad, "this old moonshiner, Phin Dady, might
+still have it in for you, as one of the Quail family."
+
+"As far as that is concerned, suh, I'm not bothering my head, I assuah
+you. I'd just as lief face Old Phin, and snap my fingers under his nose.
+My idea in wanting to keep him from seeing me was along another line,
+suh. He would be apt to think 'like father, like son;' and that I had
+hired out to the Government to find where his Still lay, so it could be
+raided. No man has ever done that; Old Phin declares they never will."
+
+"If these mountaineers begin to get bothersome it might interfere some
+with that other little affair you spoke about?" suggested Thad, as they
+continued to walk on in company.
+
+"That's what I'm afraid of, suh," replied Bob White; "but I'm hoping for
+the best."
+
+Some of the others happening to push up about that time brought the
+confidential conversation to a close. But surely the young scout leader
+had plenty to ponder over as he walked on.
+
+The hike through the Blue Ridge, which they had looked forward to simply
+as a test of endurance, and to develop their knowledge of woodcraft,
+threatened to turn into a tragic affair. At least, it was no child's
+play; and if they came out of it without any serious accident happening
+to any of their number, they would be deserving of great credit.
+
+But if Thad and Bob White were in a serious frame of mind, the same
+could hardly be said of several other members of the patrol. Giraffe,
+Step Hen and Bumpus seemed to be fairly bubbling over with good humor.
+Some boys can no more control their spirits than they can their
+appetites.
+
+As usual Step Hen suddenly discovered, while they were halting for a
+breathing spell, that he was minus something. The evil spirits had
+evidently been at work again, when he was off his guard, and succeeded
+in abstracting part of his personal property. It really was a shame how
+they beset that unlucky fellow.
+
+"If it don't just beat the Dutch what happens to me?" he was heard to
+loudly wail, looking around him in a helpless way.
+
+"What's the matter now, Step Hen?" asked Allan; although he knew full
+well what sort of an answer he must receive.
+
+"They've been and done it some more," replied the disturbed scout,
+helplessly.
+
+The trouble was, that whenever he missed anything Step Hen always ran
+around looking in all the places that no sensible person would ever
+dream of examining. When Giraffe declared that he was like an old hen
+with its head taken off, it just about fitted the case.
+
+"What's gone this time?" continued the boy from Maine, with a smile at
+the way Step Hen was turning over small stones, and stirring the leaves
+with his foot, as if he really expected a miracle to be wrought, and to
+find a bulky object that way.
+
+"That little kodak I fetched along; you know I had it wrapped so
+carefully in a waterproof cloth, and tied with top cord. Now it's gone!
+Needn't spring that old story on me, and say I was careless. P'raps I
+have been a few times; but right now I'm dead sure the fault ain't mine.
+Somebody's playing a joke on me. Mind, I ain't mentioning no names; but
+I've got my suspicions."
+
+He looked hard at Giraffe, and the accusation could hardly have been
+given in plainer language than that. But Giraffe was used to being
+unjustly accused. There were occasions when he did seize upon a golden
+opportunity to hide something belonging to his comrade, because it had
+been left carelessly around; and Giraffe believed it a part of his duty
+to break the other of such shiftless habits. But on this occasion he
+held up both hands, declaring solemnly:
+
+"Give you my word for it I never touched any camera. This time you've
+either been and dropped it on the road; or else the Gold Dust Twins have
+nabbed it on you."
+
+Just then Bumpus, who had been wandering aimlessly about after drinking
+at the cooling waters of the little spring that had been the main cause
+of this temporary halt in the march, gave utterance to a loud
+exclamation.
+
+He had tripped over something that lay in the grass, and a splash
+announced that with his usual hard luck the fat boy had managed to go
+headlong into the spring. Scrambling out, with the water streaming from
+his red face, he turned indignantly on the balance of the patrol, now
+convulsed with laughter.
+
+"What sort of--horse play d'ye call that--I'd like to know?" he
+sputtered, trying to wipe his streaming face with a handkerchief that
+looked far too small for the task. "Can't a feller--just stroll around
+camp--without some silly putting out a foot, and tripping him up? Tell
+me that, now?"
+
+"I'm beginning to think we must have some sort of a hoodoo along with
+us," remarked Smithy, anxiously. "All sorts of things seem to be
+happening, and in the most mysterious way possible. We all know that
+there wasn't a single fellow anywhere near Bumpus when he pitched
+forward. Yet he says _somebody_ put out a foot, and he tripped over it.
+I think it a remarkable phenomenon, for a fact, and worth
+investigating."
+
+"Well, somethin' _did_ trip me, and that's sure," grumbled the other,
+possibly thinking that he had been too sweeping in his accusation.
+
+"Suppose you look in that bunch of grass, and find out if the little
+evil spirit that's playing all these pranks on you is lying there?"
+suggested Thad, with a twinkle in his eye, as though he could give a
+pretty shrewd guess what the result of the said exploration would turn
+out to be.
+
+So Bumpus, always willing to oblige, especially since his own curiosity
+must have been aroused, proceeded forthwith to get down on his hands and
+knees, and begin an examination of the tangle in question.
+
+Half a minute later he gave a loud cry. At the same time he was seen to
+hold up some strange black object.
+
+"Look! Bumpus has caught his little evil genius!" cried Giraffe. "And
+ain't it a hard lookin' subject though. Caught him right by the ankle,
+and threw him straight into our spring. Lucky we'd had all the drink we
+wanted before he started to wash there!"
+
+"Why, blessed if it ain't my kodak!" ejaculated Step Hen faintly, as
+though it shocked him to think how his lost camera should have been
+lying there in all that tangle of grass, where it had undoubtedly fallen
+as he prepared to take his turn bending over the water hole.
+
+Of course everybody laughed, for they could guess what had happened.
+Step Hen's little failings were an everyday occurrence. As Giraffe had
+often declared, the careless one would have long since lost his head had
+not a kind Nature secured it to his body.
+
+The march was resumed, with Thad lecturing Step Hen on his prevailing
+sin; and as usual Step Hen solemnly promising to be more careful the
+next time. But he had a very slippery mind, and the chances were that
+before nightfall he would be up to his old tricks again, accusing the
+rest of playing a prank by hiding some of his possessions.
+
+"There's a man sitting on that rock up there, watching us!" said Davy
+Jones, in a tone that thrilled them all.
+
+"A regular mountaineer too," added Smithy. "Just as I've pictured them
+often, with butternut jean trousers, a ragged woolen shirt open at the
+neck, and an old hat on his frowsy head. Boys, he seems to have a gun in
+his possession, too."
+
+They were a little uneasy as they passed along; but the lone man seemed
+to simply watch the squad of uniformed scouts without making any hostile
+move.
+
+"Chances are," remarked Davy Jones, after they lost sight of the man;
+"he was some sort of vidette or sentry, posted up there to keep an eye
+on the trail; and if any suspicious characters came along, to send word
+to the other moonshiners. I understand they can telegraph all right
+without the aid of instruments, or even the latest wireless outfit. How
+about that, Bob?"
+
+"Yes, it is so," replied the Southern boy. "They do it by making smokes;
+or sometimes by sounds that are passed along from one station to
+another. It's queer how fast a message can be relayed in that way."
+
+"Well," remarked Thad, "that's the method used by blacks in Africa; and
+they do say they can send news of a battle faster than white men can get
+it along by relays of telegraph stations, with breaks where a carrier
+has to be used."
+
+"Are we getting anywhere close to the place you said old Reuben lived
+at, Bob?" asked Bumpus, who was showing signs of being tired.
+
+"Another hour will take us to where we can look across the wonderful
+little valley and see the place," Bob answered. "You will all be
+surprised, for nobody would ever think so fine a house could be found
+among these wild mountains; but as I told you before, Reuben Sparks
+seems never to have been molested by the moonshiners. Most people
+believe he is a secret partner in the business."
+
+"Say, would you look yonder, where that road comes around the spur back
+of us; to think of seeing a real buggy and a flesh and blood horse, and
+back of the animal a gentleman and lady! I'm sure dreaming!" remarked
+Giraffe, just then.
+
+"Not a bit of it you ain't, because I see them myself," added Step Hen,
+eagerly.
+
+"And unless my eyes deceive me, we've met that gentleman before," said
+Allan.
+
+"Yes," remarked Bob, with trembling voice, "it's Reuben Sparks; and that
+must be my little cousin, Bertha!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+OPENING COMMUNICATIONS.
+
+
+IT was the most natural thing in the world for the detachment of scouts
+to come to a halt when they discovered the vehicle coming up in their
+rear. In the midst of such wild surroundings it was indeed quite a
+surprise to discover anything so civilized. So they lined up on either
+side of the road, resting on the stout staves which all of them carried
+as a means of assistance in their mountain climbing; just as tourists in
+the Alps do when ascending some peak.
+
+Thad noticed how quickly Bob White pulled his broad-brimmed campaign hat
+down over his eyes; and at the same time managed to slip partly behind
+one of his companions. It would interfere somewhat with the cherished
+plans of the boy, should Reuben Sparks recognize him; and this was a
+catastrophe which Bob certainly wished to avoid, if possible.
+
+The vehicle came on, and apparently the man must be telling his
+companion how he had met these young fellows before, for she was looking
+ahead with a great deal of interest and curiosity; though hardly
+dreaming that her cousin could be among the lads, who were clad in neat
+khaki uniforms, with puttees for leggings, and the well-known hats that
+distinguish Boy Scouts in every clime under the sun.
+
+Just as Thad had expected would be the case, Reuben Sparks drew in his
+horse as he arrived in the midst of the scouts. Evidently he wanted to
+have a few minutes' talk with them; and allow the girl a chance to catch
+for herself a fleeting glimpse of that outside world of which she knew
+so little.
+
+"How are you, boys?" remarked the driver of the horse.
+
+"Pretty fairly, sir," replied Thad, anxious to keep the attention of the
+other directed toward himself as much as possible, because of Bob's
+desire to remain unnoticed in the background. "We haven't been used to
+mountain work; but it's fine exercise, and our muscles are getting in
+shape by degrees."
+
+Thad had before now, of course, flung a look at the girl who was sitting
+beside Reuben Sparks. He was more interested because of the fact that he
+knew her to be the little Cousin Bertha, of whom Bob White had been
+telling him.
+
+She was a pretty little girl too, Thad could see that; and he also
+thought there was a wistful expression on her delicate face. If, as Bob
+declared, Bertha was really a prisoner in the care of a cruel guardian,
+when her whole soul longed to be away from these wild mountains, and in
+the haunts of civilization, that expression would be easily understood.
+
+And right then and there Thad Brewster found himself siding with his
+chum Bob White more than ever. He felt a hope beginning to grow strong
+within his heart that some way might be discovered whereby Bertha could
+be taken from the Blue Ridge, which country she detested, and
+transplanted to that Northern town where lived her own flesh and blood
+relatives, who yearned to care for her tenderly, if only the law would
+allow.
+
+Thad saw that Bob was no longer in the same place. The scouts had moved
+forward a little, to cluster around the vehicle, while their leader held
+conversation with the gentleman. And Bob was gradually making his way
+around so as to come on the other side, where he might in some way
+attract the attention of the little maid without Reuben seeing him.
+
+It was plain to be seen that he hoped to seize upon this golden
+opportunity to open communications with Bertha. Thad, while he continued
+to talk with Reuben, and interest him more or less in the object of a
+hike on the part of Boy Scouts, kept one eye in the direction of Bob
+White.
+
+He saw the other take off his campaign hat, and wave it up and down with
+a movement that of course attracted the attention of the girl. She
+started violently as she saw that well-known face of her cousin, of whom
+she had been so fond ever since she was a little tot.
+
+Wise Bob instantly placed a warning finger on his lips, and the girl
+immediately turned her face the other way, while that campaign hat was
+drawn further down than ever over the boy's face. So that when Reuben
+glanced round, as if wondering what had caused his ward to give such a
+violent start, he saw nothing suspicious in the boy who was apparently
+bending over, fastening his shoestring.
+
+Of course Reuben Sparks knew more or less about Boy Scouts, even though
+he may never have had the opportunity of meeting any of the great
+organization up to this time. No one who had the ability to read the
+papers could be without that knowledge. And Thad made it a point to
+mention any number of interesting features connected with their work,
+that rather opened his eyes, and kept him asking for more information.
+
+Like many other people, Reuben Sparks had imagined that the movement had
+to do with drilling American boys, so that they could become soldiers as
+they grew up. He now learned, to his surprise, that there never could be
+a greater mistake. Instead of teaching boys to fight, the principles of
+the organization tend toward peace. The main thing advanced is to make
+boys more manly, self-reliant, courteous, brave, self-sacrificing,
+forgetting their own comfort when they can do a good deed, and relieve
+distress; take care of themselves when in the woods; and perhaps save
+the life of a comrade, should he be wounded by a carelessly used
+hatchet; or come near drowning.
+
+No wonder then that Reuben Sparks found himself intensely interested in
+what Thad was telling him. His eyes were being opened to facts that he
+had never dreamed could be connected with a simple organization of
+growing lads. And many another who has scoffed at the silly idea of
+trying to improve upon the breed of American boys, has been staggered
+when brought face to face with many wonderful results that have already
+sprung from this greatest of all upward movements.
+
+Thad saw after a bit that his object had been accomplished. Bob White
+had not been so busy tying his shoestring as Reuben imagined. On the
+contrary he was scribbling something on a scrap of paper, which he held
+doubled up in his hand when he worked his way to the rear of the
+vehicle.
+
+Undoubtedly the little missy who sat there so demurely beside Reuben
+must have been slily watching his actions. And moreover, she surely
+divined what Bob meant to do; for as Thad watched, he saw her left hand,
+being the one further away from her guardian, quietly slip back, until
+it came within easy touching distance of the scout who had sauntered up
+there.
+
+No doubt impulsive Bob must have pressed that little hand even as he
+passed his note into its possession; for as he told Thad, he had always
+loved his small cousin like a sister.
+
+Fearing detection, the boy quickly moved away; and it was fortunate he
+did, since Reuben in the midst of his questions glanced suspiciously
+around, a minute later.
+
+There was now no longer any reason for detaining the owner of the
+vehicle; and Thad's eagerness in answering questions and giving
+information slackened.
+
+Truth to tell, he was not at all favorably impressed with the looks of
+the gentleman. Reuben had keen, rat-like eyes, that seemed to burn a
+hole in one when they became focused. There was constant suspicion in
+his manner, as though with so many secrets to hide, he had always to be
+on guard. And besides, Thad believed that Bob must have struck a true
+chord when he declared the other to be cruel and unscrupulous by nature.
+
+Perhaps he might be plotting to secure the little inheritance left to
+the child by her father. It seemed almost beyond belief that any one
+could be so mean as to want to injure so sweet looking a little girl as
+Bertha; but then, Old Reuben worshipped gold, and when a man becomes a
+miser he hesitates at few things in order to add to his stores.
+
+But however the gentleman might have been interested in learning more
+about the ways of Boy Scouts, Thad took particular notice that he did
+not invite the hiking Silver Fox Patrol to stop a day or so with him at
+his mountain home.
+
+It might have been just natural meanness that caused this, since eight
+healthy young appetites would eat up all in his larder. But then again,
+there may have been other reasons for the lack of Southern hospitality.
+Possibly Reuben did not care to have inquisitive strangers prowling
+about his place. He may have occasional visitors, who brought cargoes
+which he would not want other eyes to see.
+
+The boys fell in shortly after the vehicle had vanished around a bend of
+the road ahead; and the march was once more resumed.
+
+Of course Bob took the earliest opportunity to forge alongside of Thad.
+He was feverishly excited, so that his black eyes sparkled, and his
+breath came faster than usual.
+
+"What did you think of him, Thad?" he asked, the first thing.
+
+"I must say I don't just like his looks;" replied the other; "but your
+little cousin is everything you said she was. But Bob, she doesn't look
+happy!"
+
+"You could see that too, could you, suh?" exclaimed the other, gritting
+his teeth angrily. "I know he treats her badly. She is thinner in the
+cheeks than she was two years ago, though taller some. And Thad, there's
+a look in her eyes that hurts me. I'm glad I wrote what I did in that
+little note I slipped in her hand. Later on I'm going to tell you about
+it. But oh! it looks like there was a slim chance to do anything for
+poor little Bertha."
+
+Thad hardly knew how to console his chum. Boy-like he was ready to
+promise anything that lay in his power.
+
+"Well, there are eight of us, and that's not as bad as being here
+alone," he suggested, with a cheering pat of his hand on the other's
+shoulder.
+
+"You'll never know how much comfort I get out of that, Thad," the
+Southern boy went on to say, in a broken voice. "You see, I've been
+believing for a long time that there must have been something crooked
+about the way Reuben Sparks came into possession of Bertha, and her
+property. But how to prove it, when my father failed, is what gets me
+now. But I'm full of hope; and what you keep saying gives me a heap of
+solid comfort. I'm going to try and learn the truth while I'm down here;
+and take her away from that man, if it can be done. I'm only a boy, and
+he's a cold scheming man; but all the same, Thad, something inside here
+seems to tell me my visit to the Old Blue Ridge isn't going to be
+useless."
+
+Bob White seemed to be sensibly encouraged after his little chat with
+the patrol leader; for when he dropped back among the rest of the scouts
+he had allowed a winning smile to creep over his dark, proud, handsome
+face.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE VOICE OF THE SILVER FOX PATROL.
+
+
+"WE'RE going to pitch our camp right here, boys!" said the scout leader,
+some time later; "and remember, there's to be no shouting from this time
+on. We're in the enemy's country, and must observe the rules of
+caution."
+
+"Oh! ain't I glad though," sighed Bumpus, who had been busily engaged
+between wiping his perspiring brow, and avoiding stumbles over obstacles
+that seemed to take particular delight in getting in his way, he
+thought.
+
+"But I hope you're not going so far, Thad, as to keep us from having our
+regular camp-fire?" remarked Giraffe. "Without that, it'd be a sad
+business, I'm thinking. And what's supper, without a cup of coffee?"
+
+Thad had been talking again with Bob White; and evidently the boy who
+was acquainted with the locality must have posted the patrol leader
+regarding things.
+
+"Oh! we don't expect to do without that, make your mind easy, Number
+Six," he replied, with a laugh, knowing what a weakness Giraffe had in
+the line of eating; though it seemed to do him little good, since he was
+as "thin as a rail," plump little Bumpus used to declare.
+
+With various exclamations of satisfaction the weary boys tossed their
+burdens aside, and followed by throwing themselves on the ground. After
+a short rest, of course preparations for passing the night would be in
+order; but a little breathing spell, first of all, was in order.
+
+Thad walked away, in company with Allan and Bob White.
+
+"Now, what in the wide world d'ye think they're going to do?" demanded
+Step Hen, when the three had vanished from sight among the brush that
+lay around.
+
+"There you go," broke out Bumpus, "as curious as any old maid in all
+Cranford, always wantin' to know the reason why. A pretty scout you'll
+make, Step Hen; and it'll be a long time before you win any medals, or
+pass an exam, for the proud position of a first-class scout. But I
+wonder what they _do_ mean to do?"
+
+The others laughed at this.
+
+"After this, Bumpus, take the mote out of your own eye before you try
+and get a fence rail from mine. But they're up to some dodge, take it
+from me. And it'll be mean if they don't let us into the deal, sooner
+or later," and Step Hen shook his head dismally as he spoke; for he was
+most unhappy when he believed there was anything going on without his
+being told all about it.
+
+"Great country this," remarked Smithy, lying there on his back, and
+looking up at the lofty peaks that were bathed in the glow of the
+setting sun. "About as wild as anything I ever saw. Don't surprise me to
+know that the men who were born and brought up here can defy the clumsy
+officers of the Government, when they attempt to capture them. In my
+humble opinion they'll just keep on making that moonshine stuff here in
+the Big Smokies until the year three thousand, if the Washington people
+hold that big tax on the real brand, so as to make it worth while."
+
+"It sure is some ragged," remarked Davy Jones, yawning; for Davy did not
+happen to be possessed of a soul that could admire the grandeur of any
+rough scenery; and only thought what a nuisance it was to have to do so
+much climbing all the while.
+
+"Hold on there, Step Hen," exclaimed Giraffe, as the other started to
+collect a handful of small sticks; "don't you dare think of starting
+that fire. That's my particular job; the patrol leader gave it over to
+me, you understand."
+
+"Just to keep you good," sneered Step Hen, throwing the sticks down
+again. "You keep on itching to make fires so much, that he just had to
+bribe you to let up, or some day you'd set the river afire."
+
+"Huh! no danger of you ever doing that, I guess," chuckled Giraffe.
+
+All the same, he got up, and began to gather small tinder on his own
+account.
+
+"Mind you," he observed a minute later, as though half regretting his
+action in squelching Step Hen so soon; "if anybody feels like lending a
+hand to gather fuel, why there ain't nothin' against _that_; and we'll
+have that bully old coffee all the sooner, you understand."
+
+This sort of subtle persuasion seemed to at least stir Davy Jones into
+life, for getting slowly to his feet, he began to collect larger wood,
+and throw it down close to where the energetic fire-builder was starting
+to make his blaze.
+
+Giraffe was a real fire worshipper. He dreamed of his pet hobby; and
+many times could be seen, apparently idly whittling a stick; when, if
+asked what he was doing, his reply would invariably be:
+
+"Well, we might want to start a fire some time or other; and then these
+shavings'd come in handy, you see."
+
+On several notable occasions this weakness of Giraffe's had managed to
+get him into more or less trouble; and the sagacious scout leader
+finally had to take him to task. So on this mountain hike it had been
+agreed between them that Giraffe would refrain from attempting his
+favorite role of making miscellaneous fires at odd times, if allowed to
+build all the camp-fires of the trip.
+
+And so far he had really kept his word, though there were times when the
+temptation nearly overcame his scruples.
+
+When Thad and the other two came back, darkness had settled over the
+scene. This came all the sooner on account of the high walls that shut
+them in on either side; though just beyond the boys believed there must
+be some sort of an open spot, in the way of a valley.
+
+"I'm glad to see that you made a fine fireplace for cooking, Number
+Six," remarked the patrol leader, as he looked around; "because we may
+spend a day or so right here, resting up a bit. Now, while supper is
+getting underway I'm going to tell you a few things that are apt to
+interest you some. They concern our comrade Bob White here, and he's
+given me full permission to say what I'm going to."
+
+"There, Step Hen, what did I tell you?" cried Bumpus, gleefully. "Next
+time just get a throttle grip on that bump of curiosity of yours."
+
+"I've heard my maw say people that live in glass houses hadn't ought to
+heave any stones," retorted the other, witheringly.
+
+But the boys quickly forgot all their differences, once Thad started to
+tell of the strange things which he had heard from Bob White.
+
+There was an intaking of the breath, such as would indicate great
+excitement, as they learned how Bob's father had been connected with the
+raids on the secret Stills of the mountain moonshiners. And when finally
+they heard how he had met so terrible a fate, while pursuing his sworn
+duty by the Government, glances of true brotherly sympathy were cast in
+the direction of Bob.
+
+"Now," said Thad, in conclusion; "you've heard about all there is to
+tell; and I know you're tremendously astonished, because none of us had
+any idea that we were going to run up against such a thing as this when
+we asked Bob to let us go with him to his old home here among the Blue
+Ridge Mountains. But what is important to know, is your decision.
+Majority rules in everything of this kind; and if more than half of you
+think we ought to turn right back, and not keep on, why, there's nothing
+to be done but turn about, and go over the trail again."
+
+"Well, not much!" exclaimed Giraffe, filled with a spirit of boyish
+comradeship toward the chum who had been so sorely afflicted, and whose
+sad story was now discovered for the first time.
+
+"Put it up to a vote, Thad!" remarked Bumpus, trying to look grim and
+determined, though his round face was usually so merry that it was a
+hard proposition for him to seem serious.
+
+"All in favor of returning to-morrow say aye," Thad suggested.
+
+Just as he expected, there was absolute silence.
+
+"All in favor of sticking to our chum through thick and thin, and doing
+all we can to help him over the rough places, say aye!" the leader
+continued.
+
+A chorus of eager assents drowned his words. Bob White's fine dark eyes
+filled up with tears. He could not trust himself to speak; but the look
+he gave each and every one of those seven loyal comrades was more
+eloquent than any words could have been.
+
+"After we've had supper," Thad went on warmly, "Bob means to go to keep
+his appointment with his little cousin, who expects to slip out of the
+house, and meet him where he wrote her he would be at a certain hour.
+There's the queerest valley you ever saw just ahead of us. Across it you
+can see the lights of Reuben Sparks' house, and several others that lie
+there in a bunch, a sort of hamlet, because it's hardly a village. And
+Bob says that Reuben really owns about the whole place. He can get over
+there in an hour or so, because he knows the ground so well. And while
+he's gone, we can take it easy here, making up our beds for the night;
+if so be there are any bushes to be cut, worth sleeping on."
+
+"Hey, would you see how fine a fire-tender that Giraffe is; it's gone
+clean out, that's what?" cried Step Hen, just then.
+
+"Well, would you blame him, when he was listening to such an interesting
+story as the one I had to tell?" asked Thad. "Get busy, Number Six, and
+have a blaze going in quick time."
+
+"Ay, ay, sir," sang out Giraffe, who had wisely laid aside a surplus
+supply of fine stuff when making the fire, which now came in very handy.
+
+And when the coffee was finally done, and they gathered around, sitting
+on rocks, logs, or even cross-legged, tailor-fashion, on the ground, the
+eight scouts made a very fine picture in their uniforms.
+
+Apparently their appetites had been sharpened by that afternoon jaunt,
+judging from the way they pitched in. And perhaps, after all, Reuben
+Sparks had been a wise as well as prudent man when he failed to invite
+this squad of lads to stop over with him; for they would have made a sad
+inroad on the contents of his larder; and food costs money.
+
+"Where's Bob?" demanded Bumpus, suddenly, after they had been about half
+an hour trying to lighten their supplies, and with wonderfully good
+success. "He was sitting over yonder only three minutes ago; and now
+he's gone. Reckon that bad spirit of yours is sneakin' around again,
+Step Hen, and must a took Bob by mistake; though I pity his eyes if he'd
+ever think so good lookin' a feller as Bob could be you!"
+
+"Bob's gone to keep his appointment," remarked Thad, quietly.
+
+And the boys said nothing more about it, knowing that the Southern lad
+laid considerable store upon this meeting with his little cousin Bertha;
+whom he expected to coax in to helping him try and see whether sly old
+Reuben Sparks might not have forgotten to destroy all evidence of fraud,
+in connection with his dealings with her father, the uncle of Bob.
+
+So the conversation drifted to other topics; and soon they were laughing
+over some of the queer happenings in the past history of the Silver Fox
+Patrol.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+WHAT WAS UNDER THE HAT.
+
+
+THE flames crackled merrily, and the seven boys who lounged there in as
+comfortable attitudes as they could strike, were fully enjoying
+themselves. This sort of outdoor life seemed to appeal very strongly to
+all of them, though of course to some more than others.
+
+It had always been a passion with Thad, for instance; and Allan could
+look back to scores of occasions when he sat by a camp-fire; because he
+was a Maine boy, and as such had spent considerable time in the piney
+woods of his native State, hunting, fishing, and living close to
+Nature's heart.
+
+While they could not indulge in any of their songs, according to the
+regulations that had been put in force by the patrol leader, this did
+not prevent the boys from enjoying sundry good laughs when comical
+stories were told.
+
+"Reckon Bob's been gone more'n an hour now," remarked Step Hen, who had
+been more thrilled by the story of the Government agent's sad fate than
+any of the others; because Step Hen had always been a great reader of
+tales of daring and adventure, and often pictured himself playing the
+role of a hero, with the admiring crowd cheering him to the echo, and
+wanting to carry him around on their shoulders.
+
+"Yes, and pretty soon Allan will be going out to communicate with him,
+because, you know they arranged a series of signals by means of the
+lantern, and burning matches that Bob'll hold up. But don't talk too
+loud about that same matter, Step Hen; because, you understand, we're
+close by the road; and somebody might be coming along at the time.
+Remember that man we saw sitting on the rock with his gun between his
+knees? Well, I guess there are a considerable number of others just like
+him around these diggings; and by now they all know we're in the
+mountains, bent on some errand they can't understand."
+
+Of course it was Thad himself who said all this. He knew the failing
+Step Hen had of shouting everything out loud; and Thad really believed
+they would be wise to carry on their conversation in tones that could
+not be heard very far away.
+
+It turned out later that he was wiser than he dreamed, when he gave Step
+Hen this little hint.
+
+They had started Bumpus telling how an angry bull had once chased him
+around a tree on his uncle's farm, and the boys were laughing at his
+comical description of the scene at the time when the pursuit was
+hottest, and he could have caught hold of the animal's tail had he
+wanted, when a dismal wail arose.
+
+"Well, did you ever, if that ain't Step Hen putting up his regular
+howl!" exclaimed Giraffe, indignantly.
+
+"And just when Bumpus here had got to the most exciting point in his
+yarn," added the disgusted Davy Jones.
+
+"Whatever are you looking for now, you poor silly thing?" demanded the
+story-teller, who himself disliked very much to have his thrilling tale
+interrupted in this manner.
+
+"I can't find my hat, and that's what?" declared the scout whose
+besetting sin was carelessness; "Had it on only a little while ago, but
+now it's sure gone up the flue."
+
+Step Hen twisted his neck as he spoke, and looked up into the branches
+of the tree under which they had built their camp-fire; just as though
+he really suspected that a giant hand had been lowered from the foliage,
+to clutch his campaign hat from his head, and vanish with it.
+
+Things that Step Hen owned were always in great demand among these
+mysterious spirits of the air; since nothing belonging to his chums
+seemed ever to disappear.
+
+"Oh! sit down, and let Bumpus finish his story," growled Giraffe.
+"What's an old hat after all, to kick up such a row over it? Ten to one
+now you've stowed it away in one of your pockets. I've known you to do
+that more'n a few times."
+
+"'Tain't so, because I've tried every pocket I've got, and never found a
+thing. P'raps, now, one of you fellers happened to see it lying around,
+and put it on, of course by mistake, thinkin' it his own. Anybody got
+two hats on?"
+
+"You make me tired, sure you do, Step Hen," Giraffe continued. "We know
+what he is, boys, and that none of us will get any peace till his old
+hat turns up. Might as well get out, and find it for the poor baby. If I
+lost things as much as Step Hen does, I'd just get some twine, and tie
+everything on, good and tight. Then if I missed my hat all I'd have to
+do would be to pull in a certain string, and there she'd be, all slick
+and sound."
+
+While he was speaking Giraffe arose to his feet, but not without making
+sundry wry faces; for he had been sitting a whole hour in a cramped
+position, and his muscles were moreover tired from the day's jaunt.
+
+"Now watch me find your old hat before you can say Jack Robinson fifty
+times," he boasted, as he started to hustle about.
+
+Step Hen seemed quite willing that he should carry out his word, for he
+himself made no further move looking to hunting for the missing
+head-gear.
+
+Suddenly they heard Giraffe give a queer little grunt, that seemed to
+contain a mixture of satisfaction and disdain. He darted into the
+adjoining bushes.
+
+"Here she is!" he called out, "and alyin' in the shadows, as cute as you
+please. Use your eyes next time, Step Hen, and p'raps--oh! great
+governor!"
+
+Giraffe came jumping back into the circle of light cast by the
+camp-fire. He certainly did have a hat clutched in his hand, at which he
+was staring in the oddest way imaginable.
+
+The others had gained their feet, drawn by some motive that possibly
+they themselves did not half understand; but it had seemed to Thad as
+though there was a note of sudden alarm in Giraffe's cry; and the others
+may have thought the same thing.
+
+Step Hen, believing himself to be entitled to the recovery of his
+individual property, hustled forward, and deliberately took the hat
+from the hand of his comrade.
+
+"Much obliged, Giraffe, on account of going to all that trouble for me,"
+he said, sweetly, so as to impress the other, and cause him to repeat
+the favor at some future time. "But it's mighty queer how my hat ever
+got over in that clump of bushes. Give you my word for it, I ain't
+stepped that way since we struck here; afraid of snakes, you know,
+fellers. Goes to prove what I told you about _something_ hoverin'
+around, that we just can't see, and which grabs things belongin' to me
+every--say, Giraffe, what sort of a joke are you playin' on me now; this
+ain't my hat!"
+
+"I--know--it--ain't!" gasped the tall scout, who seemed to have some
+difficulty in regaining his breath.
+
+"It's an old and worn-out thing in the bargain; and see here, it ain't
+even regulation campaign, because it's off color. There ain't no cord
+around it either; and my hat's got my badge fastened to it, to tell it
+from the rest when they get mixed. Where'd you get this old thing,
+anyhow, Giraffe?"
+
+By now the other had recovered from the shock which he seemed to have
+received. He was even eager to tell his version of the affair, as his
+comrades clustered around him.
+
+"I saw the hat when I told you I did," he began, in an awed voice; "and
+all the time I was aspeakin' I kept pushin' my way into the brush,
+intendin' to snatch up the same, and throw it out to Step Hen here. The
+reason I cut short was because, when I grabbed the hat by the rim, and
+gave a jerk, _I felt a head under it_!"
+
+Bumpus immediately caught hold of the arm of the scoutmaster. It was not
+because he was afraid, though Bumpus had often been reckoned a bit
+timid; but the action appeared to inspire him with confidence. He knew
+that Thad would be equal to the emergency. And in times of stress it
+feels good to be in close touch with one who is going to save the day.
+
+Thad understood without being told, what it all meant. Some spy had been
+secretly observing the movements of the scouts, hidden in that bunch of
+brushwood; and when his hat caught the eager eye of Giraffe, the latter
+had supposed of course that it was the missing head-gear.
+
+They looked blankly at each other, Thad, Allan and the other five. Then,
+as if unconsciously, and by mutual consent, they turned their gaze in
+the direction of the thicket from which Step Hen had just emerged,
+bearing the tell-tale stranger hat in his hand.
+
+Perhaps they expected to see some one rushing away in hot haste, so as
+not to be caught napping by these young fellows wearing the uniform in
+use by United States regulars.
+
+But nothing seemed to be moving there; at least they caught no sound to
+indicate that the spy was in full flight at that moment.
+
+Thad reached out, and took the hat from the trembling hand of Step Hen;
+who heaved a sigh of relief upon feeling it leave his clutch; as though
+a spell might have been broken by the act.
+
+One look told the patrol leader that in all probability the hat belonged
+to a mountaineer. It was indeed old, and had an unusually wide brim.
+Being somewhat of the same color as those worn by the scouts, in the
+semi-darkness it was no wonder Giraffe had made the mistake he did, and
+reached out for it, under the belief that he had found the missing
+head-gear of the careless comrade.
+
+Of course he realized his astonishing mistake the instant his fingers
+came in contact with a human head that had been held low down, in the
+expectation that the spying owner might remain undiscovered.
+
+Thad knew that they were apt to see more of the one to whom that article
+belonged. Sometimes these mountaineers think a good deal of the hats
+they wear; at least Thad knew they clung to them a pretty long time, if
+the greasy appearance of some he had seen might be taken for an index to
+the affection they entertained for the felt that sheltered their heads
+from the summer sun, and the wintry blasts.
+
+"Well, Giraffe, you certainly made a big mistake when you took this hat
+for the one our chum had lost," remarked Thad, in a loud, clear voice,
+which he hoped would reach the ears of the one in hiding, and bring him
+forth; "and you owe some sort of an apology to the owner."
+
+"But how in the wide world c'n I tell whose hat it is, Thad?"
+expostulated the tall and lanky scout.
+
+"Thet's all right, younker," said a gruff voice, "I'm the critter as
+owns thet ere hat; Phin Dady's my name. Reckon ye've heard o' me," and
+with the words a man stalked into the camp.
+
+He was tall and straight, and carried a long repeating rifle. More than
+that, he had a small face, and piercing eyes like those of a badger. And
+every scout felt a thrill as he realized that he was face to face with
+the notorious moonshiner, Phin Dady, whom the whole United States
+Government had tried for years in vain to capture.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+AN HONORED GUEST.
+
+
+THE boys looked at the moonshiner, who returned their stares with
+interest. He seemed utterly indifferent as to whether they chose to
+receive him either as a friend or a foe. From this Thad was almost
+certain that there must be other fierce mountaineers close by, ready to
+back up their chief, should he provoke a quarrel with the strange boys
+in uniform.
+
+That fact meant serious trouble for the scouts, if it happened to come
+to pass. Thad knew that these lawless men of the mountains, who snap
+their fingers at the authority of the courts, and feel safe in the
+security of their secret fastnesses, deep in the unknown regions back of
+the trodden trails, think very little of human life. They are usually
+engaged in some vendetta between rival factions, or families, and blood
+is frequently shed.
+
+Understanding how thin was the ice upon which he and his comrades were
+skating, the patrol leader felt that he could not be too careful how he
+provoked this man of strong passions to violence.
+
+A little to his surprise Phin Dady wheeled, and faced him directly. But
+then the mountaineer was gifted with a sharp vision, and he could
+readily guess which one of the scouts served in the capacity of leader.
+Perhaps there was that in the manner of Thad to tell him this fact. Or
+he might have been watching and listening long enough to see how the
+others all deferred to Thad's judgment.
+
+"I gut yer letter O. K.," he said, simply.
+
+Thad's anxious face brightened up instantly; he saw that for the time
+being the other meant to put aside his hostility. Curiosity had
+supplanted enmity. He wanted to learn more about what that term "Boy
+Scouts," used in the message left in the cleft of the stick, might mean.
+
+"And I hope you read what we wrote, Phin Dady?" the boy asked, eagerly.
+
+A whimsical smile flashed athwart the thin face of the mountaineer.
+
+"As fur me, I ain't much o' a hand ter read, any more'n I am ter write;
+but thar chanced ter be a feller along as hed sum schoolin'; an' him an'
+me, we managed ter figger it out. Thort as how I'd like ter run up agin
+ye all, an' larn wat all this hyar bizness consarnin' Boy Scouts be.
+Heerd tell 'bout sich, but never cud find anythin' but a cold trail. So
+I kim over ter see ye; an' p'raps now ye'd open up an' 'xplain."
+
+"I'll be only too glad to do that, if you'll take a seat at our
+camp-fire here for a little while, Phin Dady," Thad remarked, making a
+movement with his hand to indicate where the other could find a
+comfortable spot to rest.
+
+The man looked closely at the speaker; then turned his head, and
+deliberately made a motion with his hand, that must have been intended
+for some concealed confederate. After which he stepped over, and took a
+seat, but not the one Thad had indicated as the post of honor.
+
+"Reckon I'll sit hyar, ef so be it's all ther same ter you-uns," he
+said, as he dropped down, and swung his rifle across his knees. "Yuh
+see, I likes ter look at everybody w'en I gets ter talkin'. It's more
+sociable like."
+
+But Thad knew better. The gleam in those beady eyes told him what the
+true meaning of this action must be. When a man has been hunted, in and
+out of season, for the better part of his long life, he naturally become
+most suspicious of every stranger, young and old. Many had been the
+shrewd games engineered by the revenue men to catch this old weasel
+asleep. He trusted no one all the way, even his best friends, who might
+be tempted to betray him because of the reward that was offered for his
+capture.
+
+But although Thad had guessed just why the other chose the seat he had
+taken, it would have been most unwise on his part to have shown any
+resentment; or even to let Phin Dady know that he understood.
+
+"You see," Thad began, simply, "we were warned to be careful before we
+left Asheville, because people said that the fact of our wearing
+uniforms might make the mountain folks think we had something to do with
+the army. I was explaining all about what the Boy Scouts represent to
+Mr. Reuben Sparks only a short time ago, and he was greatly interested.
+If you'll listen, then, I'll go back, and tell what we aim to do; and
+why we have left our homes to take a long hike through a mountainous
+region, for up where we live we have no such big hills as these."
+
+So Thad began, and told in as simple language as he could find just what
+objects were kept in mind among all troops of Boy Scouts, whether in
+America, England, Australia, South Africa, Germany, France or any other
+country on the face of the globe.
+
+Fortunately Thad was a good talker. He knew how to make use of a whole
+lot of little things in order to arouse the interest of the one who was
+listening; and he certainly had a subject worthy of his best efforts in
+this explanation of what the Boy Scout movement stood for.
+
+And the mountain man was deeply interested too. He proved this by the
+way he hung upon the words of the boy. Now and then his suspicious
+nature would show itself in a cautious look around, as though he wanted
+to make sure that no shrewd game were being engineered, while the
+speaker kept his attention engaged.
+
+Several times he broke in on Thad to ask questions. He could not get it
+through his head, for instance, why boys any more than men, should set
+about doing all the work that scouts attempt, without pay. In this
+region of the hookworm, where men never dream of working until driven to
+it by actual hunger, they think others must be crazy to voluntarily take
+upon themselves huge tasks that try both brain and muscle.
+
+"But sure the Gov'ment pays yuh!" he said three separate times, as
+though he felt positive there must be some secret connection between the
+Boy Scout movement, and the authorities at Washington; else why should
+they be wearing the uniform he and his fellow-moonshiners had come to
+look on as the mark of the oppressor; for several times the army had
+been called into the field to hunt down the elusive law breakers, who
+simply vanished utterly from view, and remained in hiding until the raid
+was over.
+
+"Not one cent do we get from anybody," Thad assured him, positively.
+"Why, even our uniforms have to be bought with money we've each one
+earned. We're not allowed to accept them as a gift from any man, or any
+source. So you see, we're under no obligations to anybody."
+
+Again Phin Dady asked a series of questions which would indicate that he
+was at least interested in all Thad told him, though possibly he
+believed only a small part of the whole.
+
+When Thad repeated to him the twelve cardinal features of a Boy Scout's
+vow, taken when he joined a troop, Phin shook his head helplessly, as
+though it were beyond his power of understanding. Indeed, that was where
+the trouble lay; he possessed so shallow a nature that he was utterly
+unable to grasp the full significance of the scheme. There must be some
+sort of recompense, in dollars and cents, to make it worth while for any
+person to do things that called for labor. And that was why he
+continued to keep his weapon across his knees as he sat and listened,
+and asked an occasional question. Phin Dady was not going to be lulled
+to sleep by any interesting yarn that sounded very "fishy" in his ears.
+
+Of course, the other scouts had discreetly remained silent while all
+this was going on. They were content to let Thad do the talking, for
+none of them could equal the patrol leader in explaining what the
+benefits were, which boys might expect to obtain when they joined a
+scout patrol.
+
+Several of them just sat there, and stared in open-mouthed wonder at the
+man, of whom they had heard more or less lately, and whose defiance of
+the authorities had been a matter of many years' standing.
+
+Phin Dady might boast of no education whatever; and his knowledge of the
+world, outside the confines of the Big Smokies, was doubtless extremely
+limited; but he did possess what served him far better in the warfare in
+which he was continually engaged with revenue agents--a natural
+shrewdness such as the wily fox of the forest shows, and by means of
+which he outwits his pursuers.
+
+"An' yuh kim 'way down this away jest tuh climb the mountings, an' see
+wot yuh cud do acampin' out without ary tents er blankets, did yuh?" the
+mountaineer went on, surveying the boyish faces that formed a half
+circle around him. "Wall, I jest reckons ye'll know a heap more by ther
+time ye gits back ter yer homes'n yuh did w'en yuh started out."
+
+He chuckled as he said that. Thad wondered whether there could be any
+hidden meaning back of the words. When dealing with such a slippery
+customer as this hunted moonshiner, it was always necessary to keep on
+the watch. The man who always suspected others of double dealing might
+be in the same class himself.
+
+"Oh! we're quite sure of that," said the patrol leader, with a pleasant
+smile. "Already those among us who had never climbed a mountain slope
+before, have had their leg muscles stiffened, and can do better work
+than in the start. We expect to have a pretty good time all around. And
+we wrote you that message, Phin Dady, because we believed you were
+ordering us out of these mountains under a mistake that we meant to do
+you, or some of your friends, harm. We want you to feel that we never
+dreamed of that when we started in here."
+
+"Then I hopes as how yuh beant changin' o' yer minds sence yuh kim,"
+remarked the moonshiner, just as though he knew what the subject of
+their recent conversations might have been.
+
+Before Thad could decide just what sort of an answer he ought to make,
+if any at all, the manner of the other changed as if by magic. His face
+took on a fierce expression, and he looked along the row of boyish
+faces by which he was confronted, as though one of them had done
+something to arouse his hot anger.
+
+The click of the hammer of his gun could be heard as his thumb drew it
+back; and the scouts shrank away in dismay when they saw the flame in
+his small eyes.
+
+"Quick! tell me you'uns, whar be the other one? Thar was sure eight w'en
+we counted yuh from the side o' the mounting. An' it mout pay yuh ter
+'member thet Ole Phin, he beant the man ter fool with. Eight thar was;
+whar be the other right now?"
+
+And Thad realized that the ice was indeed getting desperately thin under
+their feet at that particular moment.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+BAITING OLD PHIN, THE MOONSHINER.
+
+
+THAD himself managed to retain his self-possession under these trying
+conditions. What he believed he had to fear most of all, was that one of
+his chums might give the secret away by some ill-advised remark, uttered
+under the spur of the moment. He knew that they must have shrunk back,
+appalled, when the moonshiner made such a threatening move, accompanying
+his fierce words. But for the life of him Thad could not tear his eyes
+away from the face of the man himself.
+
+It was just as well. Phin Dady looked to Thad, as the leader of the
+scouts, for an answer to his demand. Had the boy shown any evidences of
+confusion or weakening just then, it might have confirmed the sudden
+ugly suspicions that had flashed into the other's mind, and just when he
+was growing more or less interested in the wonderful stories he had been
+listening to concerning the aims and ambitions of these uniformed lads.
+
+"There are eight of us, just as you say," Thad remarked, trying to look
+surprised at the change of front on the part of his caller; "but the
+other one, White his name is, has gone to see Reuben Sparks on business.
+We expect him back inside of an hour or so. If you'd care to wait you
+can meet him."
+
+His air was so candid, and his face so free from guile that the
+moonshiner could find no further cause for suspicion. Besides, had he
+not heard in the beginning that the scouts had already made the
+acquaintance of Reuben Sparks; who, like himself had displayed more or
+less interest in their aims and ambitions.
+
+Phin Dady even began to feel a little ashamed of his sudden threatening
+attitude. The fierce look on his thin face, that with his gleaming
+wolfish eyes, had made him appear so savage, gradually vanished. It
+gave way to a rather stupid grin; as though the man realized how silly
+it was of him to suspect that these half-grown boys could do injury to
+one who for years had defied all the forces of the United States
+Government.
+
+"So, thet's it, younker, is it?" he said; "wall, I'm right glad ye c'd
+'xplain ther thing right off'n the reel. Course Mister Sparks, he's
+int'rested in byes, even ef he beant the father o' any hisself. An' he
+'vited yer pal over ter see him, did he, so's ter tell him a heap more?"
+
+"He was very much taken with the idea, and showed it by asking a great
+many questions," Thad went on; trying to keep within the lines of the
+truth, and yet allow the other to draw his own conclusions, to the
+effect that Reuben had given one of the patrol a pressing invitation to
+call upon him, and continue the interesting recital of the Boy Scouts'
+ambitions.
+
+"Yuh war sayin' right now, thet these hyar byes hain't never 'xpectin'
+ter be sojers; an' thet they don't kerry arms; air thet a fack?"
+
+When the mountaineer made this remark he was looking straight toward the
+tree, against which rested the shotgun. Evidently he was a little in
+doubt concerning the truth of what the patrol leader had said; or it may
+have been, wise Old Phin was desirous of learning just what he and his
+followers would have to go up against if ever they attacked the camp of
+the invaders.
+
+Thad laughed good-naturedly.
+
+"That's the only firearm in camp, just at present," he declared. "It
+belongs to me, you see. We knew there would be little or no hunting on
+this trip, as the season for protection in North Carolina is on. But not
+wanting to be without some sort of arms, it was decided to carry just
+one shotgun. Later on we expect to spend some time up in Maine; and then
+it'll be all right for us to carry rifles for big game shooting. One of
+our members comes from Maine, and knows all about it up in that region."
+
+Thad talked at length, because he saw that somehow the sound of his
+voice seemed to have a soothing effect on the rough mountaineer.
+Evidently Phin Dady had taken more or less of a fancy to the leader of
+the scouts. He had known many boys in his day, and perhaps had one or
+two of his own; but they were like bear cubs in comparison with this
+frank-faced youth, with the winning smile, and a whole dictionary of
+words at the tip of his tongue.
+
+By now the balance of the boys had managed to recover from their fright.
+They even began to show an interest in the conversation, though not
+venturing to say a word unless Thad appealed directly to one of them; as
+he did occasionally, to corroborate something he had declared.
+
+It was a scene they would none of them be apt to forget in a long
+time--this untamed old mountaineer sitting there by their camp-fire,
+asking questions in connection with a subject that had aroused his
+keenest curiosity; while they lounged around, listening, and drinking in
+what was said.
+
+Would he never go? Had he then determined to wait for the return of the
+eighth scout? Perhaps he suspected already the identity of Bob Quail.
+This was a matter that gave Thad considerable concern, for it meant
+immediate trouble for their comrade; since the moonshiner might have his
+old-time enmity for the Quail family revived, under the impression that
+Bob's coming meant danger for himself.
+
+Once Allan arose, and stepped outside the circle of firelight. The
+mountaineer eyed him with just a trifle of the old suspicion apparently
+rising again; for Thad could see a nervous twitch to the brown hands
+that caressed the stock of the repeating rifle.
+
+But if this were so, Phin Dady must have realized that he could have
+little or nothing to fear from one stripling of that species; for he
+immediately relapsed into his former careless attitude.
+
+Thad could give a pretty good guess what it was that caused Allan to
+walk beyond the camp toward the place from which they had earlier in the
+evening watched the lights appear in the home of Reuben Sparks, as well
+as the few more humble cabins across the little valley.
+
+Before Bob went away he had arranged a series of flash signals, by means
+of which he could communicate with his comrades of the patrol. They
+would not have been true Boy Scouts if they had not before now learned
+how to wigwag with flags, or lanterns, as well as use a looking-glass in
+the sun in heliograph telegraphy.
+
+And so Allan, desirous of ascertaining whether all went well with the
+absent chum, was now starting out, lantern in hand, to learn whether he
+could get in communication with Bob.
+
+Possibly some of Phin's followers might be in hiding close by, and
+witness these maneuvers with astonishment, not unmixed with suspicion.
+Thad concluded that it would be best to take the bull by the horns. If
+he confided in Old Phin, the other was apt to discount the news when
+told by his men.
+
+"You remember that I told you," he remarked, "how Boy Scouts are taught
+to send messages by waving flags, just as they do in real armies; and at
+night time by means of lighted lanterns. Well, we never lose a chance to
+practice; and the boy you saw go out just now arranged to talk with the
+one who is across the valley."
+
+"Huh!" grunted the mountaineer; and from that Thad concluded that he had
+allayed any suspicions that may have arisen in his mind.
+
+"If you'd care to see how it's done, why, we can walk out, and watch the
+scout who has the lantern?" the patrol leader went on to say; though
+secretly hoping Old Phin might not evince enough interest to disturb
+himself.
+
+Sometimes a bold move serves better than extreme caution. It seemed so
+in this case, at least, for the moonshiner, after making a slight move,
+as though to get up, appeared to think better of it, for he settled back
+again.
+
+"I kin understand jest 'bout how it air dun, younker," he said. "Now
+tell me some more 'bout how yuh larn thet thar thing o' savin' a pal
+thet's been nigh drownded, or else cut a artery in his leg with a ax. I
+reckon now, that's 'bout the neatest trick I done ever heard on."
+
+Being brim full of the subject, which always appealed to him more than
+he could tell, the young patrol leader immediately launched out into a
+description of the matters that seemed to have deeply interested even
+this rough old mountaineer.
+
+Then he went a step further, and told how the scouts entered into the
+most amusing, as well as profitable, competitions among themselves. He
+described a water boiling test, where those in competition are given
+just three matches, and with an empty tin pail in hand, start at a
+signal to see which one can build his fire, fill his tin vessel at least
+two-thirds full of water, and have this actually boiling.
+
+Perhaps that old moonshiner never spent a more interesting hour or so
+than by the camp-fire of the Boy Scouts; at any rate he certainly could
+not look back to one that must have been more profitable to him in every
+way.
+
+Finally he arose as if to go; and about the same time Allan returned,
+with the lighted lantern in his hand.
+
+"Did yuh git him?" asked Old Phin, with some show of eagerness.
+
+"Yes, we held quite a little talk, and I guess he must have used up a
+handful of matches telling me what a pleasant time he had. Right now
+he's on his way to camp, and ought to get here inside of an hour."
+
+Allan said this as though there could not be anything to conceal. He
+took a leaf from the example set by Thad. The latter knew that in all
+probability there had been more to the wigwag talk than Allan chose to
+state; but he was willing to wait until a more propitious time to hear
+it.
+
+Taken in all, he believed they had come through the operation of baiting
+Phin Dady much better than any one could have expected. The old man was
+interested in what he had heard; and only for the fact that he bore a
+deadly hatred for the family of young Bob Quail, they would have little
+to fear from the king of the moonshiners, whose influence among the
+other mountaineers was such that he could easily sway them one way or
+the other at will.
+
+Thad caught a wink when he looked into the face of the Maine boy. It
+told him that Allan had news to tell, which Bob had sent on ahead,
+knowing how anxious his chums would be to hear whether he had met with
+any measure of success or not in his undertaking.
+
+When Thad turned around again he found that Old Phin had slipped away,
+taking advantage of their attention being directed for a minute toward
+the scout who had just come into camp with the lantern swinging at his
+side.
+
+And Thad heaved a sigh of genuine relief when he found that this was so.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE RETURN OF THE EIGHTH SCOUT.
+
+
+"HE'S gone!" exclaimed Bumpus; and it would have been hard to tell
+whether relief or regret lay back of his words; for some of the boys,
+forgetting the peril that might hang over the head of Bob White, did the
+moonshiner know of his presence, and his mission to the Blue Ridge, only
+considered the entertainment afforded by having Old Phin at their fire.
+
+"And I guess the old feller's got enough information in his head to last
+him a long spell," remarked Giraffe.
+
+"Say, p'raps he's seriously considerin' starting a troop of Boy Scouts
+here in the Blue Ridge country," suggested Step Hen, who sometimes did
+have brilliant ideas flash through his brain.
+
+There was considerable of a laugh at this proposition, which struck the
+boys as about as absurd as anything they had heard for a long time.
+
+"Wonder how our real scoutmaster, Dr. Philander Hobbs'd like to take the
+job?" chuckled Davy Jones. "He thought he had trouble enough on his
+hands when he ran up against a few hard cases, like Giraffe and Step Hen
+here; but they'd be just pie alongside the strappin' mountain kids we've
+seen."
+
+"Well," remarked Thad, "you never can tell what might happen. Even those
+boys have got something in them that can be brought out, if only one
+knows how to go about it. Don't you forget, fellows, that some of the
+greatest men this country has ever known, were born among the mountains.
+And right now there may be a future president of the United States
+within ten miles of where we sit."
+
+"Hear! hear!" cried Step Hen, pretending to clap his hands in applause.
+
+"Huh! nearer than that, mebbe," declared Bumpus, mysteriously swelling
+out his chest and looking every inch the hero; "how would the name of
+Cornelius Jasper Hawtree sound to you? We've never had a President
+Hawtree; but that ain't no reason we never will, is it? Tell me that."
+
+"Give it up," sang out Davy Jones.
+
+"Anyhow, it'd sound more distinguished than plain Jones," retorted
+Bumpus.
+
+"My name isn't Plain Jones, it's David Alexander Constantine Josephus,
+and a few more that, to tell the honest truth; I've forgot," the other
+went on.
+
+Thad and Allan drew apart from all this mimic warfare, in which the
+fun-loving scouts liked to indulge from time to time.
+
+"Then you did talk with Bob?" asked the former, with some show of
+eagerness in his voice.
+
+"Yes," replied Allan, "it was great fun too. Waited a little while
+before I could get the first answer to all my waving; but in the end I
+saw a flash, like a match had been struck, and then we got in touch."
+
+"What did Bob have to tell?" asked the patrol leader.
+
+"He met his little cousin, all right, just as they had arranged," Allan
+went on to say. "And she must have told him something that has made our
+chum wild with delight, for he says the trip paid him twenty times over.
+Just what it was he didn't try to tell me, saying it would have to keep
+till he got to camp."
+
+"Well, we can give a pretty good guess what it must be," Thad observed.
+
+"You mean that Bertha has looked, and made a discovery among the papers
+in her guardian's safe; is that it, Thad?"
+
+"Just about; but we'll have to quit guessing, and just wait till he
+comes in," said the scoutmaster, who knew just how to take a grip upon
+himself, and appear patient, where some of the other boys would have
+fretted, and worried greatly.
+
+"He oughtn't to be more'n an hour, at the most," suggested Allan.
+
+"Not unless something happens to him, which we hope it won't," replied
+Thad.
+
+"You don't think now, do you," demanded the other, "that Old Phin might
+take a notion to waylay him, just to have a look at the eighth scout?"
+
+"I've thought of that, but made up my mind that so far the moonshiner
+can have no suspicion who Bob is. And that being the case, Allan, you
+can see he wouldn't be apt to bother himself to lie in wait for him. I
+hope not, anyhow. It'd sure upset some of the plans we're trying so hard
+to fix. And it might spell trouble with a big T for Bob."
+
+"He's a good fellow, all right," remarked Allan, not in the least
+jealous because his particular chum seemed drawn more than ever toward
+the Southern boy.
+
+"That's right," answered Thad, quickly; "and we've just got to stand
+back of him, no matter what happens. I guess that if some of the boys'
+parents had had even half a suspicion that we'd run up against such a
+combination as this, they wouldn't have given their consent so easily to
+our coming!"
+
+"I suppose that would have been the case with Bumpus and several
+others," the Maine boy went on; "but I've seen so much of this sort of
+thing up in the pine wood that it isn't new to me. Not that it doesn't
+give me a thrill, all right, whenever I think of what we're doing here,
+and how we had that man sitting at our fire, the worst moonshiner of the
+whole Blue Ridge, I guess. And Thad, you did give him a treat, the way
+you talked. I could see that he took considerable stock in all you said.
+And you opened his eyes some, believe me, with all the wonderful things
+you reeled off."
+
+"Wonderful to him, Allan, but the plain every day truth to the rest of
+us. But I've always heard that there is a spark of good even in the
+worst man living; and perhaps his weakness for boys may be the soft spot
+in Old Phin Dady, the moonshiner's heart."
+
+They presently went back to the others, and joined in the general
+conversation, which, quite naturally enough, was pretty much confined to
+the visit of the mountaineer, what he had spoken about, his suspicions,
+and above all the strange interest he had taken in Thad's account of
+the Boy Scout movement.
+
+"Hello! there!" said a voice; and they saw Bob White stalk into camp.
+
+One look at the face of the Southern boy told Thad that he had indeed
+made a profitable trip, for he saw a smile there, such as had seldom
+marked it in the past.
+
+They quickly made room for him by the fire; while several of the boys
+scouted around, to make sure that no spies lurked in the undergrowth,
+listening to all that was said.
+
+The fire crackled merrily, and looked very cheerful, as the ring of
+faces turned inquiringly toward Bob White. He knew they were anxious to
+hear what he had accomplished; and, as there were no longer any secrets
+to be kept from the balance of the patrol, all having been taken into
+his confidence, the Southern boy hesitated no longer.
+
+"I found no trouble getting across the valley," he began; "though once I
+had to lie low, when two men passed by. From what I heard them say, I
+knew they were some of the moonshiners, and that they had been ordered
+to take up positions somewhere, and stand guard. They seemed to be all
+at sea about the nature of the danger, and yet when Old Phin gave the
+alarm, they knew what they had to do."
+
+"We ought to tell you in the start, Bob," said Thad, "that we had Phin
+Dady sitting right where you are now; and that he stayed more than a
+full hour in camp."
+
+"Yes," broke in Bumpus, "and filling up on the stuff Thad gave him, all
+about the heaps of things Boy Scouts are supposed to do. He liked it,
+too, sure as you live, Old Phin did; and we reckon he's got a sneakin'
+notion of startin' a troop right here, some fine day."
+
+Bob White appeared to be astonished, and demanded to hear the whole
+story before he went on with his own experiences. This was presently
+told, and the one who had been absent at the time looked thoughtful when
+he heard the conclusion.
+
+"It may work for good, who knows?" he remarked, as though speaking to
+himself. "He's a strange man, is Old Phin; a hard case in most ways; but
+p'raps now he has got a soft spot in his flinty old heart for boys. He's
+a daughter of his own but no sons. And that kind of men generally take
+to boys best."
+
+"If they do, it's because they don't know what boys are like," suggested
+Bumpus.
+
+"Now go on and tell us what you did," observed Thad. "Was your cousin at
+the place you told her about?"
+
+"Yes, it was a little arbor in the garden that I knew well," remarked
+Bob, tenderly. "She was right glad to see me again, suh; and while she
+wouldn't tell me all I wanted to know, I'm mighty sure Reuben Sparks is
+cruel to her. She has been anything but happy; and always dreamin' of
+the time when I'd come back to see her, and take her to my mother."
+
+"Did she do what you asked her?" asked Thad, seeing that Bob was apt to
+lose the thread of his narrative in letting his thoughts stray back to
+his meeting with little Bertha, whom he loved like a sister.
+
+"She did, suh, took a chance to peep through some of the papers in the
+safe of Mistah Sparks; and believe me, she gave me a shock when she said
+there was one hidden in a little compartment, that seemed to have been
+signed by her own father. I asked her some more questions, and I'm
+almost sure that it's a will which Reuben Sparks kept hidden away, but
+which something or other has prevented him from destroying these four
+years and more, since my uncle died."
+
+"If you only could get that in your hands, and it turned out to be all
+you think, seems to me you might do about what you wanted with old
+Reuben," Thad remarked.
+
+"Given another day, and good luck, suh, and I surely expect to have the
+same in my possession. Then I can shape my plans; but one thing sure, my
+cousin will go back to Cranford with me!" and Bob smote the palm of his
+left hand with his doubled right fist, to emphasize his remark.
+
+No one seemed a particle sleepy. Indeed, they had never been more wide
+awake in their lives. Even Davy Jones, filled with the spirit of
+mischief that seemed to take possession of him every once in so often,
+climbed the tree under which they had built their camp-fire, and swung
+himself from limb to limb; now with his hands but just as frequently by
+his toes; as though he wanted to prove the truth of what that learned
+professor by the name of Darwin always declared, that we were descended
+from a race of monkeys.
+
+The rest were lying around in the most comfortable attitudes they could
+find.
+
+"Oh! say, come down out of that, Davy; you make me tired with your
+everlasting pranks. Take a drop, won't you, please?" called out Bumpus.
+
+Hardly had he spoken than there was a whoop, and Davy landed squarely in
+the middle of the now smouldering fire, sending the brands to the right
+and to the left in a hurricane of sparks.
+
+The seven scouts threw themselves backward to avoid contact with the
+scattered red embers, while Davy scrambled out of his fiery bed with
+furious alacrity.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+THE FLICKERING TORCH TALK.
+
+
+"PUT me out! somebody give me a rub down the back! I'm on fire!"
+
+Nobody doubted Davy's excited words, as he danced wildly about, slapping
+first at a smouldering spark on the right leg of his khaki trousers; and
+then furiously attacking another burning spot on the sleeve of his coat;
+only to throw his campaign hat down, and jump on it, under the belief
+that it was threatened with immediate destruction.
+
+Some of the other scouts had managed to scramble to their feet about
+this time; and seeing that they were not in danger themselves, could
+afford to lend a hand in order to save the garments of the unlucky Jones
+boy.
+
+"Now your suit's a fine sight!" ejaculated Step Hen.
+
+"Perfectly dreadful!" remarked Smithy, with a shudder; for to the mind
+of this member of the patrol, with his ideas of what neatness stood for,
+no punishment could have exceeded such a catastrophe as the one that had
+overtaken Davy.
+
+But after finding that his neck had not been dislocated by his fall; and
+that, while there would be a few holes here and there about his clothes,
+they were still fairly presentable, Davy only grinned with his customary
+good nature.
+
+"You certain sure _are_ the limit;" declared Bumpus, surveying the other
+with a frown on his rosy face. "Better grow a tail, and be done with it.
+Then you could take your monkey-shines to the woods, where they'd be
+appreciated."
+
+"Now that's what I call the unkindest cut of all," replied Davy. "I
+leave it to the crowd if I wasn't only obeyin' orders? Didn't you call
+out to me to come down? Well, didn't I?"
+
+"Huh! but you needn't a spilt our fire that way," grumbled Bumpus, who
+however was secretly just as much amused over the affair as any of the
+rest. "When I say 'come down' you needn't think I mean for you to obey
+as fast as that. Reckon you must a tried some dodge that wasn't as easy
+as it looked, and you lost your grip."
+
+"Here's what did it for me," said Davy, stooping, and picking up a piece
+of broken limb, which Thad remembered seeing fall at the same time the
+boy scattered the embers of the fire. "Rotten as punk, and went back on
+me. But don't you believe for a minute because I was hangin' head down
+right then, I struck that way. Easiest thing in the world to turn a
+flip-flap in the air. I sat down in that fire; that's why my pants got
+the worst of the burns. And say, do I limp when I walk, because I'm
+feeling a little sore?"
+
+"Not much more'n usual," remarked Bumpus, cheerfully.
+
+This ridiculous adventure on the part of Davy set them all to talking
+again. Of course previous efforts in the same line, and, carried out by
+the same artist, had to be hauled out of their concealment, and made to
+do duty again, with sundry additions; for what story can there be but
+what is strengthened every time it is told?
+
+So many strange things were taking place all around them that it was
+little wonder the boys declared they did not feel a bit sleepy, even
+when the patrol leader told them they ought to lie down and get some
+rest.
+
+"And when everything else fails," declared Step Hen, "why, Davy, here,
+can always be counted on to furnish music for the band."
+
+"Yes, waltz music," added Giraffe; "anyway, that's what he thought he
+was giving us, the way he kicked around. P'raps, now, he believed he was
+doing the turkey trot, all by himself."
+
+But to all these taunts Davy made no response. Truth to tell he seemed
+to be the sleepiest member of the set, and was seen to yawn numerous
+times. In this way he managed to start some of the others going, so
+that by degrees they were all exhibiting evidences of wanting to give
+up.
+
+Then there came the job of trying to make themselves fairly comfortable.
+They had considered this matter before, and settled upon plans for the
+campaign. There would be no cabin roof over their heads on this night,
+only the branches of the big tree; but since there seemed little
+likelihood of rain falling, they did not think they would miss this.
+
+It was the bed part that gave them the most trouble. They had scoured
+the immediate vicinity, and each scout had secured whatever he could lay
+his hands on in the shape of weeds, or grass, or even small branches
+from the tree--anything to make the ground seem a bit softer to his
+body.
+
+One liked this spot, while another had entirely different ideas; but
+coached by Allan, who knew all about sleeping out without shelter, they
+one and all kept their feet toward the fire, because that was the part
+first affected by the cooling night air.
+
+Several of them were already stretched out, for while they had arranged
+a system of sentry duties, Allan was to take the first spell.
+
+He and Thad stood looking at the actions of the other scouts as they
+moved their rude beds here and there, striving to find spots where there
+were no roots sticking up, that would poke into their sides or backs.
+
+"They're a great bunch, all told!" remarked Allan, with a wide smile,
+as he saw Bumpus slily stealing some of the bed of Step Hen, whose back
+was toward him, adding it, handfuls at a time, to his own scanty stock.
+
+"The finest ever," added Thad, warmly. "I don't see how we could have
+improved on this patrol, if we'd searched through Cranford with a fine
+tooth comb. Every one of them has his failings, just as all of us do;
+but they're as loyal and happy-go-lucky a lot of boys as ever any one
+knew. And Allan, I expect we'll have some glorious times ahead of us, if
+we go up into Maine with you, later on. That hasn't been fully settled
+yet, you understand; the question of expense has to be met, as well as
+getting away from our school, if it takes up by the middle of September.
+But we're all hoping, and pulling for it just as hard as we can."
+
+"Won't it be great now," Allan went on to say, "if Bob does find that
+paper he thinks Reuben's been keeping all these years, when he hadn't
+ought to have let it stay unburned a minute? What d'ye suppose makes a
+smart scamp like that ever do such a silly thing?"
+
+"I couldn't tell you, only I've heard my guardian say more than a few
+times that the cleverest scoundrel is apt to make a blunder. If that's
+true then I guess this Reuben made his when he kept that paper, just to
+look at it once in a while, and shake hands with himself over his
+cuteness."
+
+"Will you take a little stroll around with me before lying down?" asked
+Allan, who was to have the first watch.
+
+"Might as well," returned the other, casting a glance over toward the
+balance of the patrol, still squirming more or less, as they tried to
+make comfortable nests for themselves. "By that time, perhaps they'll be
+asleep, and I can drop off without being made to listen to Bumpus'
+complaining, when Step Hen takes back his stolen goods. Come along,
+then, Allan."
+
+They first of all walked back along the road in the direction whence
+they had come to the strange valley where Reuben lived, a half-way
+station between the secret haunts of the moonshiners, and civilization.
+
+"What's that up yonder; looks to me like a torch moving?" remarked Thad,
+as he elevated his head, so as to gaze upward, along the face of the
+mountain.
+
+"It _is_ a torch, right you are," Allan went on to say; "somebody must
+be picking his way along among those rocks. I'd think he'd sure need a
+good light on such a black night as this."
+
+"But I guess you're wrong about that," Thad added, quickly; "see, he's
+waving his light, now back, and again forward, just so many times.
+There, he gives it a downward flash that must mean the end of a word;
+and then he goes on."
+
+"Why, to be sure, it's as plain as anything that he's signalling to
+somebody on the other mountain. Yes, Thad, look there, and you can see
+another light move in answer to that first one."
+
+"Even that don't seem to be all," remarked the patrol leader, seriously.
+"Here's a third light back of us; and upon my word I can see a fourth
+ever so far off."
+
+"Looks like all the moonshiners in the mountains might be out in force,
+and having a jolly old talk among themselves. Wonder what they find to
+talk about?" Allan hazarded.
+
+"Chances are ten to one it's us they're discussing," said Thad. "Old
+Phin like as not, is giving his orders. Thought he grinned a little when
+I was telling how scouts communicated with each other. He knew all about
+that, the sly old rascal did; and this has been going on for years and
+years before Boy Scouts were ever heard of."
+
+"Thad, they're all around us; we're surrounded by these moonshiners,
+with their handy guns; and if Old Phin says we've got to stay up here in
+the mountains, why, it's going to be a case of being marooned for us. We
+don't dare run, because they'd take that for a sure evidence of guilt,
+and pepper us for all that's out. So, there's nothing to be done but
+stick it out, seems to me."
+
+"Well, we ought to be satisfied," remarked Thad, grimly. "Marooned or
+not, it was our intention to stay around here until Bob had settled
+those two matters of importance that fetched him down this way."
+
+"Sure, I'd pretty nigh forgotten that," declared the Maine boy, more
+cheerfully. "So let the mountain men shake their blessed old torches at
+each other all they choose, and tell how the trap is to be made snug as
+all get-out; we'll just play the innocent, and try to find out what we
+want to know. Shall we go back to camp now, Thad?"
+
+"Just as you say," returned the other. "Nothing more to see out this
+way. We know that Old Phin isn't ready to look on us as friends yet. He
+can't get over the suspicions the sight of our khaki uniforms woke up in
+his soul. But so far we hadn't ought to complain with the way things
+have gone. Hope it'll keep on to the end; and that our Bob will get all
+he aims for, find his daddy, and take the little girl cousin back to
+Cranford with him."
+
+"And if it all goes to the good, say, p'raps we won't have a feather to
+stick in our hats, all right, Thad! We'll never get over talking about
+this thing. But will it go straight; that's the question?"
+
+"You never can tell," replied the other, softly, and encouragingly.
+"We're going to do our level best; and leave the rest. Good-night,
+Allan; wake Giraffe at the end of an hour, and caution him to keep a
+good watch. I come next in line, you know."
+
+With these parting words Thad stepped softly into camp, glanced at the
+various forms of the scouts stretched in favorite positions, some even
+lying on their backs; and then with a smile the patrol leader lay down
+upon the rude bed he had made for himself, out of such material as
+offered.
+
+In five minutes he was asleep, and forgetful of all the strange events
+that had marked their strenuous hike into the mountains of the Old North
+State.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+CLIMBING THE MOUNTAIN.
+
+
+"HEY! what's all this mean; morning, and nobody woke me up, to let me
+stand my trick at the wheel! I don't think you're treatin' me fair,
+that's what, fellers!" and Bumpus Hawtree sat up, rubbing his eyes as he
+looked around him in wonder.
+
+The fact of the matter was it had been decided that they could get on
+very well without calling on the fat boy to stand sentry duty. Most of
+them knew how unreliable Bumpus was when it came to such things, no
+matter how sincere his desire to please might be; and Thad had secretly
+arranged to leave him out.
+
+And so Bumpus had not known a single thing of what was going on until,
+smelling the delightful fumes of boiling coffee, he had opened his eyes
+to find most of his comrades moving about, and breakfast well on the
+way, under the supervision of Giraffe and Allan.
+
+"The whole blessed night gone, and me a sleepin' for all get-out,"
+complained the stout member of the patrol, as he climbed to his feet,
+and stretched. "Well, it looks good, anyway. Nothin' happened, after
+all. Nobody ain't been kidnapped by the moonshiners, have they, because
+I can count--what, there don't seem to be only seven here! Somebody's
+gone, and yet I don't miss any familiar face."
+
+"Oh! you only forgot to count yourself, Bumpus," laughed Thad.
+
+"Well, that goes to show how modest I am, you see," chuckled the other,
+as he started toward the spring to get the sleep out of his eyes by the
+use of some cold water.
+
+"Yes, as modest as a spring violet," sang out Step Hen; "but how about
+that President Cornelius Jasper Hawtree business? Seems to me any feller
+that hopes to assume that high office ain't so very retiring after all."
+
+But Bumpus refused to be drawn into any discussion of his merits as a
+candidate, at least so early in the morning. He came back presently,
+asking for a towel, which he had forgotten to carry along with him. But
+as breakfast was announced just about that time, everything else was
+forgotten in the pleasant task of appeasing their clamorous appetites.
+
+While they ate they talked, and many were the schemes invented by some
+of the ingenious scouts, all looking to the undoing of the enemy, as
+they chose to consider the combination of Reuben Sparks and Old Phin
+Dady.
+
+Bob asked that they remain over one more night in that camp, and there
+was not a dissenting voice raised. They were fairly comfortable, and
+their haversacks still held a certain amount of food; though Thad did
+say some of them ought to go skirmishing in the direction of the houses
+across the valley, to see if there was a chance for buying fresh eggs;
+breakfast bacon; salt pork; or even grits, as the finer grade of hominy
+is universally called throughout the entire South.
+
+As for Bob and himself, Thad had laid out a little campaign for the day.
+He believed that it might pay them to climb up the side of the mountain.
+This would be looked upon by any of Old Phin's followers, should they
+see the boys, as in keeping with what the patrol leader had told the
+moonshiner about the doings and ambitions of Boy Scouts. There need not
+be anything suspicious about such a move, when Thad had time and again
+declared that one of the main objects of their selecting this part of
+the country for their hike, had been the desire to climb mountains.
+
+As to the benefits to be gained, they could at least have a good
+birdseye view of the entire region, the queer bowl-shaped little valley,
+at the further end of which nestled the pretentious house of Reuben
+Sparks, and the nearby cabins; as well as the back trail.
+
+Besides, possibly they might get some sort of information with regard to
+what the moonshiners were doing. Most of these men lived in the little
+ramshackle cabins they had occasionally passed on the mountain road;
+where a few hens, a razor-back hog or two, and possibly a slab-sided
+mule, constituted the sole possessions of the poor whites. But then,
+others doubtless had homes deeper in the depths of the great elevations
+that reared their rocky heads heavenward. These were the parties who,
+like Old Phin himself, were in demand by the authorities, and who wanted
+to take as few chances of arrest as possible.
+
+No revenue men could very easily come into that well-watched region
+without the keen eyes of a mountaineer noticing him. And often the crack
+of a rifle would be the first sign the daring man might have that he was
+discovered.
+
+Bob was only too glad of a chance to get off in the company of Thad. He
+wanted to talk over matters with the other very much, and find out just
+what the patrol leader thought about the situation.
+
+So, as they climbed steadily, though slowly, upward, they chatted in
+low tones. Thad had warned his comrade that they must imagine an enemy
+back of every tree, and act accordingly, so as not to betray themselves
+by unwise talk.
+
+It was rough going. Plenty of times they had to pull themselves up by
+main muscular strength, over some rocky obstruction. Then again, perhaps
+they would have it comparatively easy for a brief interval.
+
+"Here's a plain trail leading upward," remarked Thad, whose eyes had
+been on the lookout all the time. "Suppose we follow it some. Chances
+are it'll be easier going, because whoever lives up here would know the
+softest road."
+
+"That's true," assented Bob; "but we'd best not keep on this same trail
+too long."
+
+"Why not?" asked the other, looking around at his chum.
+
+"You must know that it sure leads, sooner or later, to some hidden cabin
+of a man who's got some pretty good reason for keeping away from the
+beaten road."
+
+"Yes, I guessed that the first thing; and I suppose you mean he'd feel
+angry some if he saw two fellows in uniform following his trail?" Thad
+suggested.
+
+"Angry--well, that hardly covers the ground," chuckled Bob. "When these
+mountain men don't like a thing they start to shooting right off the
+handle. Never waste time, suh, in asking questions; they judge things as
+they see them, and act accordingly. And believe me, Thad, when their
+guns speak, generally something goes down."
+
+"Well, on the whole I think what you said carries so much weight with
+me, Bob, that I've lost pretty much all interest in this same trail. It
+don't look near so attractive as it did; and I wouldn't be surprised if
+we'd make better time just keeping on straight up the face of the old
+hill."
+
+They looked at each other, and laughed softly, as though it was mutually
+understood what meaning Thad intended to convey back of his words.
+
+All the same the dangerous beaten track was immediately forsaken, and
+once more they set out to climb straight upwards. Occasionally Bob, who
+seemed more at home in this thing than his companion, as he had lived
+among the mountains most of his young life; would discover that by
+taking a side cut they could avoid a hard climb, and in that event the
+direct line was changed to an oblique one.
+
+The view was at times a fine one, with a stretch of the wild country
+spread out before them like a panorama. Then again for a quarter of an
+hour or more they would be unable to see anything, on account of the
+formation of the mountainside, or it might be the presence of thick
+foliage on the small trees growing in profusion all around them.
+
+"So far we haven't seen the first sign of a living thing?" remarked
+Thad, when they halted to get their breath.
+
+"That's a fact, suh," agreed Bob White, "but we mustn't make up our
+minds that we haven't been followed and watched at all times. These
+mountain men can climb like goats, suh. It would make you stare to see
+one of them go up a cliff that neither of us could dream of climbing.
+They could keep us in sight right along, and believe me, we would never
+know a thing about it."
+
+"I can easily understand that, Bob. But it's some wilder up here than
+ever I believed possible. I saw squirrels in plenty as we came along;
+some birds flushed from alongside that bank that must have been
+partridges; and right here's a bunch of feathers, showing where some
+animal had a fine supper not long since."
+
+Thad dropped down beside the telltale feathers that marked the end of a
+game bird, and seemed to be examining the ground.
+
+A minute later he looked up.
+
+"I'm not as dead sure about this thing as Allan would be," Thad
+remarked; "but it doesn't look like fox tracks to me. The claws are too
+well defined; and I'm of the opinion that it might have been a wildcat,
+if you happen to have such beasts here in the heart of the Blue Ridge."
+
+"I reckon we do, suh, and mighty fierce fellows too," the Southern lad
+made answer promptly; "I've myself met with one when out hunting, and
+got him too, though he gave me a heap of trouble; and I was sore from
+the scratches a whole week or so. No doubt you're right, and it was a
+cat; though I'm surprised that he ate his catch on the ground, instead
+of in the crotch of a tree."
+
+"Perhaps he was too hungry to wait; or the bird tasted so good he just
+had to pitch in right away," suggested Thad, picking up one of the
+feathers, and sticking it in the cord of his campaign hat, boy fashion.
+
+"It's getting pretty nigh dinner time," observed Bob, as he felt for the
+package of food he had thrust into one of his pockets before starting
+out, upon the suggestion of the patrol leader, who did not know just how
+long a time they might be gone.
+
+"Yes, and I suppose we've come up about as far as we ought," Thad added,
+himself feeling the vigorous climb the more because his muscles were not
+used to anything of that sort. "So, let's drop down right where we are.
+It's a good enough lunching place. The cat thought so, you can see."
+
+They soon settled in comfortable places, each with a tree to lean his
+back against while he munched the dry sandwiches that had been hurriedly
+put together, a little potted ham between crackers, with a slice of
+cheese thrown in for good measure.
+
+The sun felt warm overhead, but the atmosphere at this altitude was
+bracing and refreshing indeed, as mountain air always is. The boys, as
+they ate, talked incessantly, covering the ground of what they hoped to
+accomplish, if fortune were only kind enough to favor them, and the
+moonshiners to allow them to leave the mountains in peace.
+
+Bob was explaining that after all it might be well for him to divide his
+mission into two parts, and get Bertha disposed of, before thinking of
+trying to find whether the mysterious prisoner of the moonshiners could
+really be his dear father, when their conversation was interrupted by a
+scream from a point close by.
+
+The two boys sprang to their feet, and looked at each other blankly.
+
+"That was a girl called out, Bob!" exclaimed Thad. "We can't tell but
+what it may be a trap of some kind, but that's a chance we've just got
+to take. Come on, and we'll soon see what it means!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+IN LUCK AGAIN.
+
+
+BOB was quite as eager as his companion to hurry forward and see what
+that cry of a girl's voice might mean. Whoever heard of a Southern boy
+unwilling to act in similar circumstances?
+
+The two of them had noted the quarter from whence the shrill scream
+came, and were making a bee line for it as fast as the rough nature of
+the ground permitted.
+
+"Keep back, thar, you ugly critter! Don't you dar jump at me! Oh! if I
+could on'y git free, I'd show you!" they heard just beyond the fringe of
+bushes.
+
+Bursting through these, and the scene lay before them. It was a girl, a
+real mountain girl too, who had called out. She was half bent over, as
+though trying all her might to wrench her foot free, for it seemed to be
+caught in a crevice of the rock, as in a vise.
+
+Not ten feet away from her crouched an ugly wildcat. Its ears were bent
+backward toward its body; the yellow eyes seemed to glow with an ugly
+fire; and there could be no doubt but that the animal was getting ready
+to jump at the girl, possibly angered by the red sunbonnet she wore.
+
+She had managed to pick up a stone, with which she was ready to do
+battle in case the cat really attacked her. Thad saw this, and admired
+her grit, even though he believed that she would have suffered
+dreadfully, had the fight ever come off.
+
+Bob gave a cry of rage as he saw what it all meant. He too snatched up a
+stone, and made directly for the wildcat, as though such a thing as fear
+did not enter into his calculations. And Thad, a little wiser, seeing
+an excellent club handy, made out to get that in his grip ere following
+his chum.
+
+Despite the coming of these two new enemies the wildcat showed no sign
+of beating a retreat. There may have been some reason for this
+unexpected bravery on the animal's part. Usually it is only when
+darkness comes that bobcats are dangerous; and in the daytime they will
+generally retreat before the coming of human foes.
+
+There may have been kittens somewhere close by; and a mother cat will
+attack anything that moves in defense of her offspring.
+
+But just then Thad was not bothering himself with trying to understand
+why the fierce beast acted in that altogether remarkable way. What they
+wanted to do was to influence the animal to leave the neighborhood, and
+the quicker this were done the better they would be pleased.
+
+"Go slow, Bob!" Thad called out, fearful lest his impulsive comrade dash
+up so close that in another instant the cat would be upon him, clawing,
+biting, and doing all manner of damage.
+
+He swung his club in as ferocious a manner as he could, and made all
+sorts of threatening gestures as he rushed forward.
+
+Thinking that if they approached from two separate quarters the beast
+might grow more or less confused, and possibly slink away, Thad did not
+follow directly in the track of his friend, but made a little detour.
+
+Bob came to a pause. He was not more than a dozen feet away from the
+beast now, and there was danger that if he closed in any more the
+expected collision must take place.
+
+Thad saw him draw his arm back. Undoubtedly Bob meant to hurl the heavy
+rock he had snatched up. If he missed his aim, he would then be entirely
+unprotected. But then Bob had pitched on a baseball team several
+seasons, and was said to have a very clever delivery, with the faculty
+of getting the ball over the rubber with clock-like precision. And a
+crouching wildcat, only a dozen feet away, is a large enough object to
+be counted a sure thing by an experienced ball player.
+
+So even as Thad looked and wondered, he saw Bob let drive. And when the
+rock actually struck the cat between its glaring eyes, hurling it over
+backwards, Thad could not help letting out a yell.
+
+"Good shot, Bob!" he cried. "Get another, quick, for he's coming after
+you like hot cakes!"
+
+He himself was closing in on the cat all the time he shouted after this
+manner. In another moment they were all in a confused bunch, the enraged
+and wounded wildcat screaming and snarling; Thad pounding away every
+chance he got; Bob kicking wildly at the animal, as he looked for a
+chance to get hold of another stone; and the whole making quite a
+lively circus.
+
+Several times Thad landed with such a will on the side of the springing
+wildcat that the wretched beast was knocked clean over. But with a
+desperation that was simply astonishing it would get together, and come
+flying back again, as though it really possessed the nine lives its
+tribe is given credit for.
+
+Of course this could not last long. The game was too one-sided, with two
+against one; and in the end the cat was glad to jump into the bushes,
+with a parting expression of hatred in the form of a snarl.
+
+The panting boys stood and looked at each other. Each of them had a few
+rents in their khaki trousers; and might have been served even worse
+only that their puttees protected the lower part of their limbs.
+
+"Whew! that was a hot time!" gasped Thad. "Did you see how many times I
+bowled the thing over, and only to have to defend myself again? Give me
+a mad wildcat for gameness. They haven't their equal going, pound for
+pound."
+
+"And I hit him when I threw that stone; I'm proud of that shot, suh!"
+declared the Southern boy, with a grim smile.
+
+"Say, it was a right smart throw, all right; but s'pose yuh come and
+help me outen this trap now, strangers," came from the mountain girl.
+
+As they turned toward her, and advanced, Thad saw immediately that she
+was not the little Bertha whom he had looked upon, sitting beside Reuben
+Sparks, and with her golden hair, seeming very much like a fairy.
+
+This girl was slender, and with coarse, black hair. She was garbed in
+common homespun clothes, and wore shoes that were doubtless much too
+large for her feet. One of her ankles had been caught tightly in the
+crevice of the rock. She might have managed to extricate herself if
+given a little time; but the sudden appearance of that ugly fighting
+wildcat had upset her; so that she had twisted and squirmed until her
+foot was held as though in a blacksmith's vise.
+
+Bob in his usual impetuous way might have been impelled to tug at that
+imprisoned foot, and add to her sufferings; but Thad, who was cooler,
+set about discovering just how it was gripped; then, as gently as he
+could he gave it a sudden turn, and the thing was done.
+
+The girl uttered a little scream as a pain shot through her ankle; but
+then she realized that the way the boy had gone about it was the right
+one. Results count every time. When a man succeeds, the path he has
+taken is looked upon as a shining example to the rising generation;
+should he fail, the same route is pointed out as beset with
+unsurmountable difficulties.
+
+"I'm right glad you kim along in time," the girl remarked, as her black
+eyes scanned the faces of the two boys who had done her such a good
+turn.
+
+"Had you done anything to the cat; or was it just crazy for a fight?"
+asked Bob, as he looked more closely at the angular girl; and Thad
+thought he could detect that in his manner to tell he might have
+recognized her.
+
+"'Pears like it was jest brim full of scrap, mister," she went on. "I
+was acomin' down ther side o' the mounting, paying 'tention to my own
+business, when I jest made er fool o' myself, like ye see, an' gut a
+foot fast atween the rocks. Then the critter showed up, and started
+makin' a row. I tried all I knowed how to break loose, but it was no go.
+An' I was jest agwine to hit the animal atween the eyes if it jumped me,
+when you-uns arriv. But I'm glad ye kim. 'Tain't nice to git yuh face
+all clawed to ribbands by cat's claws. Yep, I'm glad ye helped me outen
+it."
+
+Thad saw that she was a character, this girl of the Blue Ridge. Rough
+and uncouth, she might be, still she possessed the qualities that real
+heroines were once made out of in the days of Joan of Arc.
+
+Doubtless she must be the daughter of one of the poor "white trash"
+mountaineers who spend their time between making moonshine whiskey, and
+dodging revenue men. It struck Thad at the moment that perhaps, since
+they had been enabled to do her a good turn, she might be willing to
+assist them. Such a girl ought to know a good deal of what was going on
+back in the mountains. Her people must talk about the strange things
+that happened; perhaps she might be able to even tell Bob something
+about the prisoner who was said to be kept up there somewhere, working
+at the sour-mash in the never raided Still of Phin Dady.
+
+With this bright idea in his mind Thad decided that fortune had indeed
+played another nice trick upon them, and one that would perhaps be to
+their advantage.
+
+"Do you live near here; and will you be able to limp home?" he asked;
+for he saw that the ankle was somewhat swollen, and must pain more or
+less; although the girl scorned to show it by her manner.
+
+"A right smart ways off from heah, stranger," she replied; "but then
+they be some o' my friends nigh this, who'll take keer o' me. Ye did hit
+up that ere onary cat some handsome, an' I shore think it won't want to
+tackle a pore gal ther next time it sees one."
+
+"Perhaps we might help you along to the home of your friends," said
+Thad.
+
+She looked at him keenly, for even the daughters of moonshiners grow to
+be suspicious of those whom they do not know.
+
+"'Tain't no need, stranger; I kin take keer o' myself, I reckon. Not
+that I ain't feelin' 'bliged to ye, fur offerin'. I kain't furgit thet
+ye done me a good turn. Mebbe I ain't good lookin' like thet leetle
+cousin o' yours, Bob Quail; but it's the on'y face I'll ever hev; and no
+gal likes to be scratched an' gouged bad by the pizen claws o' a
+wildcat."
+
+"Will you tell your father about this, Polly?" asked Bob, excitedly,
+Thad thought.
+
+"'Pears like I hadn't orter keep it from him," she replied, slowly,
+watching the expressive and handsome face of the young Southerner
+closely. "Thems as don't think Phin Dady keers fur his fambly, but they
+don't know. Reckons he'd jest 'bout lay down his life fur _me_, pore
+looker as I am!"
+
+Thad drew a big breath. Really things were rushing forward by leaps and
+bounds now. For not only had the girl recognized his companion, who
+wished to keep his identity under cover while in the mountains; but this
+same Polly, as Bob called her, had now disclosed herself to be the
+daughter of the moonshiner, Old Phin Dady!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+POLLY GIVES HER PROMISE.
+
+
+"I'M going to ask you a great favor, Polly," said Bob, earnestly.
+
+"Then hit it up right smart, an' tell me," replied the girl, calmly,
+though Thad could see her dark, expressive face light up.
+
+Polly had her share of the curiosity that is the heritage of her sex.
+
+"You say you feel thankful that we happened along in time to drive that
+cat off; and you'd be willing to do something for us in return?" Bob
+went on.
+
+"Thet's right, Bob Quail," returned the girl of the mountains sturdily.
+"Reckons as how it'd on'y be fair. What ye want me to do?"
+
+"First of all, please don't whisper it to anybody around here that I
+have come back," the boy asked in his earnest tones; "and least of all
+to your father. You know he used to feel right sore against all my
+family, because my father in trying to do his sworn duty by the
+Government, ran up against the moonshine boys."
+
+"Oh! thet's easy promised, Bob Quail," she replied, readily enough; "I
+kin keep a close tongue atween my teeth, ef I happens to be on'y a gal.
+But I kin see thet ain't all yer gwine to ask o' me."
+
+"But everything else hinges on that, Polly," returned Bob; "and I'm glad
+you'll forget that you saw one of the Quail family. They're not in any
+too good odor in this part of the country. Now, you're wondering, I
+reckon, why I ever dared come back, after two years. Well, there were
+reasons that pulled me into the danger zone, Polly. One of them
+was--Bertha, my little cousin."
+
+Polly smirked, and nodded her wise head.
+
+"I cud a guessed thet, Bob Quail," she remarked. "Sumbody must a ben
+tellin' ye thet she ain't as happy as she mout be, thet's it. The old
+miser, he's cross as a bear with a sore head; an' I seen Bertha with red
+eyes more'n a few times. I don't blame ye 'bout wantin' to do somethin';
+though I reckons ye'll find it a up-hill job, w'en ye tackle thet old
+fox."
+
+"But there's a way to get him in a hole, and I believe I've found it,"
+said Bob. "Only, if I'm chased out of the country before I can carry my
+plans through, you see, all my coming here wouldn't amount to a row of
+beans. That's one reason why I asked you to keep my secret. But there's
+another, Polly."
+
+"Yep, they's another," she repeated after him, with her dark eyes fixed
+on his face, as though she might be able to read what was passing in his
+mind, and in this way was prepared to hear his new disclosure.
+
+Thad knew what his comrade meant to say. It was a big risk, but he
+believed it could be carried through. This girl was no ordinary
+creature; she had latent possibilities slumbering beneath the surface in
+her nature, that, as yet, had never been called upon to show themselves.
+Besides, the girl was grateful to them for what they had done.
+
+"You haven't forgotten what happened here some years ago, Polly," Bob
+went on. "My father led a party of revenue men into these mountains,
+meaning to destroy the secret Stills. He never came back. Those who were
+with him said that he had been shot down in a fierce fight with the
+moonshiners; and that he had died almost instantly. You haven't
+forgotten that terrible time, Polly, have you?"
+
+"I reckons not," she muttered, stirring uneasily.
+
+"Well, somehow I never could get myself to believe that my father was
+really dead. I had one of the revenue men in my pay, and he used to
+write me every week or so. It was through him I first heard the rumor
+that the moonshiners were said to have a prisoner up at your father's
+Still, who was kept constantly under guard, and made to work. They even
+said he was a revenue man; and that it was a part of the moonshiners'
+revenge to make him help manufacture the mountain dew, so as to pay up
+for the quantities he had destroyed in his raids. You've heard more or
+less about this, too, haven't you, Polly?"
+
+"Sure I has, Bob Quail," replied the girl.
+
+"Polly, somehow I just can't get it out of my head that this mysterious
+prisoner of the mountains might be my own father; that he was badly
+wounded, and not killed in that fight; that the moonshiners nursed him
+back to health; and ever since he's been kept under guard. Do you know
+if that is so? I ask you to tell me, because it would mean a great deal
+to me, and to my poor mother at home in the North."
+
+Polly shook her head in the negative.
+
+"I jest can't say as to thet," she answered, soberly; "I done hears a
+heap 'bout some man as they has kep' a long time up thar, adoin' of the
+chores, an' never without a gun clost to his head; but I ain't never
+seed him. I gives ye my word on thet, Bob Quail."
+
+"But Polly, you _could_ see him if you tried real hard, couldn't you?"
+the boy went on, in an anxious tone.
+
+She looked at him. The eager expression on poor Bob's face would have
+moved a heart of stone; and Polly was surely deeply touched.
+
+"I reckons I cud," she answered, steadily; while in her black eyes stole
+a glow that gave Thad a curious feeling; for he began to believe that
+they had after all come upon an unexpected and valuable ally, right in
+the household of the chief enemy.
+
+"Think what it means to me, Polly," Bob suggested, knowing how best to
+appeal to her sympathies. "Put yourself in my place, and tell me what
+you would do if it was your own father who was held a prisoner, and you
+had long believed him dead? Do you blame me for coming back to these
+mountains to try and learn the truth; and if it should turn out to be
+all I dream it may, of attempting in some way to bring about his
+release. Would you blame me, Polly?"
+
+"Sure I wudn't, Bob Quail," she replied.
+
+"And will you help me find out?" he went on, feverishly.
+
+"Seein's I owe ye a heap, 'case o' what ye done fur me this day, I'm
+gwine to say jest what ye wants me to," the girl returned.
+
+With an almost inarticulate cry Bob seized her hand, and gave it a
+squeeze.
+
+"Oh! you don't know how happy you've made me by saying that, Polly!" he
+exclaimed. "And if it _should_ turn out to be my poor father, won't you
+try and help me get him free? He'll never come back here again to bother
+your people; I give you my word for that, Polly, sure I do. Will you
+help me do it?"
+
+"Thet's asking a hull lot, Bob Quail," she muttered, doubtfully, as
+though she realized the magnitude of the task he would put upon her
+shoulders. "It's wantin' me to go agin my own dad. If so be thar is a
+revenue kep' up thar to the Still, it's _his_ doin's. An' 'less he gives
+the word, thar ain't nobody dar's to let that man go free. An' now ye
+arsk me to play agin my own people. It's a big thing ye want done, Bob
+Quail. I dunno; I dunno!"
+
+But Thad could see she was wavering. He believed that if Bob only
+pressed his point he must win out.
+
+"Listen, Polly," and Bob caught hold of her wrist as he spoke, as though
+to hold her attention better; "more than two long years this man has
+been held there, the sport and plaything of the moonshiners, and made to
+do their rough work. It must have broken his spirit sadly. And surely
+your father's desire for revenge should be wholly satisfied by now.
+Think of my mother, mourning him as dead all this time, Polly. Just
+imagine her wonderful joy if he came back to her again alive and in the
+flesh! Oh! don't talk to me about the risks I am running in just coming
+here; gladly would I put my life in danger ten times over, if I knew
+there was a chance to find him, and bring him home with me. That is what
+_you_ would do, Polly; and perhaps some day, when sorrow and trouble
+come to you, I may be able to do you a good turn, even as you are going
+to do for me now; because something tells me you are, Polly!"
+
+That settled it. Bob had gone about the matter in just the right way to
+reach the moonshiner's daughter's heart. No doubt she often thought of
+the black day that might come at any time, when those never sleeping
+Government agents would capture Old Phin, and he look a long sentence in
+the face. Yes, it would be worth something to know that they had a
+friend in court when that time rolled around.
+
+"Yes, I'm agwine to help ye, Bob Quail," she said, slowly. "I don't jest
+know yet how far I kin go; but anyways I'll promise to find out who thet
+prisoner up at the Still kin be. Then, mebbe I mout think it over, an'
+reckon as it's jest like ye sez, an' he's shore be'n punished enuff.
+Thet's all I'll tell ye right now."
+
+"Well, it's mighty fine of you to say as much as that, Polly, and I want
+you to know I appreciate it more than I can tell you," the Southern boy
+went on, his dark handsome face radiant with renewed hope, as his heart
+beat high in the belief that his loftiest dreams might after all come
+true.
+
+"I hope that foot won't keep you from walking?" Thad thought to remark
+just then.
+
+This caused Bob to remember that he had a chum near by, and he hastened
+to say:
+
+"This is one of my best friends, Thad Brewster, Polly. We belong to the
+troop of Boy Scouts encamped down below. Perhaps you have heard your
+father speak of them? He was in our camp more than an hour last night,
+and my chum here seemed to interest him a heap in telling all about what
+scouts aim to do in the world."
+
+"Yep, I heerd 'bout hit," the girl replied, as she gave Thad a short
+nod; "an' he shore was takin' sum stock in wat he done heerd. My dad, he
+allers liked boys better'n he did gals. Lost three on 'em, he did, an'
+every one died with his boots on! But ye needn't git skeered 'bout this
+hyar foot ahurtin' me none. We knows what kin' o' stuff to put on a
+sprain, as'll take ther swellin' down right smart. See, I kin walk jest
+as good as I ever cud. An' I'll find out fur ye 'bout thet man up to the
+Still, sure I will, Bob."
+
+"When can I see you again, Polly?" Bob asked, anxiously. "You know time
+is worth a heap to me right now. Say soon, please; sometime to-night, if
+you can; and it'll help a lot. I'll never be able to sleep a wink now
+till I know the truth."
+
+"Mout as well put her through on ther lightnin' express as not," she
+replied. "I reckons I kin promise ye to-night. An' I knows whar yer camp
+lays, 'case I arsked my dad. Thort I mout happen thet way, an' see what
+boys looked like as was dressed in smart close. It's gwine to be a hard
+job, seems like, an' mebbe I carn't git 'roun' till late, but I'll be
+thar, Bob Quail! Ye done ther right thing by me, an' Polly Dady don't
+forgit."
+
+Then turning her back on the two boys, the mountain girl swung herself
+along the rough face of the hillside with a perfect confidence in her
+ability to keep her footing that only a chamois might have exceeded.
+
+And Thad, looking at his chum, saw that the other's face was wreathed in
+a smile such as had long been a stranger there.
+
+"The best day's work I ever did, Thad!" exclaimed Bob, as he seized his
+chum's hand, and squeezed it convulsively. "Something just tells me
+Polly is going to be my good fairy, and bring me the greatest gift that
+ever could be--the knowledge that my dear father lives."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+THE SILENT VIDETTE.
+
+
+"SHALL we go back the same way we came up?" asked Thad, as they made a
+start toward returning to the camp down below.
+
+"I think I'd like to try another route," Bob replied. "Some of those
+places we hit were pretty tough climbing; and you know it's always
+harder going down, than up a mountain. Seems to me we'll strike an
+easier way over to the right here."
+
+"My opinion exactly," Thad declared, ready to fall in with anything
+which the other proposed, because he was interested heart and soul in
+the work Bob had cut out for himself--trying to bring more of happiness
+into the life of little Bertha, his cousin; and finding out whether his
+long-lost father was still in the land of the living.
+
+They had gone about half of the way, and found that, just as Bob
+guessed, it was much easier than the other route would have proven, when
+Thad made a discovery that gave him a little thrill.
+
+"There's a man, Bob!" he exclaimed, suddenly.
+
+"Where?" demanded the other, turning his head around; for he happened to
+be a trifle in advance of his companion at the time.
+
+"Over yonder, on that rock, and of course with a rifle in sight; for you
+never see one of these mountaineers without that. I wouldn't be
+surprised to hear that some of them go to bed with their guns in their
+arms. Do you see him now, Bob?"
+
+"Yes, and can understand why he's sitting there like that," replied the
+other, rather bitterly.
+
+"Looks like he might have a touch of the fever and ague, and that with a
+spell of the shakes on, he wanted to sun himself," suggested Thad;
+though he knew full well the true explanation was along other lines
+entirely.
+
+"He's doing sentry duty," remarked Bob, soberly. "You can see, Thad,
+that from where he lies he has a splendid view of the road we came
+over?"
+
+"That's a fact, and could even toss a rock down on it if he chose,"
+continued the patrol leader. "I understood that, Bob, and can guess why
+he was placed there by Old Phin Dady."
+
+"I suppose they're all around us," remarked the Southern boy, "and as I
+said last night, they've sure got us marooned, all right. We can't move
+without they're knowing it. Oh! what sort of chance would I have to get
+him out of this awful country, even if it should turn out to be my
+father who is the prisoner of the moonshiners? Thad, I reckon it's a
+forlorn hope after all."
+
+"Well," remarked the other, seeing that Bob needed cheering up again,
+"even if you only discover that he is alive, that will be great news
+alone. And when things get to coming your way the style they've been
+doing lately, believe me, you can hope for the best. Keep your spirits
+up, Bob. That girl is going to help us more than we ever dreamed of."
+
+"It _was_ great luck, our running across Polly; and then the chance to
+do her a favor, could you beat it? Reckon you're right, Thad; and I'm
+foolish for letting myself look at the dark side, when things are
+breaking so splendidly for me."
+
+"That fellow doesn't seem to pay much attention to us, though I'm sure
+he knows we're going to pass him by," Thad continued, in a lower voice.
+
+"I used to know a good many of the men around here, and this might be
+one of the lot; so I hadn't better take any chances of his seeing me too
+close in the daylight," and with this remark Bob drew the brim of his
+hat lower over his face.
+
+The man never so much as moved, though the two descending boys passed
+within thirty feet of where he reclined on the rock, his face turned
+toward the road that wound in and out of the tangle far below.
+
+Thad believed he could see a pair of sharp eyes under the man's hat,
+that kept watch over their movements; but there was no hail, or other
+sign of life from that sphinx-like figure stretched out at length on the
+sunny rock. Should they have given the mountaineer cause for displaying
+any activity, no doubt he would be quick to take action.
+
+Thad certainly did not want to strike up a conversation with so morose a
+man; and especially when his chum wished to keep aloof from him. So they
+continued along down the side of the mountain, and soon lost sight of
+the vidette.
+
+Still, the circumstance left a bad feeling behind. It was far from
+pleasant for the boys to realize how completely they had put themselves
+in the power of these mountain moonshiners. Just as Bob had so bitterly
+declared, Old Phin ruled with an iron hand among the men who lived here
+among the uplifts; and once he had placed sentries on duty to watch the
+movements of the scouts, they could neither go forward nor retreat,
+unless that gaunt moonshiner crooked his finger.
+
+"I don't see how it can be done," Bob broke out later, as they began to
+draw near the camp again; as though he had been wrestling with some
+subject, and reached a point where he needed counsel.
+
+"As what?" inquired his comrade.
+
+"Work both ends of the affair at the same time," continued Bob.
+"Suppose, now, I find that the paper Bertha has seen is the very one
+I've been hoping to get my hands on; and she comes to me to-night; how
+can I carry her away, and at the same time stay here to find out about
+the news Polly will bring me?"
+
+"Now, I'm glad you spoke of that, Bob," Thad declared; "because I've
+been trying to puzzle out that same thing myself. And I really believe
+I've hit the only answer."
+
+"Then let me hear it, for goodness sake, please!" exclaimed the other,
+in a relieved tone; for he well knew that when Thad Brewster said a
+thing that way, he must feel pretty confident he had the right solution
+in hand.
+
+"Just as you say, it would be next to impossible to take Bertha away
+from here, and at the same time carry out your plans in connection with
+that other business. That is of the first importance, it seems to me,
+Bob. This other about Bertha can wait some, if it comes to it."
+
+"Yes, it could, I suppose," admitted the other, slowly. "Bertha is
+unhappy she says, and he treats her wretchedly; but then he is not
+really cruel to her. Tell me your plan, Thad, and I'll be ready to stand
+by it."
+
+"Suppose, then, she brings you that paper, and it turns out to be all
+you hope for? You can take it away with you, and when we get back to
+Asheville place it in the hands of some reliable lawyer, who will have
+Reuben summoned to court with the girl. Then she will never be allowed
+to go back with him again; and he may consider himself lucky if he gets
+off without being sent to jail for having withheld a lawful document,
+and replacing it with a false will, or one that was older."
+
+Bob uttered a cry of delight.
+
+"It sure takes you to think up an answer to every hard, knotty problem,
+Thad," he cried. "That is just the best thing ever, and I'm willing to
+try it. Why, for me to take the law in my hands would be silly, when the
+courts will save me all the risk. And while I hate to disappoint poor
+little Bertha, who believes I'm down here to carry her off, in spite of
+old Reuben, she'll understand, and be willing to wait a bit. Thank you
+over and over again, Thad. I'm feeling a thousand per cent better, suh,
+after what you said."
+
+"And about the other thing, Bob, I wouldn't let myself believe too
+strongly that this mysterious prisoner of the moonshiners will turn out
+to be your father. There were some other revenue men who have
+disappeared in the last few years, men who started into the mountains to
+learn things, and never came out again. It might be one of these after
+all. And I guess you'd be awfully disappointed if you set too much store
+on that thing."
+
+"I keep trying all I know how not to hope _too_ much, Thad," replied the
+other, with a big sigh; "and tellin' myself that it would be too great
+news; yet, seems like there was a little bird nestlin' away down in
+here, that goes on singin' all the while, singin' like a mockingbird
+that brings good news," and Bob laid a trembling hand on his breast in
+the region of his heart, as he spoke.
+
+"Well," said Thad, warmly, "I'm just hoping that everything'll come out
+the way you want, old fellow. We're going to back you up the best we
+know how; and if we fail to do what we aim for, it won't be from lack of
+trying."
+
+"I know that, and I'll never, never forget it as long as I live!"
+declared the other, almost choking in his emotion.
+
+"There's the camp," remarked Thad, five minutes later, "and everything
+seems to be going along all right at the old stand. I can see Step Hen
+lying on his back, with his hat over his eyes as if he might be taking a
+nap; Smithy is of course brushing his coat, because he has discovered
+some specks of dust on it that worry him; and if you look at Giraffe,
+you'll know what he's up to when I tell you he's whittling at a piece of
+pine, to beat the band."
+
+"Getting kindling ready to start up the fire, when supper time comes
+around," said Bob, with a chuckle, as though some of these familiar
+sights began to do him good, in that they served to take his thoughts
+away from the things that distressed and worried him.
+
+When the two scouts arrived in camp they were immediately surrounded by
+their comrades, who demanded to know what they had seen and done. To
+judge from the variety of questions that showered upon them, one might
+think that Thad and Bob had been off on a regular foraging expedition,
+and scouring the upper regions in search of adventures.
+
+And indeed, they did have something to tell that made the others stare.
+The several little holes in their clothes, evidently made by sharp
+claws, gave evidence as to the truth of their wonderful story. And all
+of the stay-at-homes united in the fervent hope that Polly Dady might be
+grateful enough to bring Bob the news he yearned to possess.
+
+Several of the boys had been dispatched to the cabins across the valley,
+where they managed to purchase some dozens of eggs, but could get no
+bacon. They did secure a couple of fowls, however, which were even then
+plucked, and ready for the pot.
+
+As evening settled down soon afterward, the scouts prepared to make
+themselves as comfortable as the circumstances allowed.
+
+And certainly not one among them so much as dreamed that other peculiar
+events were on the calendar; ready to take their places upon the stage;
+and advance the interests of the fellow scout, whose yearning to look
+again on the familiar scenes of his younger years had influenced the
+others to hike through the Blue Ridge Range.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE AWAKENING OF STEP HEN.
+
+
+"Say fellers, did anybody see that----"
+
+Step Hen had just managed to get that far in what he was about to say,
+when he was rudely interrupted by a combined shout from Giraffe, Davy
+Jones, and Bumpus.
+
+"Don't you dare accuse us of taking any of your old traps, Step Hen!"
+said the last named scout, severely.
+
+"We're sure gettin' awful tired of that war cry," declared Giraffe.
+"It's always this thing or that he's lost, and never by his own fault at
+all. A sly little jinx is hoverin' around, ready to grab up a thing just
+as soon as Step lays it down. Still, I notice that every single time, it
+turns out he put it there himself. Get a new tune for a change, Step
+Hen, and ring it on us."
+
+"By the way," remarked Smithy, who was very polite, and never joined in
+the loud and boisterous jeers that greeted some break on the part of a
+comrade; "what fresh misfortune has overtaken you now, Step Hen?"
+
+"Oh!" replied the other, with a broad grin, "when our funny friends
+broke in on me that way, I was only going to ask if any of you
+wide-awake scouts had noticed that I had my badge turned right-side up,
+early this morning?"
+
+There was a general laugh at this, even the three culprits joining in.
+
+Among all Boy Scouts, it has become the proper wrinkle to turn the badge
+upside down to start the day; and the wearer has no right to change its
+position until he has done an actual good deed toward some one else; or
+even helped an animal that was in distress. Many are the expedients
+resorted to, in order to gain this privilege; for it is deemed in bad
+taste to spend the entire day with the badge reversed on the lapel of
+the coat.
+
+A thousand ways can be found whereby the boy may feel that he has a
+right to alter the position of his badge, and prove that he had done
+something of a kindly nature, that is a credit to his character. An old
+woman may be helped across the street; a heavy basket carried for a
+child; a box that is trying the strength of a single man may be made
+easier to lift into a wagon by a pair of sturdy, willing hands; the
+harness that is galling the shoulder of a horse can be rendered less
+troublesome if a rag is doubled up, and fastened to the leather--well,
+the list of things that wide-awake scouts find in order to gain this
+privilege would really seem to be without end.
+
+So all the others now turned toward Step Hen, with curiosity expressed
+on their faces; for they seemed to guess that it could be no ordinary
+explanation that he meant to give them.
+
+"What wonderful stunt did you manage to carry through so early in the
+day, down in this forsaken country?" demanded Giraffe.
+
+Bumpus looked forlornly at his own badge, that still hung to his coat
+lapel in its reversed position; showing that he, at least, had not been
+able to discover any means of doing a good turn to some object, however
+humble; in fact, he had, like most of the other boys, entirely forgotten
+about the usual programme. There were no old ladies to help down here;
+no errands to run for mother; no problems to solve for little brother;
+nothing but the everlasting mountains rising grimly all about them, and
+silence lying on the scene like a great blanket.
+
+"I reckon I'm the only one in the bunch that's been smart enough to get
+his badge turned to-day," chuckled Step Hen, proudly exhibiting the
+article in question; "and I'd just like the fun of hearing all of you
+try and guess how I managed it; but then, I know you'd never hit on the
+truth in a thousand years; and so I s'pose I'll have to up and tell
+you."
+
+"Oh! wake me up, somebody, when he gets really started," groaned
+Giraffe; "of all the slow-pokes, Step Hen takes the cake."
+
+"I'll tell you," began the other, with a sly look toward the speaker, as
+though he purposely delayed his disclosure in order to annoy the
+impatient Giraffe; "you see, it was this way, fellows. I happened to be
+walking out along the back road just after we'd done breakfast. Thought
+I'd dropped my handkerchief somewhere, but afterwards I found it inside
+my hat, you know."
+
+"Sure, it's always that way," muttered Giraffe, who lay with his eyes
+closed, but drinking in all that was said.
+
+"Well," continued Step Hen, "all at once I noticed something that
+interested me a whole lot. There was one of them queer little
+tumble-bugs you always see ashovin' round balls along the road, an'
+goin' somewhere that nobody ever yet found out. This critter was tryin'
+like all possessed to push his ball up a steep little place in the
+road. Sometimes he'd get her close to the top, and then lose his grip;
+when it'd roll all the way back again.
+
+"Say, boys, that insect's pluck interested me a heap, now, I'm tellin'
+you. Right there I got one of the best lessons a scout ever picked up in
+all his life; which was the old story, 'if at first you don't succeed,
+try, try again.' And he kept on tryin' again and again. I must a stayed
+there all of half an hour, just watchin' that game little critter
+pushin' his ball up against the hardest luck ever. And then, when I just
+couldn't stand it any longer I took bug and ball in my hand, and put 'em
+both up on top of that rise. And after that I thought I had a right to
+turn my badge right-side up!"
+
+The scouts looked at each other. Somehow, they did not laugh, though
+surely it must have been one of the queerest reasons ever advanced by a
+fellow-scout, as an excuse for wearing his badge honorably.
+
+Despite its grotesque nature, there was also something rather pathetic
+about the thought of Step Hen, only a careless, half-grown lad at best,
+spending a whole lot of time, simply watching an humble but game little
+beetle trying to fight against hard luck, and almost as interested in
+the outcome as the wretched bug itself.
+
+"How about that, Mr. Scoutmaster; is Step entitled to wear his badge
+that way, on account of helping that silly little bug climb his
+mountain?" asked Davy, turning to Thad; but though his words might seem
+to indicate a touch of scorn, there was certainly nothing of the sort in
+his manner.
+
+Thad himself had been amused, and deeply interested, in Step Hen's
+recital. Only too well did he know what a careless and indifferent
+fellow the boy had ordinarily been classed, both at school and at home.
+Seldom, if ever, had he paid the least attention to things that were
+happening all around him, and which might appeal to the sympathies of
+boys who were made of finer grain than Step Hen.
+
+And now, it seemed that something had been making an insidious change
+inside the scout; when he could feel such intense interest in so trivial
+a thing as the pluck of an obscure tumble-bug. Time was when Step Hen
+would have cared little whether or not he came down with his heel upon
+such an object, which ought to know better than get in his path.
+
+It was different now, since Step Hen had joined the scouts. His eyes had
+been opened to many things, the existence of which he had never dreamed
+in those other days. And he could never again be the same indifferent
+fellow; he must go on advancing along the trail that led to a better
+knowledge of Nature's great secrets; and above all else, the capacity
+that lay within his own heart for understanding these myriads of small
+but wonderful things.
+
+"I'm not going to answer that question myself, Davy," said Thad, with a
+smile. "Fact is, I'd much rather have the candid opinion of every scout
+on the subject. So I'm going to put it to a vote, here and now; and I
+want you to be serious about it, small matter though it may seem; for
+upon such things rests the very foundations of the whole Boy Scout
+movement--observing, understanding, appreciating."
+
+"Whew!" muttered Giraffe, "and all this fuss about one little
+tumble-bug!"
+
+"Those who really and truly think Step Hen had a full right to turn his
+badge right side up for the interest he took in that game little
+creature's struggle to overcome what seemed unsurmountable difficulties,
+and for lending a helping hand in the end, raise the right hand," and
+Thad put his up for a starter.
+
+Not counting Step Hen himself, there were just seven fellows present
+when Thad asked them to show their colors. And including the scoutmaster
+himself, just seven instantly raised a hand.
+
+Thad laughed softly. It gave him more pleasure than he could tell to see
+that the boys understood the motive that had swayed their comrade. And
+doubtless this vote of confidence would urge Step Hen to go along the
+path he had discovered, with ever-increasing confidence, as its charms
+continued to be revealed in ever-increasing proportions day by day. A
+new world would soon open up to his inquiring eyes. He would find ten
+thousand things of tremendous interest all around him, to which he had
+up to now been as blind as a bat. Never again would he feel alone, even
+though no comrade were at his side; for he could discover innumerable
+objects about him at any time, calculated to chain his attention.
+
+"Seems to be unanimous, fellows," remarked Thad; "and I hereby publicly
+commend our comrade, Step Hen, for his action of this morning. Yes, he
+did have a right to turn his badge. It was not so much _what_ he did, as
+the feeling he showed in, first of all, stopping to watch the bug;
+second, getting tremendously interested in its never-give-up spirit;
+third, in applying the principal to himself; and last but not least, his
+desire to lend a helping hand. For Step Hen, boys, this has been a day
+that some time later on in life, he will mark with a white stone; for he
+has begun to notice things. And with the fever on him, he'll have to
+keep on noticing, until he'll think it's not the same old world at all
+but one filled at every turn with splendid discoveries. I know, because
+I've been through the same thing myself."
+
+"Hurrah!" said Giraffe, who had been considerably impressed by what the
+scoutmaster had said. "What did I tell you, fellows, about not missing
+Dr. Philander Hobbs, our regular scoutmaster, on this hike? D'ye think
+now, he could have said all that one-half as good as Thad did? I guess
+not. And Step Hen, I'm ashamed to say that the whole blessed day has
+gone by without my ever thinking to do something good for another
+feller, so I could turn my badge over. There she rests; and I give you
+all fair notice that to-morrow I'm going to start in right away to get
+it moving."
+
+"Plenty of time to-night yet, Giraffe," piped up Davy. "I happen to know
+a fellow who thinks a certain knife you own would look mighty fine in
+his pocket, if only you'd take the trade he offers. Now, if you made him
+happy, p'raps you'd have the right to turn your badge; and he c'd do
+ditto, making it a killing of two birds with one stone. Better think it
+over, Giraffe."
+
+The tall boy looked at Davy with a frown, and shook his head.
+
+"'Tain't fair to put it up to me that way, Davy," he declared,
+obstinately. "You just know I don't want to trade, the least bit. Now,
+if you'd say, that on the whole you'd concluded to quit botherin' me,
+that would be a good deed, and I reckon you'd ought to have the right to
+turn your badge."
+
+At this ingenious return thrust Davy subsided, with a grin, and a
+general laugh arose from the other scouts.
+
+But if most of the boys were merry, there was one who looked sober
+enough. Of course this was Bob Quail. He knew what a tremendous
+undertaking he had before him, and the results seemed so uncertain that
+it was only natural he should feel the heavy weight resting upon his
+young shoulders.
+
+First of all, he must meet his cousin, Bertha, and learn what success
+had followed her efforts to discover whether the paper she had seen by
+accident in her guardian's safe was the missing document which Bob
+believed Reuben had abstracted, placing another in its place. Then,
+later on, he had that appointment with Polly, the moonshiner's daughter,
+who was to bring him news concerning the mysterious prisoner.
+
+Yes, Bob certainly had quite enough on his young mind to make him
+anything but jovial. Still, he had been more or less interested in what
+was going on around him, for he was, after all, a boy.
+
+They were eating supper, as they chatted in this way. Night had settled
+down on the scene. It promised to be a pretty dark night at that, Thad
+realized, as he looked around him, and then up at the heavens, where a
+few stars held forth, but gave very little light.
+
+It was fortunate that Bob happened to be so well acquainted around that
+vicinity otherwise he would never have been able to cross to the other
+side of the strange little basin which they called a valley, without
+carrying a lantern; and this in itself must be out of the question,
+since its light would betray him.
+
+While they were eating, they heard a gunshot not far away.
+
+"Wow! what d'ye think that means?" exclaimed Giraffe, jumping to his
+feet, and looking off in the gloom toward the back trail. "Seemed to me
+like it came from down that way, eh, boys."
+
+"It sure did," announced Davy Jones, positively.
+
+"And it was a gun in the bargain, with a big load. What d'ye s'pose they
+could find to shoot at in the dark?" demanded Step Hen.
+
+"Oh! lots of things," replied Allan. "If a bobcat jumped in on us right
+now, we'd think of using our gun, wouldn't we? But it might be that shot
+was some sort of signal, after all."
+
+"There wasn't any answer, that's sure," interposed Bumpus.
+
+"But seems to me I can hear somebody talking pretty loud that way,"
+observed the listening Thad.
+
+"I did too," declared Smithy; "but it's died away now, as though the
+excitement might be over. I wonder what it was, fellows?"
+
+"Chances are, we'll never know," returned Giraffe, settling back once
+more to continue eating, for he was not yet through.
+
+"Lots of queer things are happening all around us, that we'll never
+know," remarked Step Hen, seriously.
+
+Thad looked at him curiously. This was a strange remark to come from the
+happy-go-lucky Step Hen. It looked as though his one little experience
+of that morning had indeed done wonders toward causing the careless lad
+to turn over a new leaf. He was beginning to _think_, and see what a
+great big world this is after all. His horizon had been moved back
+hugely since he first yawned, and stretched, that same morning.
+
+And the queer part of it was that no one thought to joke the boy about
+his altered disposition. They seemed to understand that it was no joking
+matter. Doubtless Step Hen's reformation would not be accomplished in a
+day, nor a week, nor even a month; but he had taken the first step, and
+from now on must begin to arouse himself to making a good use of the
+faculties with which a kindly Nature had endowed him.
+
+"Listen!" exclaimed Thad, a little while later, just as they were about
+done supper.
+
+"I heard somebody talking, too!" declared Davy Jones; while Allan showed
+by his manner that the sounds had surely come to his acute hearing,
+trained by long service in the piney woods of his native state.
+
+"They're comin' this way, too; I c'n hear 'em pushin' through the
+bushes, and stumblin' along too." Bumpus declared, in an awed tone;
+looking a trifle worried, and wishing Thad would only snatch up that
+gun, lying against the tree trunk, which the other did not seem at all
+anxious to do.
+
+The voices drew steadily nearer, as the boys stood and listened.
+
+"Hyar's a fire, Nate; we gut ter git him thar, sure's anything. I tell
+yuh he'll never be able tuh walk 'crost tuh the doc's cabin. He'll bleed
+tuh death long 'foah we gits thar with 'im. Steady now, Cliff; hyah's a
+light, an' we kin see how bad yuh is hurt!"
+
+Then, while the scouts stood and stared in amazement, a group of three
+men staggered into view, two of them assisting the third, whose
+faltering steps showed that he must have been injured, even if the arm
+that dangled helplessly at his side had not told the tale of a serious
+gunshot wound!
+
+No wonder that the Boy Scouts felt a thrill as they watched these rough
+mountaineers enter their camp in this strange way.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+"BE PREPARED!"
+
+
+"WHEE!"
+
+It was Bumpus who gave utterance to this exclamation, though possibly he
+hardly realized, himself, that he was saying anything, as he stood
+there, and gaped at the sight of the wounded mountaineer being helped
+along into their camp.
+
+But if Bumpus, and some of the others, were spell-bound by what they
+saw, gazing as though fascinated at the blood dripping from the man's
+fingers, Thad Brewster was not included in this group.
+
+He had long ago picked up a smattering of knowledge connected with a
+surgeon's duties; and ever since taking up the new life of a Boy Scout,
+those things which concerned the saving of human life had somehow
+appealed to young Thad with redoubled force.
+
+More than once now had he been called upon to show what he knew along
+these lines. A boy had been severely cut by an ax he was carelessly
+wielding in camp; and might have bled to death only for the energetic
+actions of Thad, who knew just how to secure a stout bandanna
+handkerchief around above the wound, with the knot pressing on the
+artery; and making a tourniquet by passing a stick through the folds of
+the rude bandage, twist until the bleeding was temporarily stopped, and
+the boy could be taken to a doctor.
+
+Another time it had been a case of near drowning, when Thad, who had
+learned his lesson well, succeeded in exercising the lad's arms, after
+laying him on his chest and pressing his knee upon him, until he had
+started the lungs to working. In that case every one of the other scouts
+declared that only for these prompt applications of scout knowledge the
+unfortunate one would surely have died.
+
+And so, when he saw that the man who was being thus supported into their
+camp had been shot in the arm, and was in danger of bleeding to death,
+the surgeon instinct in Thad Brewster came immediately to the surface.
+
+He never once thought about the fact that the man was very probably one
+of those very lawless moonshiners, whose presence all around had
+virtually marooned himself and chums in the heart of the mountains. He
+was a man, and in trouble; and perhaps Thad could be of some help!
+
+And so the generous-hearted boy sprang forward, eager to lend a hand.
+
+"Bring him right up to the fire, men!" he exclaimed. "What happened to
+him? Was he shot? We heard a gun go off a little while ago, and wondered
+what it meant."
+
+The two men urged their injured companion forward. He seemed to have
+little mind of his own in the matter; though Thad could see that he had
+his jaws set, and was apparently determined to betray no sign of
+weakness in this terrible hour. The customary grit of the North Carolina
+mountaineer was there, without fail. It showed in the clenched hand, the
+grim look on his weather-beaten face, as well as in those tightly closed
+teeth.
+
+"Yep, 'twar an accident," almost fiercely replied one of the men, whom
+Thad now recognized as the fellow whom they had met driving the vehicle
+that Bob declared had kegs of the illicit mountain dew hidden under the
+straw--Nate Busby. "We was walkin' thro' ther woods w'en a twig cort the
+trigger o' my gun, and she hit Cliff in the arm, makin' a bad hurt.
+Reckons as how he never kin hold out till we-uns git him acrost ter ther
+doc's cabin."
+
+"You could, if we managed to stop that bleeding," said Thad, eagerly.
+"Bring him over here, and let me take a look, men. I've done a little
+something that way. And perhaps you don't know it; but all Boy Scouts
+are taught how to shut off the flow of blood. There, set him down, and
+help me get his coat off. There's no time to lose."
+
+"Nope, thar's sure no time tuh lose," muttered the wretched Nate, who
+was undoubtedly feeling very keenly the fact that it had been _his_ gun
+that had been discharged through accident, causing all this trouble; and
+that if the man died, his relatives might even want to hold the unlucky
+owner of that weapon to account for his carelessness, inexcusable in one
+who had been mountain born and bred.
+
+They sat the wounded man down as gently as though he had been a babe;
+after which Nate assisted Thad to take the ragged coat off.
+
+Some of the scouts crowded close, though with white faces; for the sight
+of blood is always enough to send a cold chill to the hearts of those
+unaccustomed to the spectacle. But Allan was an exception; and strangely
+enough, there was Smithy, whom no one would ever have expected to show
+the least bit of nerve, evidently ready to lend the amateur surgeon a
+helping hand, if he called for recruits. It often takes a sudden
+emergency call like this to show what is under the veneered surface of a
+boy. Smithy had always been deemed rather effeminate; yet here he could
+stand a sight that sent the cold shivers chasing up and down the spines
+of such fellows as Giraffe, Davy Jones, and Step Hen, and almost
+completely upset poor Bumpus.
+
+"Get me one of those stout bandages I brought along, Allan, please,"
+said Thad, when he could see what the terrible nature of the wound was;
+"you know where they are. And Smithy, will you hand me that stick
+yonder?"
+
+In a brief space of time the several articles were at the service of the
+boy, who first of all made a good-sized knot in the handkerchief, after
+wrapping it around the man's arm _above_ the wound; and then, inserting
+the stout stick, he began twisting the same vigorously.
+
+It must have pained tremendously, but not a whimper, not a semblance of
+a groan did they hear from the bearded lips of the wounded mountaineer.
+Indeed, he seemed to arouse himself sufficiently to watch the confident
+operations of the young surgeon with a rising curiosity; and Thad
+thought he could detect a slight smile on his dark face.
+
+As for Nate and the other rough man, they stared as though unable to
+believe their eyes, to thus see a mere boy so wonderfully able to do
+what was necessary in a case of life and death. Every little movement
+did they follow with wrapt attention. No doubt, a great relief had
+already commenced to rise up in the heart of Nate, as hope again took
+hold upon him. If the other survived the shock, and loss of blood, it
+would not be so bad; and trouble might not come home to him on account
+of his liability for the accident.
+
+Thad soon knew that he had done the right thing. The knot had been
+properly placed, so that the pressure upon the artery above the wound
+prevented any more blood being pumped that way by the excited action of
+the man's heart.
+
+"There," he remarked, in a satisfied way, "I guess we've got the
+bleeding held up, and you can get him to a doctor, if, as you say, there
+is one across the valley. I'm going to bind this stick so it can't come
+loose while you're helping him along. But if it should, perhaps you've
+seen how I did the job, and you could fix it up again?"
+
+"Sure," replied Nate; "and yuh dun it ther neatest I ever knowed,
+younker. Reckon as how Cliff Dorie an' me has reason tuh be glad yuh
+happened tuh be so clost. If so be he lives thru hit, as he will now,
+dead sartin, he's gwine tuh owe his life tuh yer."
+
+Thad happened to catch a glimpse of Bob's face just then, as the other
+turned toward him; for up to now he had been keeping rather aloof, not
+wishing to be noticed by either of the mountain men. He was surprised to
+see the expression of suddenly renewed hope that seemed to have taken up
+its abiding place there. Apparently the Southern boy had made a pleasing
+discovery, which of course Thad could only guess at, until he had found
+a chance to speak to his comrade. But he understood readily enough that
+it must concern the coming of the three men, and the fact of the scouts
+being enabled to place them under obligations.
+
+With the flow of blood stopped, the wounded man seemed to gather new
+energy. He no doubt felt that he had at least a fair chance to pull
+through. He started to get on his feet, seeing which Thad immediately
+offered his hand to help him; and the mountaineer's horny palm was
+confidently thrust into his much smaller one; as though, after what
+miracle he had already seen the lad perform, the man were willing to
+trust him in anything.
+
+Yes. Fortune had again been kind to the scouts; only in this instance it
+had not been a case of searching for chances to do good; the opportunity
+had come knocking at their very door, so that all that was necessary was
+for them to _be prepared_, just as the scout's motto signifies, and
+then do the best they knew how.
+
+Again did the two men take hold of their stricken companion. Before they
+quit the vicinity of the fire, however, the man named Nate Busby turned
+and shook hands all around. Evidently he was grateful for the assistance
+rendered. To his mind this first aid to the injured meant a whole lot;
+and while he did not say a single word, his action was enough to show
+what he thought.
+
+Then the group departed, heading toward the other side of the valley,
+where, in one of the humble cabins, some sort of mountain doctor was to
+be found, rude in his way, no doubt, but perfectly capable of attending
+to a gunshot wound; for these doubtless constituted the bulk of calls
+that were made upon his services.
+
+When they had gone the scouts began to discuss the queer happening, and
+compare notes as to which one of them had shown the least alarm.
+
+Bob Quail came directly over to where Allan and Thad were standing, just
+as the latter had expected he would do. That expression of eager
+anticipation still shone upon his dark face, and his eyes fairly glowed
+with satisfaction.
+
+"Well, will wonders ever stop happening?" he said, as he reached the
+others. "Did you hear what Nate called the wounded man, Thad, Allan?"
+
+"Yes, it was Cliff Dorie. And I guess you've heard it before, judging
+from the way you act?" observed the scoutmaster.
+
+"Talk about luck, why, we're just swimming neck deep in it, suh!" the
+other continued. "I thought he looked a little like somebody I'd known
+befoah; and when I heard that name, I knew it; Why, Cliff Dorie is the
+brother of Old Phin's wife!"
+
+"Fine!" exclaimed Allan, with a broad smile.
+
+"I should say, yes," Bob went on, eagerly; "seems as though we were just
+bound to put the whole Dady family in our debt. There was Old Phin
+himself, who felt so interested in all you told him about the Boy Scout
+movement; then there was Polly, who might have had her face badly
+scratched, not to mention other wounds, if we hadn't just happened to
+get there in time to chase that savage mother bobcat off. And now you've
+gone and saved the life of Polly's own uncle. Oh! p'raps, suh, we won't
+have to get into any fuss at all about that prisoner of the Still;
+p'raps Old Phin might feel that we'd done his family enough good to
+change his mind about keepin' that revenue man up there any longer,
+aworkin' his life out; and let him go away with us, if he promised never
+to tell anything he'd learned. And let me say to you both, I'm feelin'
+somethin' right here, inside, that seems to tell me it's going to be all
+right, all right!" and Bob repeated those last two words softly,
+caressingly, as though they meant everything in the wide world to him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+WHEN BOB CAME BACK.
+
+
+THE other boys of course shared in Bob's deep feeling of satisfaction.
+Perhaps he might be expecting too much from the old mountaineer; but
+then, Bob had lived among these people during a good portion of his
+life, and ought to be able to judge as to the amount of gratitude they
+were capable of feeling.
+
+"But you ought to be off across the valley yourself, Bob," ventured
+Thad, presently.
+
+"I know it, suh," the Southern lad replied, quickly; "and let me tell
+you I'm starting right now in better spirits than I ever dreamed would
+be the case. I want to get back heah in good time, so as to go up yondah
+with you, and meet Polly."
+
+"If you're not too much played out," suggested Allan.
+
+Bob drew his figure up proudly, as he went on to say:
+
+"I'd have to be mighty nigh a collapse, suh, let me tell you, to keep
+from goin' to where I've got a chance to hear about _him_!" and they did
+not need to be told who was meant, for they knew Bob was thinking of
+his missing father, whom everybody had long believed to be surely dead.
+
+And so he presently vanished, with a farewell wave of the hand.
+
+The other scouts gathered around the fire, chatting on various subjects,
+but principally in connection with the recent happening. They thought it
+the strangest thing in the world how two girls came to play a part in
+the affair which their good comrade, Bob Quail, was trying to put
+through; and of such vastly different types too, the one a plain
+mountain maid, and the other, according to what they themselves had
+seen, quite a dainty little thing, cultured and refined.
+
+"Smithy, I'm going to tell you to reverse that badge of yours," said the
+scoutmaster, as they sat there around the fire, waiting for the return
+of the absent comrade.
+
+Smithy looked up in surprise. He had been smoothing his coat sleeve
+after a peculiar habit he had, as though he imagined he had discovered
+some dust there. And for the moment he fancied that Thad must be joking
+him on account of those "finicky" ways, as Giraffe called them, which he
+could not wholly throw aside, since extreme neatness had long ago become
+a part of his very nature.
+
+"That's very kind of you, Thad," he remarked, trying to appear calm;
+"and I'm sure I feel grateful for the privilege, which should always be
+a matter of pride I take it, with every Boy Scout. But I am not aware,
+sir, just how I've gained the right to reverse my badge."
+
+"By handing me that stick when I asked for it, and thereby becoming a
+partner with me in assisting that wounded man. You notice that I'm
+turning my own badge, because I think I've earned it by this act, if I
+didn't by what Bob and myself did to that bobcat. And Allan, you're in
+this deal also; you brought me that roll of stout muslin when I wanted
+it, so you did all you could."
+
+"And I helped get him on his feet!" declared Giraffe, quickly.
+
+"So did I!" exclaimed Bumpus, excitedly; "anyhow, I started to lend a
+hand; but there was so many around I just got crowded out. But I
+_wanted_ to do something, sure I did, Thad!"
+
+"Turn your badge, then," ordered the scoutmaster, smiling. "In fact,
+every scout was full of sympathy, and ready to assist if called on. And
+under the circumstances, I just guess there needn't be any badge in this
+camp unturned right now. To-morrow we'll start fresh again, and let's
+see how quick all of us can follow after Step Hen's example, and help
+some worthy object along."
+
+"Even if it is only a poor little tumble-bug that can't push his ball
+home," remarked Giraffe, with a grin.
+
+The time hung heavily upon their hands. No doubt this was partly caused
+by their intense eagerness to learn just how Bob was coming out. Would
+Bertha meet him; or might she have been shut up in the house by her
+guardian, stern Reuben Sparks? If she did come, would she bring that
+paper which she said was signed with her dead father's name; and
+supposing it proved to be all Bob hoped and prayed it would, was it
+possible, if placed in the hands of a competent lawyer in Asheville,
+that this document would take Bertha from the custody of Reuben, and
+give her a home with Bob's mother up in Cranford?
+
+All these things were debated from every standpoint; and wide-awake boys
+can see the weak links in the chain about as quickly as any one; so that
+Thad was kept busy explaining, and building up plans to suit the altered
+conditions.
+
+"Ought to be time he was here," Giraffe remarked, as he stifled a huge
+yawn.
+
+"It's sure nearly a whole hour since we heard that row across there,"
+Bumpus went on to say. "Seemed like a whole crowd had started to yell,
+and dogs to bark. We none of us could make up our minds what it meant.
+Some thought the wounded man must a got to the cabins, an' all that
+noise meant the kind of reception a brave feller gets in these parts
+when he's brought home on a shutter. But others, they seemed to b'lieve
+it might have had to do with our chum Bob, and that p'raps he'd been
+surrounded, and trapped by the wise old Reuben."
+
+"We hope not, for a fact," declared Thad.
+
+"Well, there's somebody coming right now, I give you my word!" observed
+Smithy, who happened to be on the windward side of the fire, and able to
+hear better than some of the rest.
+
+"And from the right direction, too," added Allan.
+
+The patter of footsteps came closer, and presently a dim figure loomed
+up, almost staggering.
+
+"It's Bob, all right!" cried Bumpus; and Thad heaved a sigh of relief,
+for he had begun to fear that something might have happened to disturb
+the carefully laid plans of his companion.
+
+The Southern boy came into camp, breathing heavily. He seemed to be very
+much exhausted, but Thad could detect a look of triumph on his face that
+seemed to tell of something worth while having been accomplished.
+
+Dropping down, Bob motioned for a drink of water, and Step Hen made
+haste to get him one from the collapsible bucket they had brought along
+with them. Draining the tin cup, Bob sighed as though the cooling liquid
+went just to the right spot, and had refreshed him wonderfully.
+
+"It's all right, Thad!" he managed to say, noticing the questioning look
+that the other was bending upon him.
+
+"Then you saw your cousin, and got the paper?" asked the scoutmaster,
+eagerly, while the rest of the boys fairly hung upon every word.
+
+Bob nodded his head.
+
+"Get my breath right soon now," he remarked; "then tell you all about
+it. Phew! I had a smart run, believe me!"
+
+The boys exchanged expressive looks. They drew their own conclusions
+from the little Bob had already dropped; and began to believe that he
+must have been hotly pursued. Evidently then, if this were indeed the
+case, Bob had met with an adventure since leaving the camp-fire, and a
+serious one at that.
+
+It is always a difficult thing for the ordinary boy to restrain his
+impatience, and several of the scouts squirmed about uneasily while Bob
+was trying to calm himself down, so that he might talk with reasonable
+comfort.
+
+Thad let him have his own time. He understood that Bob was even more
+anxious to tell, than any of them were to hear; and that just as quickly
+as he could, he was sure to start in.
+
+That time came presently, when his heart began to beat less violently;
+and as a consequence Bob started to breathe more naturally.
+
+"I met Bertha," he began to say, "and she gave me the paper. Boys, it's
+everything I hoped it'd be; and once I manage to get it in the hands of
+a good lawyer, good-bye to Mr. Reuben Sparks' authority over little
+Bertha, and her fortune."
+
+"Wow! that's going some!" burst out Giraffe, rubbing his thin hands one
+over the other, as though decidedly pleased by the news.
+
+"Was she disappointed when you told her how impossible it would be for
+us to take her away right now, when these moonshiners have got us
+marooned up here in their blessed old mountains; and we can't turn
+whichever way without runnin' slap up against a sentry with his old
+gun?" asked Bumpus.
+
+"That's right, she _was_ upset when I told her that same," answered the
+other. "It made me feel right bad too, suh, to see how she took it; and
+I tell you right now I came mighty neah givin' in, and sayin' we'd make
+a try. But I remembered what Thad heah had told me, and how it was best
+for all of us that we let the cou'ts summon old Reuben to bring Bertha
+before the bar of justice. An' finally, after I'd explained it all to
+her, she began to see it the same way. My cousin has got the spirit of
+the Quails all right, I tell you, fellows, even if she is young and
+little."
+
+"I reckon you stayed so long tryin' to convince her, Bob, that you clean
+forgot how you'd promised to get back here as soon as you could?"
+remarked Step Hen, under the belief, no doubt, that he was giving the
+other a sly dig.
+
+"Well, perhaps you are correct about that same, suh," replied Bob,
+quite unabashed; "she was like most girls, and had to be argued into
+seeing things like boys see 'em. Of course, I couldn't break away till
+she had arranged to go back to the house, and wait for things to begin
+to move, as they surely would, just as soon as I get to Asheville. But
+there was one real smart thing she did do, and I've just got to tell you
+about that befo' I come to my own adventure."
+
+"That's right, don't skip anything, old chum," remarked Giraffe, warmly,
+as he settled down to listen.
+
+"When Bertha took that document from the little pigeonhole in the safe
+where he had it hidden, she thought to make up another as much like it
+as she could, and put that in place of the one she carried off. Some of
+you scouts ought to take pattern from the smartness of that little girl;
+don't you think so, Thad?" and Bob turned his now smiling face upon the
+patrol leader.
+
+"They couldn't improve very much on that sort of work," Thad declared;
+"and if girls were allowed to join our troop I'd vote every time to let
+your cousin come in. I'm sure she'd be an honor to any organization."
+
+"Now tell us what happened to you, Bob!" asked Bumpus.
+
+"Well," continued the other, drawing a long breath as though what he was
+about to say stirred him once more; "I was just ready to say good-bye,
+when we heard loud voices, together with the barking of a big dog, and
+Old Reuben, with a man, and a mastiff about hip-high burst into view,
+both men carrying lanterns, and heavy sticks in their hands. And you can
+believe me, fellows, I understood that I was in for a little excitement
+about that time!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+A CLIMB IN THE DARK.
+
+
+"THAT'S where you had ought to have had our gun, Bob," remarked Giraffe,
+as the other paused for a moment, to recover his breath before going on
+with his exacting recital.
+
+"I was about of that opinion myself, suh," the other continued; "and I
+reckon that if such had been the case, there would have been one less
+mastiff in the world right now. But after all, it's well I didn't take
+the weapon. Things would have gone different from what they did; and I
+have no fault to find, suh, not a bit."
+
+"But what did you do; don't tell us you beat a big dog runnin'?"
+demanded Bumpus, incredulously.
+
+"I am not so foolish as to want you to believe that sort of stuff,
+suh," replied the Southern boy, stiffly. "I doubt very much if there is
+a man living, even the winner of the great world Marathon, who could
+have outrun that hound. Fortunately I didn't have to depend on my heels
+altogether, to escape being bitten by his fangs. There chanced to be
+another way out of the hole."
+
+"Say, I guess _she_ had a hand in it!" suggested Giraffe.
+
+"Go up to the head, suh," remarked Bob, with a smile; "because that is
+just what did come about. Old Reuben, he must have managed to catch
+sight of some one, even if he wasn't nigh enough to tell that I was
+dressed in the uniform of a scout. He up and sicked the dog on me; and I
+reckon it wouldn't have mattered one bit to that cold-blooded old man if
+the ugly beast had torn me badly."
+
+"And was you arunnin' like fun all the while?" asked Step Hen.
+
+"I believe I was making pretty fast time, suh, considerin' that the
+bushes in the garden interfered with my sprinting. But that dog would
+have caught up with me befo' I ever could have climbed the high fence,
+only for a thing that happened. First thing I knew I heard Bertha
+calling at the top of her little voice to the mastiff. And I reckon now
+that Ajax, he must have been more used to mindin' the crook of her
+little finger than he was the orders of Old Reuben. Fo', believe me,
+suh, he just gave over chasin' after me, and went, and began to fawnin'
+on her hand."
+
+"Great stuff!" declared Bumpus. "Say, I c'n just think I see that Old
+Rube prancin' around there, orderin' Ajex on to grab you, an' gettin'
+madder'n madder when the wise dog just utterly declined to obey. I
+always heard that the sun c'd force a feller to take his coat off, when
+the wind made a dead fizzle out of the job. Kindness goes further with
+some animals than fear does."
+
+"Hear! hear! words of wisdom dropping like pearls of great price from
+the lips of our comrade, Bumpus!" cried Giraffe.
+
+"But they're true, every word, all right," affirmed the stout scout,
+firmly.
+
+"I kept on running for two reasons," Bob went on to explain. "In the
+first place, I didn't know but what the dog might be forced to alter his
+ways, and start out after me. Then again, p'raps that man with Old
+Reuben might be coming, licketty-split after me; and I want you to
+believe I didn't mean to be caught, with that valuable paper in my
+pocket at that."
+
+"So you made pretty warm time of it over here, eh?" remarked Davy Jones,
+who had remained quiet for some time, being deeply impressed by this
+story which the other was giving them.
+
+"I never let up for two minutes at a time all the way across," admitted
+Bob, in a satisfied tone. "Of course I had a few tumbles, but I reckon
+there was none of 'em serious; leastways I didn't get bruised, or tear
+my clothes. And now that I've got my breath back again, it's time we
+thought of starting out; because there's heaps mo' that's got to be done
+before we c'n call a rest."
+
+"Yes, a great deal," admitted Thad, who, however, was well pleased with
+the outcome thus far; "and after you've lain here about ten minutes or
+so, Bob, we'll see whether you feel able to take that other climb. If
+you don't why, Allan here could go in your place."
+
+"And do just as well, I have no doubt, suh," added Bob; "but thank you,
+I shall surely be able to take my part in that climb. If you gave the
+word right now you'd see me spring to my feet, and start; because
+there's every reason in the world to spur me on. Who wouldn't make an
+extra effort for that?"
+
+The hour had grown late, since they had waited much beyond the appointed
+time for the return of the messenger who had gone to meet Bertha. But
+Thad knew they still had an abundance of time to get to the place
+arranged with Polly, before midnight, which had been the hour set for
+their meeting.
+
+"Now, if you feel refreshed, we'll make a start, Bob," remarked the
+scoutmaster, after a bit.
+
+The other was on his feet instantly, and he gave not the slightest sign
+of weariness at that.
+
+"Let me have just one more cup of that fine water," he remarked, "and
+then I'm in fine fettle for business. If this second job only turns out
+as handsome as that other, this'll sure be the happiest night ever. But
+I hope that Reuben does not lay his hand on my cousin for what has
+happened this night. If he does, he'll suffer for it, as sure as my
+name's Bob Quail."
+
+"You don't really think he'd go as far as to strike her, do you?" asked
+Thad, to whom the very idea seemed abhorrent.
+
+"I don't just know how far a man of his stripe would go if made very
+furious, suh. To tell you the truth, I didn't want to run at all; but
+Bertha insisted on my doing the same. She said nothing was going to
+happen to injure her; and that if I was caught, with that paper in my
+possession, she never would have the least chance to get away. And that
+was all that made me run, believe me, suh."
+
+Thad took his shotgun along with him; and noticing the queer look
+Giraffe gave him, he condescended to explain.
+
+"Don't believe for a minute that I expect to make use of this on some
+moonshiner," he said, earnestly, yet with a trace of a smile lurking
+about the corners of his mouth. "The mission of Boy Scouts is more to
+bind up, than to give wounds; though they are allowed to do this other
+in extreme cases, where some person's life may be in danger. But you
+remember, we ran across a nasty bobcat up yonder once before; and if so
+be she happens to be laying for us, I'd like to be prepared for trouble.
+A scout should never go around with a chip on his shoulder looking for
+trouble; but if it finds him out, why, he's just _got_ to defend
+himself. That's the way I look at it; and most others do too. Come on,
+Bob, if you're ready."
+
+When the two boys quitted camp Bob was walking as sprucely as ever. If
+he still felt the effects of his long run he knew how to conceal the
+fact in the finest way--Giraffe, Bumpus, Step Hen, Smithy, and Davy
+Jones believed they had ever seen. Only Allan, being experienced in such
+things, could see that Bob was laboring under a heavy strain, and had
+his teeth tightly clenched; though the body might be weak, it was an
+indomitable spirit that urged him on.
+
+Between them the two boys had noted things when coming down the mountain
+that afternoon, and in this way picked out the course they expected to
+take on that same night. It was rough enough, especially when they had
+to do their climbing in the dark; since carrying a lighted lantern would
+be foolhardy in the extreme.
+
+Bob's impatience took him in the lead most of the time. Thad cautioned
+his impetuous companion in low whispers several times; and yet, knowing
+what the motive was that drew Bob along in such feverish haste, he
+could hardly blame him. At the same time he knew the danger of making a
+false step when they happened to be close to the brink of some steep
+descent, down which a roll meant instant death, or at least broken
+bones.
+
+As they climbed upwards they would pause every little while to get a new
+supply of energy, as well as recover their breath. And at such times
+both boys eagerly scanned the black gulf that lay below them.
+
+It had not taken their keen eyes long to discover several lights that
+seemed to move in eccentric circles and other movements. Nor was either
+of them at a loss to understand what this implied.
+
+"The moonshiner videttes are having another talk," Bob remarked, as they
+sat and watched several lights carrying on in this weird fashion.
+
+"Seems like it," said Thad, thoughtfully.
+
+"I wonder now, what is being carried along the lines? It'd be a great
+stunt, Thad, if we could read the signs, and listen to the talk,
+wouldn't it? P'raps now we'd learn something to our advantage," the
+Southern lad went on, longingly.
+
+"Well, as we haven't got the code book," laughed the scoutmaster, "that
+would be a pretty hard job, I take it."
+
+"But still," Bob continued, with a shade of entreaty in his voice that
+was hard to resist, "I take it that you could give a guess that would
+come pretty nigh the truth, if you cared to try, Thad."
+
+"Well, I don't know about that," replied the other scout; and then
+adding, as he realized that Bob was grieved: "I'm willing enough to make
+a try, if you think it would pay. Let's see, first of all, where these
+fellows are located who are doing all this communicating."
+
+"There's one on the side of the mountain over yonder," declared Bob;
+"then that's a second fellow across the valley; you can see his lantern
+or torch dipping every which way; now he's stopped, as if he'd been
+asking more questions. And Thad, seems to me, the one that's doing the
+heft of the jabbering is located down yonder. Like as not the
+information's coming from him."
+
+"That's across the valley, Bob?" remarked Thad.
+
+"You're correct, suh; somewhere neah the place from which I was chased
+away not more than two hours back. That's where the cabins lie."
+
+"And that's where Nate and the other mountain man took Cliff Dorie,"
+continued the scoutmaster. "Now, you can put things together yourself,
+if only you think, Bob. Don't you see that Nate is probably telling
+these other fellows all about what happened to Cliff. And I certainly do
+hope he doesn't forget to give us our due in the matter, for it would go
+a great way toward making these rough men our friends. You know only too
+well what that would mean, Bob. Friends with Phin Dady just now might be
+the means of giving you back your father."
+
+Bob sighed heavily as he started on again, urged by a desire to come
+upon Polly as soon as possible, and learn the truth, no matter whether
+the news proved a disappointment, or not.
+
+But in his haste he forgot the caution Thad was trying always to instill
+in his mind; for stumbling presently, he found himself toppling over an
+unknown abyss that lay in the darkness, so that its extent could not be
+seen.
+
+Thad had kept very close to his heels, and was prepared for something
+like this, so that he acted from impulse, there being not a second to
+give to thinking.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE CLOCK IN THE SKY.
+
+
+"OH! Thad!"
+
+Bob unconsciously gave utterance to this low, bubbling cry as he felt
+the ground slipping from under him, and his eyes looking down into an
+inky void. Then something clutched hold of him, and his downward
+progress was stayed. Thad had shot out a hand, and grasped his chum by
+one of his legs, at the same time bracing himself for the shock.
+
+This he did in the twinkling of an eye, dropping his gun, and with that
+hand laying hold of a sapling that, fortunately, chanced to be within
+easy reach.
+
+"Careful, don't kick more than you can help, Bob," he remarked, as
+coolly as he possibly could, though a sensation akin to horror swept
+over him immediately he had acted. "I've got a good grip on you, and my
+other hand is holding on to a stout little sapling, so we just can't go
+down. Now work yourself back, inch by inch, as well as you can.
+Yo-heave-o! here you come! Another try, Bob! That gave us quite some
+distance. Ready to make it again? Why, this is easy. Here you are now,
+altogether boys, with a will!"
+
+And after half a dozen of these concerted pulls and backward movements,
+Bob found that he had reached a spot where he could take care of
+himself.
+
+"Whew! that was what I call a close call!" he muttered. "I wonder, now,
+just how far down I'd have had to go, if you hadn't been clever enough
+to grab me just in time?"
+
+"We're not going to bother our heads about that, Bob," replied the
+other, quickly; "only please go a bit slower. We won't make any time, if
+we have to stop, and go through that circus stunt every little while.
+And Bob, it might happen that I'd lose my grip, and either let you go
+down, or there'd be two of us take the drop. Does it pay to try and make
+speed at such a terrible risk?"
+
+"You're right, just like you always are, Thad," replied the hasty and
+now penitent one; "and I'm sure a fool for taking chances that way.
+Here, you go up ahead, and set the pace. That's the only way we can fix
+it; because, like as not inside of five minutes I'd be rushing along
+again for all I'm worth."
+
+"Perhaps that would be the best plan," Thad observed, with a chuckle. "I
+thought of it, but didn't want to make you feel that I distrusted your
+leadership. And I want to say right now that it isn't that makes me take
+the lead, only because you are so excited that you're not fit to judge
+things right."
+
+"But don't let's waste any more precious time, Thad. Polly might have
+gotten to the place ahead of us, you know. Oh! wouldn't I be sore if she
+got tired of waiting, and went back home."
+
+"All the same," Thad remarked, confidently, "I don't think Polly would
+ever do such a mean thing as that. She understands just how crazy you
+are to know, and she's right now putting herself in your place. No,
+Polly will wait up for us, make your mind easy on that, Bob. I wish I
+was as sure that we'd get there, safe and sound."
+
+"Oh! I'm done with my capers, mind you, Thad," returned Bob, eagerly.
+"Since you've taken the lead, there's no chance for us to go pitching
+over a precipice. When they catch a weasel asleep, and no mortal man
+ever did that, I've heard, they'll hear of Thad Brewster making a fool
+move."
+
+"It's nice of you to say that, anyway, Bob; I only wish I deserved the
+compliment you pay me. But we'd better talk less, and get on a little
+faster."
+
+And after Thad had given this gentle little hint the conversation
+lagged; Bob realized that it was really no time to carry on any sort of
+talk; and that when they could not tell what dangers might be close
+around them in that inky darkness, they would be far wiser to keep a
+padlock on their lips.
+
+Each time they stopped they again saw the signal lights flashing out
+here and there across the way, or below. They seemed like giant
+fireflies, striving to free themselves from some invisible bonds. But
+the boys knew very well what it meant, and that the moonshiners of the
+Blue Ridge were holding an animated fire talk.
+
+They met no animal on the way, which Thad thought was a piece of good
+luck. Even though he did carry his faithful little Marlin, which could
+send a powerful charge of shot a long distance; and close in, serve all
+the purposes of a big bore rifle, or musket, all the same, Thad was not
+desirous of meeting with any new and thrilling adventure.
+
+Such things were all very nice after they had passed along, and one sat
+comfortably by a camp-fire, relating the circumstance; but while in
+process of action they were apt to bring a cold chill along in their
+train, not at all comfortable.
+
+"It must be after the time we set, isn't it, Thad?" Bob finally asked,
+in a low voice, when they rested again.
+
+The scoutmaster could not look at his little cheap but reliable watch
+without striking a match; and there was really no necessity for doing
+that. It made very little difference whether they were ahead, or
+somewhat behind the hour arranged for their meeting with Polly. And
+besides, there were other ways of telling time pretty accurately,
+without even having a watch along.
+
+Thad glanced up into the heavens. He had often studied the bright worlds
+and suns to be seen there, and knew considerable about the positions
+they occupied, changing, it might be, with the coming and going of the
+seasons.
+
+"It's just close on to midnight, Bob," he observed, presently.
+
+Of course Bob was at once interested.
+
+"You're saying that because of the stars, Thad," he remarked. "Please
+tell me how you managed to tell."
+
+"It's like this," the scoutmaster replied, not averse to pointing a
+lesson that might be seed sown in fertile ground; "notice those three
+rather small stars in the northeast, all in a line and pointing
+downward? Well, those are what they call the belt of Orion, the Hunter.
+They point nearly direct down to a mighty bright blue star that you see
+there, twinkling like everything."
+
+"Yes, I've often noticed that, and I reckon it must be a planet near as
+big as Venus or Jupiter," remarked the other boy.
+
+Thad laughed.
+
+"Well," he remarked, "I guess now you'd think me crazy if I told you
+just how far that same star is away from us right now, ever so many
+times further than either of the planets you speak of. Why, Bob, that's
+Sirius, the Dog Star, said to be the biggest sun known to astronomers.
+Our little sun wouldn't make a spot beside that terrible monster; which
+may be the central sun, around which all the other tens of thousands
+revolve everlastingly."
+
+"Oh! yes, I've heard of the Dog Star, but never reckoned it amounted to
+anything in particular," declared the Southern lad, interested, in spite
+of the anxiety that was gnawing at his heart all the while; "but suppose
+you go on, suh, and explain to me how you can tell the time of night by
+consulting the Dog Star. You sure have got me to guessing."
+
+"Nothing could be easier, if only you'd put your mind to it, and think,
+Bob?" continued the patrol leader. "These stars and planets rise at a
+certain hour every night. It grows later all the while, and many of them
+are not seen only half of the year, because they are above us in the
+daytime the rest of the twelve months. Now suppose you had watched that
+star, as I did last night, and knew just when it crept above that
+mountain ridge over yonder; you'd have a line on when it could be
+expected to come up to-night. Now do you see?"
+
+"Well, it's as simple as two and two make four," replied Bob. "And so
+that's the way old hunters tell the time at night, do they? Reading the
+clock in the sky, you might call it, Thad. I'm sure going to remember
+all about that; and later on, when my mind's at rest, I'll ask you a
+heap more questions about these things. They get more and more
+interesting the deeper you dip in; ain't that so, Thad?"
+
+"I've found it that way," replied the scout leader, quietly. "A fellow
+who keeps his eyes and ears open can almost hear the stars whispering
+together, they say; and as to the secrets the wind tells to the trees in
+passing, why that's easy to understand. But if you're rested by now,
+Bob, we'd better be on the move once more."
+
+Only too willingly did Bob agree. He believed that they must by this
+time be very nearly up to the point where Polly had agreed to meet them.
+She had asked Bob if he remembered the place; and he in return had
+declared he could easily find it, even in the darkness of night; for
+often had he climbed the face of this ridge when he lived close by; for
+at the time, his father had owned the very place where Old Reuben Sparks
+now had his home, the miser having purchased it from Mrs. Quail upon her
+moving North with her son.
+
+"Keep on the lookout for three oak trees growing close together, Thad,"
+he said, presently. "It's always been a landmark around here, because
+any one can see it from the valley, you know. I reckon, now, we must be
+close by the same; and I'd hate to miss it in the dark. It's been some
+time since I was up here, and I'm apt to get mixed a bit."
+
+"Well, I think you've done mighty well so far; because, unless my eyes
+deceive me, there's the place right ahead of us," Thad declared.
+
+"You're right about that," Bob added, feverishly; "that's the place of
+the three mountain oaks; and they stand out against the sky, now we've
+changed our position. Oh! I'm beginning to shake all over, Thad, I'm
+that anxious. What if Polly shouldn't be on hand? Perhaps she just
+couldn't learn anything, after all, and will only come to tell me she
+did her best; but they keep the Still guarded too close, and she
+couldn't get close in. There's a dozen, yes, twenty things that might
+come up to upset my hopes. They don't seem so strong, Thad, now that
+we've got to the point."
+
+"Well, I wouldn't let myself get in any sort of gloom about it yet,
+anyway, Bob. Time enough to cry after the milk is spilt. Here we are at
+the oaks, and we'll wait for Polly to come, if she's late; but I'm dead
+certain she'll keep her word with you. When a girl like Polly says
+she'll do a thing, you can just make up your mind she will, unless the
+heavens fall."
+
+"That's right peart o' you, suh," said a soft voice close by; and they
+heard a rustling sound, as though some one might be coming out from
+amidst the dense foliage just beyond the three oaks. "Here's Polly, be'n
+awaitin' this half hour fur you-uns to kim along. An' she's agettin'
+right sleepy, let me tell yuh."
+
+Thad felt his chum quivering with eagerness as the mountain girl made
+her way carefully down to where they awaited her coming. What sort of
+news Polly could be bringing neither of them could so much as guess; but
+it would not be long now ere Bob knew the best, or the worst.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+BOB GETS HIS REWARD.
+
+
+NEARER came the rustling. They could not yet see Polly, on account of
+the darkness, but the sound of her voice had reassured them.
+
+Presently a moving figure crept close up to the waiting boys; which they
+knew must be the queer mountain girl. Polly was far from dainty looking;
+she had coarse black hair that possibly seldom knew a comb; and her
+voice was rather harsh; but nevertheless Thad believed she had a heart
+under this forbidding exterior, and that the spirit of gratitude was
+transforming her, greatly to their advantage.
+
+"I'm right glad yuh kim, even if 'twar late," she said, as she reached
+their side.
+
+"We started as soon as we could, Polly," said Bob, wondering if the girl
+really felt hurt because she had been kept waiting. "You see, I had to
+cross the valley, and talk with my cousin, Bertha. It was very important
+that I should see her, for she had news to give me, news that we hope
+will end in taking her away from that cruel old miser, and giving her
+over to the keeping of my own dear mother."
+
+Polly grunted, as though she felt that she had to exhibit some sign of
+displeasure; but she said no more on that subject.
+
+"I done found the Still," she remarked, simply.
+
+"That's good, Polly," Bob said, warmly.
+
+"Caus I'd be'n thar afore, but 'twas a long time ago," she went on, as
+if in apology for any difficulty she may have run across in finding the
+secret workshop of her father.
+
+"Yes," Bob went on, encouragingly, as she stopped.
+
+"Yuh see, they don't want gals er wimen ahangin' 'round thar. An' ever
+since they begun ter keep a prisoner ter work ther mash, I reckons as
+how never one hes be'n up ter thet place."
+
+"But you hadn't forgotten just how to get there, had you, Polly; you
+knew the old trail, even with its changes; and did they have a prisoner;
+or was it just a story that's been going around all this time?"
+
+Bob's impatience could not hold back any longer. He felt that he must
+know the truth with regard to this fact, right away. If there was no
+prisoner after all, then hope must sink out of sight. On the other hand,
+should Polly say that she had discovered a guard, and a patient working
+figure kept in restraint for long, weary months, he might still hug that
+fond illusion to his heart, that it might yet turn out to be his own
+father.
+
+"Yep, I gut thar, even if they had hid the trail right smart," the girl
+continued, "an' sure 'nuff, thar war a prisoner!"
+
+"Oh!" said Bob, and Thad could feel him quiver again with eagerness.
+
+The girl was slow, not because she wished to tantalize Bob, but simply
+on account of her sluggish nature. The hook-worm has a firm grip upon
+most of the "poor whites" of North Carolina, as well as in Tennessee and
+Georgia close at hand. It would take something out of the common to
+arouse Polly; a sudden peril perhaps; or the anticipation of a new
+dress, which latter could not be an event occurring in less than yearly
+stages, Thad had thought.
+
+"An' he war a man," Polly went on, dreamily; "jest like yuh thought,
+Bob; but his hair hed growed so long, and thar was so much beard on his
+face, I jest reckons his own mother wudn't never a knowed 'im."
+
+"But did you get close enough to him to say a single word, Polly--just
+to ask him who he was?" the boy demanded, faintly.
+
+Thad unconsciously let his arm glide around the figure of his chum. He
+seemed to fear the result, no matter what the answer of the mountain
+girl might be.
+
+"Sure I did. Thet's what I went up thar fur, ain't it?" Polly went on to
+say. "They hed him chained ter ther rock. I reckons thar mout a be'n a
+guard alongside, sum o' ther time; but right then he must a be'n away.
+So arter peekin' around, an' not seein' any critter astandin' sentry, I
+jest mosied up clost ter ther man, an' touched him on ther arm."
+
+She paused again, as if to collect her thoughts, and then yawned; but it
+was only through habit, and not because Polly felt sleepy; far from it,
+she was seldom more wide-awake than just then, though it was hard for
+Thad to believe it.
+
+"He looked kinder s'prised tuh see me, 'cause like I done tole yuh,
+gals, they ain't never be'n 'lowed 'round thar, sense he was took. In
+course I tole him as how I jest kim ter fin' out who he mout be, 'case
+thar was somebody as 'peared mighty wantin' ter know thet same."
+
+"And did he tell you; could he speak still, and explain?" asked Bob.
+
+"He shore cud, Bob," she replied, a little more earnestly now, as though
+she realized that the critical point of her narrative had been reached.
+"I never'd a knowed him, wid all ther hair on his face; but when he says
+his name it was shore enuff--" and she paused dramatically.
+
+"My father?" gasped Bob.
+
+"Yep, an' no other then Mistah Quail, as used ter be ther marshal o'
+this deestrict sum years ago,--yer own dad, Bob!"
+
+Thad tightened his grip upon his chum, for he felt him quivering
+violently. It was a tremendous shock, since, for more than two years
+now, Bob and his mother had been forced to believe the one they loved
+so dearly must be dead; but they say that joy never kills, and presently
+Bob was able to command his voice again.
+
+"Oh! you'll never know what that means to me, Polly!" he exclaimed, as
+he groped around until he had found the girl's hand, which doubtless he
+pressed warmly in his great gratitude. "To think that my poor father has
+been alive all this time, and a slave up here in the wild mountains,
+while mother and I have been enjoying all the comforts and luxuries of
+our home. It just seems to cut me to the heart. But Polly, you talked
+with him, didn't you?"
+
+"Shore I did. He done tole me he mout a got free a long time ago, if
+he'd 'greed ter promise my dad never ter tell whar ther ole Still war
+hid; an' never ter kim inter ther mountings agin ahuntin' moonshine
+stuff. But he sez as how, sense he still must be in ther employ o' ther
+Gov'nment, he's bound ter do his duty; an' not in er thousand years wud
+he change his mind."
+
+"Oh! that is jest like father," murmured the boy, partly in admiration,
+yet with a touch of genuine grief in his voice, because of the
+unnecessary suffering they had all endured on account of this stubborn
+trait on the part of the one-time marshal.
+
+"I tells him thet all ther same, he wa'n't agwine ter stay thar much
+longer, it didn't matter whether he guv ther promise er not, 'case thar
+hed be'n a change. An' then I ups an' tells him 'bout yer bein' hyar in
+ther mountings, bound ter larn ef he was erlive."
+
+"Yes, and was he pleased when he heard that, Polly?" asked Bob, who was
+gradually coming around in fine shape, now that the stupendous
+disclosure had been accomplished, and his anxiety a thing of the past.
+
+"I shud say he war," replied the girl, a little aroused now. "Say, he
+done _cry_, thet's what. Reckons as how he mout a be'n sorry fur not
+promisin' like they wanted long ergo. He arsks as how yer looked, an' ef
+yer mam war still well. Caus I cudn't tell him a heap, 'cause I didn't
+know; but I sez ter him thet yer hed kim hyar ter fotch 'im home, an'
+it'd be a shame ef yer hed ter go back erlone, jest 'cause he wanted ter
+be ugly. So he says as how he'd be'n athinkin', an' mout change his mind
+'bout thet thar promise."
+
+"Oh! to think of it, Thad," Bob breathed, gripping the arm of his
+staunch chum eagerly; "my father is alive after all these terrible
+months; and perhaps he'll even go home with me. It's worth all I've
+suffered ten times, yes a thousand times over."
+
+"You deserve all the happiness there can be going, Bob, sure you do,"
+declared the scoutmaster, positively. "I guess nothing could be too good
+for you. But we don't just understand yet how this is going to be
+brought about. Will Phin Dady let him go free if he makes that promise,
+Polly?"
+
+"Shore, he's jest _got_ ter, now," the girl answered, with a little
+chuckle. "Yer see, like I sez afore, things, have changed a heap now,
+an' my dad, he hain't a feelin' thet sore agin ther marshal like he used
+ter. An' Bob Quail, even ef he warn't gwine ter do hit, arter wat I
+larned this same night, I tells yer I'd set yer dad free on my own
+'count."
+
+"What did you learn?" asked Thad, curiously, seeing that apparently the
+girl could not of her own free will tell a story, but it had to be drawn
+from her piece meal, through the means of questions.
+
+"I war acomin' down ther mounting," she began, "an' 'bout harf way hyah
+I seen thet ther lights war a movin' down in ther valley. So I jest
+natchally stopped ter read what ther news was, 'spectin' thet it meant
+trouble fur you-uns. But the more I reads ther more I gits wise ter ther
+fack thet yer be'n an' done hit sum moah."
+
+"Yes," said Thad, encouragingly, though already he understood what was
+coming.
+
+"'Pears like 'tain't enuff fur yer ter skeer off thet cat, an' keep me
+from agittin' my face clawed handsome, but yer must go an' save ther
+life o' my uncle Cliff. I reads thet he was hurt bad by Nate's gun goin'
+off, an' bleedin' a heap, so's they feels sure he never kin be took
+'crost ter the doc's alive. Then they jest happen on yer camp down
+thar; an' shore he gut his arm fixed up so's ter stop ther blood comin';
+an' they fotched him acrost ther valley in good shape."
+
+"It was only a little thing, Polly, and gave me a great deal of
+pleasure," said Thad, thrilled despite himself by the girl's simple
+recital of the event.
+
+"P'raps 'twar," she replied, sturdily; "but my maw, she sots some store
+by Uncle Cliff; an' dad, he cain't nowise go agin wot she wants. So I
+sees right plain like it was writ, thet Bob, he's bound arter this, ter
+git his dad free."
+
+"Oh! it's like a dream to me, Thad; I feel as if I must be asleep. Give
+me a pinch or something, won't you, and let me understand that I'm
+alive," Bob exclaimed.
+
+"You're awake, all right, old fellow," replied Thad, with a nervous
+little laugh. "And unless I miss my guess, Polly here is going to give
+you another pleasant little surprise; ain't you, Polly?"
+
+"W'en I larns thet 'bout my uncle," continued the mountain girl, "I jest
+thinks as how Bob hyah, he's be'n a wantin' ter larn somethin' 'bout his
+ole man ther longest time ever. An' so I makes up my min' ter fotch 'im
+right away up ter ther Still in ther cave, so's ter see how the man as
+is chained'd feel ter git his boy in his arms onct agin!"
+
+"Oh! Polly, however can I thank you?" exclaimed the excited Bob;
+"please let's start then right away. I thought I was tired, but now I'm
+feelin' as fresh as ever I could be. You couldn't go too quick to suit
+me!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+THE "STILL" IN THE MOUNTAIN CAVE.
+
+
+"HIT'S sum climb," said Polly, doubtfully.
+
+"But think what is at the end of it," answered the eager Bob. "Why, to
+see my father again, I'd go all night, and then some. Please don't say
+you won't, Polly, after giving me your promise."
+
+"I'm gwine tuh leave hit tuh him," said the girl simply, and both of
+them understood that she meant Thad; for doubtless Polly had guessed
+before now that he was the leader of the boys in uniform, and that what
+he said was authority.
+
+Thad knew there was no such thing as trying to restrain his chum, now
+that the fever was in his veins; nor did he have any desire to do so.
+
+"He'll make it, all right, I think, Polly," he remarked, quietly.
+
+"Sure I will; so let's start," declared the other.
+
+Polly, of course, was willing. She did not seem to give one thought to
+herself; and yet Thad remembered how swollen her ankle had seemed, after
+such a bad twisting in the cleft of the rock that same afternoon, when
+the angry wildcat threatened to jump at her. But then Polly had been
+reared among the mountains that seem to meet the sky; and she was a girl
+accustomed to standing all manner of pain as well as any grown man could
+have done.
+
+They started to climb upward.
+
+One thing favored them, for which Thad was really glad. Polly knew every
+foot of the rough country like a scholar might the printed pages of a
+book. She could lead them along trails that they never would have
+suspected existed at all, hidden as they were from the eye of a
+stranger, by the artful moonshiners. And while possibly the climbing
+might be difficult, it was never as bad as the boys had found it when
+ascending the mountain in the day time.
+
+Bob for a wonder kept quiet. Of course he needed all his wind to carry
+him through. Then again, he was naturally turning over in his mind the
+amazing thing that had just come to him, and trying to realize his
+wonderful good fortune.
+
+The thought that he was about to see his dear father shortly was enough
+to fill his mind, to the exclusion of all else. And so he continued to
+follow close after the nimble girl, while Thad brought up the rear.
+
+They paused to rest several times. No doubt it was more on account of
+these two boys, quite unaccustomed to such harsh labor as climbing a
+mountain, that compelled Polly to pause; because otherwise, she could
+have kept straight on, without any rest.
+
+"We's gittin' thar now," she remarked, finally, as they halted for the
+fourth time, with Bob fairly panting for breath, and Thad himself
+secretly confessing that this mountain climbing after a surefooted girl
+who had shown herself as nimble as a goat, was no "cinch."
+
+"I'm glad to hear that news, Polly," Bob admitted candidly; but then it
+may have been on account of the fact that he was nearer the meeting with
+his long-lost father, rather than an admission that he was tired.
+
+"Jest wun moah stop, an' shore we'll be thar; p'raps we cud make her
+right smart from hyah, ef so be yuh felt fresh enuff," Polly explained.
+
+"Let's try, anyhow," declared Bob; "you don't know how much I can stand.
+Why, I used to climb these same mountains as well as you ever could; and
+it'd be queer if I'd forgot all I ever knew."
+
+"Thet sounds jest like a Quail," remarked the girl, with a chuckle, as
+she once more took up the work.
+
+The last part of the climb was certainly the roughest of all. Old Phin
+had hidden his secret Still in a quarter of the rocky uplift where no
+revenue man thus far had ever been able to look upon it of his own free
+will.
+
+But finally they heard Polly say that it was close by. Thad also noticed
+that the girl had changed her manner more or less. She climbed now
+without making the slightest noise; just as though some instinct, born
+of her life in the zone where warfare always existed between her people
+and the Government agents, had caused her to exercise caution.
+
+Thad saw that they were approaching what must be a rocky gully, leading
+to some sort of cave. He remembered that Polly had, while speaking,
+happened to mention the fact that her father's famous Still was located
+in a cave, which could never be found by the smartest agent the
+authorities had ever sent to look for such illegal distilleries.
+
+"Look out yer don't slip!" came in a low but thrilling whisper from the
+guide at this juncture; and from this Thad assumed that they must be
+passing along the edge of some dizzy precipice, that had to do with the
+safety of the manufactory, the existence of which had so long taunted
+the Government.
+
+Now and then Polly would give a slight pause. At such times Thad
+believed she must be looking cautiously around, to make sure that the
+guard had not returned to the place since she left there some time
+before.
+
+Then he realized that he could no longer see the stars overhead. From
+this he judged they must have passed underground; and that this was a
+fact he presently learned when, by stretching out his hand, he felt the
+cold rock close by.
+
+All around them was pitch darkness at first, and the girl had made Bob
+take hold of her dress, while Thad in the rear kept a hand on his chum's
+back as they moved slowly along.
+
+Presently the watchful scoutmaster made a little discovery that afforded
+him pleasure. There must be a light ahead somewhere, for he began to
+catch a faint glow, such as might come from a lantern.
+
+This illumination grew gradually stronger, until they could actually
+manage to see dimly around them.
+
+"Wait hyah foh me, till I see ef ther coast is clar," whispered the
+girl.
+
+The two scouts saw her slip away. It struck Thad that possibly he and
+his chums had much to learn ere they could pass along as noiselessly as
+this mountain girl.
+
+How the seconds dragged. Each one must have seemed torture to poor
+anxious Bob, knowing as he did that the one he had long mourned as dead
+was so near at hand. They heard nothing save a dripping sound, which
+might have been caused by water. Evidently the secret Still was not in
+operation just then; and words dropped by Polly gave Thad the impression
+that possibly it had ceased work for all time, because of some reason
+that brought about a change in the conditions.
+
+Polly could not have been gone more than five minutes before she came
+gliding back again to where she had left the boys.
+
+"Hit's all right, an' thar don't 'pear ter be any guard 'round."
+
+She plucked at Bob's coat sleeve, as if to let him understand that he
+could come on now; as if the boy needed a second invitation.
+
+They turned a bend in the narrow passage ahead, and Thad drew a long
+breath as he looked upon one of the most remarkable scenes it had ever
+been his fortune to see.
+
+The cave was a natural grotto, rock-ribbed, and as firm as the
+everlasting foundations of the mountains themselves. The moonshiners had
+fitted it up for their purpose; and there, for the first time Thad saw
+what a Still looked like. After all, it did not amount to much, the worm
+being the most interesting part of it. But then the fact that he was now
+gazing upon the very Still that revenue men had for years tried in vain
+to discover and wreck, gave the scoutmaster a sensation akin to awe.
+
+But all this he saw with one sweeping glance. There was more. A clanking
+as of a chain drew his attention to a figure that had arisen from a
+bench, and was pushing the long hair from his eyes to watch their
+entrance. Evidently Polly during her short absence must have whispered
+to the prisoner that Bob was close by.
+
+There was, of course, no such thing as holding Bob back any longer. He
+saw that ragged and altogether uncouth figure, which of course bore not
+the least resemblance to the father he remembered so well; but he also
+had discovered a pair of extended arms, and toward their shelter the boy
+fairly leaped.
+
+Another instant and Bob Quail was wrapped in the embrace of the parent
+he had not seen in more than two years, and whose fate it had been to
+remain here a prisoner among the moonshiners who hated him so
+thoroughly, while his dear ones mourned him as dead.
+
+After a few minutes Thad moved closer, and gave a little cough, wishing
+to let his chum know that he had a comrade tried and true near by. With
+that Bob started up, and gripped him by the arm.
+
+"This is my best friend, Thad Brewster, father," he said.
+
+Thad shook hands with the emaciated man who had been confined in this
+underground retreat so long. In spite of the long beard and strange
+looks of the other, he realized that Mr. Quail was no ordinary man. But
+then Thad had guessed that already, from what he had heard about the
+one-time marshal.
+
+"This is a mighty big piece of luck for Bob!" Thad remarked. "It seems
+nearly too good to be true; and he'll be the happiest boy in the States
+when he takes you back home with him, sir."
+
+"Home!" repeated the prisoner; "how strange that word sounds, after
+being shut up here so long. And how queer the outside world will seem to
+me. But I hope the promise Old Phin Dady made me, still holds good; for
+I've no longer the desire to hold out against his will. In my own mind
+I'm no longer on the pay-roll of the Government, for he tells me every
+one believes me dead; so I can take the vow with a clear conscience.
+Yes, I'm hoping to go home with my boy."
+
+Thad felt that all now remaining for them to do was to get in
+communication with the moonshiner, and have Mr. Quail set at liberty.
+Surely after what he and Bob had done for the family of Phin Dady, the
+latter could not refuse to let his prisoner go; especially since he now
+professed his willingness to make the promise that up to this time he
+had absolutely declined to subscribe to.
+
+They were still talking in this strain when a sound like a cough drew
+their attention, and looking up, Thad discovered a grim figure leaning
+on his gun not twenty feet away. There was no need to ask who the man
+was, for every one of them had already recognized the moonshiner, Phin
+Dady!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+BUMPUS CALLS FOR THREE CHEERS.
+
+
+THE mountaineer was the first to speak.
+
+"'Pears like I was interruptin' a leetle fambly reunion," he remarked,
+drily.
+
+At any rate, Thad noticed, there did not seem to be any great show of
+anger in the actions or words of the man. Nor was he leveling that
+terrible gun, which had doubtless brought consternation into the hearts
+of more than one invading group of revenue officers in times past.
+
+Indeed, Thad was rather inclined to think Old Phin looked remarkably
+docile, as though his claws had been pulled, and he no longer felt that
+the whole world was against him.
+
+Mr. Quail, however, did not see things in this way. He was not aware of
+the great change that had come about in the Dady family, that threatened
+to remove from the Blue Ridge the most remarkable and picturesque figure
+the region had ever known.
+
+"I'm ready to make that promise you once put before me, Phin!" he cried
+out, as if secretly fearing that harm might fall upon the head of his
+venturesome boy, because of his braving the moonshiner's wrath by
+searching out the secret Still.
+
+"Hit's too late fur thet, Mistah Quail!" declared the other grimly.
+
+"But surely you wouldn't think of changing your mind now?" said the
+prisoner.
+
+"Thet's jest what I done, suh," answered Phin. "Polly, I'se noticin' as
+how yuh brung them byes up hyah tuh the old Still. Reckons as how yuh
+never'd dared do thet same on'y foh what's cum ter pass."
+
+"Reckons as how I wudn't, dad," replied the girl; who, somehow, did not
+seem to display any particular fear of the stern parent, such as might
+have been expected under the circumstances.
+
+"Are you going to let me go free, Phin Dady?" demanded the prisoner,
+hoarsely.
+
+For answer the moonshiner stepped forward, and with a key he produced,
+released the iron that had been fastened about the ankle of the one-time
+revenue marshal.
+
+"I give you the promise you wanted, Phin, and never will I tell a living
+soul where the hiding-place of your Still lies," Mr. Quail declared,
+trying to conceal his emotion as a brave man might.
+
+"Thet's good o' ye, Mistah Quail," remarked the other, with one of his
+dry chuckles that somehow Thad liked to hear.
+
+"And more than that, Phin," continued the other, earnestly, "I agree
+never again to enter these mountains in search of the men who live here,
+and who believe they have a right to make this moonshine stuff as they
+please, whether the authorities down in Washington let them or not. I've
+resigned as a marshal, Phin. You and your friends will never have to
+think of me again as an enemy. And I suppose then that the curious
+public will never get the sight of this famous Still of yours, that I
+boasted they would."
+
+"Thet's whar yuh makes a mistake, suh," said the old man, with a wide
+grin. "I reckons now as it's a gwine to be ther trade mark ter be used
+on ther bottles. I be'n tole thet it ort ter help make sales, w'en they
+knows the new medicine, made outen roots an' yarbs got in ther
+mountings, an' wich cures all kinds o' shakes an' chills like magic, is
+manufactured in ther same old Still as Phin Dady cooked moonshine stuff
+foh nigh on ten hull yeahs."
+
+"What's that?" exclaimed the late prisoner, while Polly laughed softly,
+like one who sees a new life opening up before her.
+
+Thad began to see glimpses of light. He remembered the strange words
+used by the girl from time to time. Yes, there _had_ a change taken
+place; things were never going to be the same as they had been in the
+past. Accident had opened the eyes of the old mountaineer, and he had
+discovered a way to make money, with the Government for, not against
+him.
+
+"W'y, yuh see," he began, rather clumsily; when Polly took the words
+from his mouth, being so full of the subject that she just could not
+hold in.
+
+"He used ter make up a kind o' medicine w'enever we gut ther shakes, an'
+it did the bizness the slickest yuh ever did see, suh," she started to
+say. "Thar was a man as kim erlong heah, an' heerd 'bout hit. So he sez
+as how he'd like ter take a bottle erlong, and hev it tested. W'ich they
+done, an' writ as how it was sich a wonder thet p'raps dad, he cud
+supply ther trade. An' on'y yist'day he done gits a letter, suh, as
+binds ther bargain. Old Phin, he ain't agwine tuh make moonshine no
+moah. We's ameanin' tuh go tuh town, jest as soon's we heahs from ther
+people in Washington, as these drug men hes gone ter see. Yuh know hit
+wudn't be nice if they sot on my dad as soon as he showed up, an' locked
+him in prison, 'case as how he use ter make mounting dew on ther sly."
+
+Crudely expressed as it was, Thad understood the whole story now. It
+fairly took his breath away, it was so strange. To think of this gaunt
+old mountaineer having discovered a medicine that was going to prove as
+great a benefit to mankind as the stuff he had been hitherto
+manufacturing was a curse! It was almost too wonderful for belief.
+
+"Do you mean that the gentlemen who mean to handle the product of your
+Still in the future are trying to get the authorities to wipe all the
+past off the slate, and let your father start fresh?" asked Mr. Quail.
+
+"Thems erbout hit, suh," Polly replied, nodding her head. "Hand we-uns
+'spect ter live in town arter this, whar p'raps I kin wear a hat, an'
+hev sum shoes as hain't big ernuff fur a man, an' git some larnin' in
+school. Soon's as we knows, we reckons on movin'."
+
+"And Phin Dady, perhaps I might be of assistance to you down at
+Washington, once I get to a barber, and look something respectable,"
+said the late prisoner.
+
+"D'ye mean thet ye don't hold no grudge agin me foh what I done tuh ye?"
+demanded the old moonshiner, evidently surprised.
+
+"That's just what I mean," replied the other, heartily. "Outside of
+keeping me a prisoner, and even that was partly my fault, you've not
+been harder on me than one might expect. And I'm so happy now, with this
+noble lad by my side, and the knowledge that my wife still lives, that I
+couldn't bear you any ill feeling. I hope you'll be a big success in
+your new business; and here's my hand, if you care to take it."
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Bob, feeling like throwing up his hat when he saw the
+two men, enemies for so long, shaking hands in a friendly way.
+
+Thad himself had never felt so light-hearted. It seemed as though all of
+their troubles had suddenly taken flight, and the future looked bright
+indeed. This hike through the Blue Ridge had turned out ten times more
+wonderful than any of them had ever dreamed, when the undertaking was
+first discussed, away up in Cranford. It had given Bob back a father
+whom he had believed was dead; and presently Bertha, too, would be taken
+from the guardian who had no real legal right to her charge.
+
+The Boy Scouts would be able to go back to their home town with a
+feather in their hats, after accomplishing so many wonderful things.
+
+But how were they going to get down to the faraway camp? Would Mr.
+Quail, who must be weak on account of having been kept in the cavern so
+long, be able to stand the rough trip? Perhaps, after all, they had
+better stay there during the balance of the night, and wait for daylight
+to come.
+
+Thad was perfectly willing to leave all this to the gentleman himself;
+and presently he became aware that they were even then discussing it.
+
+His long and bitter association with those cold walls, and that Still,
+must have given Mr. Quail a dislike for the sight of them; because he
+expressed himself as only too willing to start down without delay.
+
+"It's true that I'm not as strong as I might be right now," he admitted;
+"but that weakness ought to pass away as I get the fresh air. Besides,
+having my boy at my side will work wonders. Yes, please do not let my
+condition keep us here one minute longer than is absolutely necessary."
+
+And so they all started down. Since there was no longer any need for
+secrecy, Polly carried the lantern along.
+
+After all, it was not such very hard work. With a light to show them
+what they had to avoid, and a pilot who knew every foot of the
+mountainside, they made very fair progress indeed. Even Mr. Quail
+declared he was getting stronger all the time, as he drew in big
+quantities of the sweet mountain air, so different from that he had been
+enduring so long, tainted with the fumes of the Still.
+
+Once Polly halted, and drew their attention to a light far down.
+
+"Thet's yer fire," was what she said, simply; and both Bob and Thad
+allowed their gaze to fall upon the flicker with a sense of deep
+satisfaction; for they knew that they were about to prove to be
+messengers of good tidings to those tried and true comrades so anxiously
+awaiting their return.
+
+Thad forgot that his feet burned, and that his muscles cried out in
+protest against such unusual exertion; the thing that had happened was
+of so wonderful a nature that every time he thought about it he told
+himself he ought to consider himself equal to the task of walking up and
+down hill all the remainder of the night, without a single groan or
+falter.
+
+Now they were evidently drawing nearer the lower part of the mountain.
+Glimpses they caught of the camp-fire told them this good news. Besides,
+Thad really began to recognize his surroundings.
+
+And he was not so very much surprised when Polly suddenly stopped and
+pointing to the rock at her feet, remarked:
+
+"Hit war right thar, dad, as I got cort by ther foot; an' on thet ledge
+yonder ther cat squatted, agrowlin' and spittin' like the Ole Nick, and
+meanin' tuh jump right on me. See, hyars a stick thet helped tuh beat
+him off. An' as yuh knows, 'twar this same boy, Thad they calls 'im, as
+dun fixed Uncle Cliff up, so's Nate an' Tom, they cud fotch him acrost
+tuh ther doc. Reckon we ort tuh do all we kin ter show 'em ther Dady
+fambly hes gut feelins."
+
+"Shore we ort, gal, an' we's agwine tuh do thet same," declared Old
+Phin.
+
+"We don't doubt it," said Thad, more or less affected by these evidences
+of gratitude on the part of the mountaineer and his daughter. "What I
+did was only a little thing you know, that could hardly count."
+
+"But hit saved Cliff's life, an' thet meant sumthin' foh him," the girl
+continued, with a shake of her tousled head. "Come erlong, an' let's git
+down thar. Reckons as how a cup o' coffee'd taste right good tuh yuh
+dad."
+
+"Coffee!" echoed Mr. Quail, as though the very sound of the word touched
+his inmost feelings; "it'll seem like nectar for the gods just to smell
+it again, after--but no matter, it was the best they had, and I oughtn't
+to say anything."
+
+All the same Thad noticed that his steps quickened a little, and he
+seemed to sniff the air from time to time, as if in imagination he could
+already catch a faint whiff of the treat in store for him.
+
+As they drew closer to the camp Thad could see that some of the boys
+were sitting there. Perhaps they had been too anxious to even try and
+sleep; though he believed he knew of one at least who could never have
+held out all this while, no matter how strong his determination.
+
+Waiting until they had arrived within a certain distance, and there was
+no evidence that any one had noticed the descending lantern, Thad gave
+vent to a call. It was the bark of the fox, and used by the members of
+the patrol as a signal in case they wished to communicate with one
+another.
+
+He saw the figures about the fire quicken into life. They seemed to
+jump to their feet, and stare about them, as if unable to understand
+what that call meant.
+
+A little to the surprise of Thad his signal was repeated from a point
+close by, and immediately Allan Hollister showed up. Undoubtedly the
+Maine boy had been scouting around the borders of the camp, seeking to
+guard against any surprise. He had watched the coming of the group with
+the lantern, and guessed that two of them must be the missing comrades,
+Thad and Bob.
+
+When they all stalked into camp, the boys were thunderstruck to see Old
+Phin and his daughter, apparently on the best of terms with their
+comrades; and as for the tall man with the long hair and beard, they
+could easily guess who he must be by the way Bob Quail clung to his
+hand.
+
+Then Bumpus called for three cheers, and they were given with a vim that
+made the valley echo from side to side. Possibly some of those
+moonshiner videttes must have started up, wondering what on earth could
+be occurring in the camp of the Boy Scouts.
+
+There was little chance that any of the boys would get a wink of sleep
+during the remainder of that eventful night. Long did they sit there by
+the revived fire, watching Mr. Quail drink his coffee, cup after cup,
+and listening to the strangest story they had ever heard. Even when
+finally, along about three in the morning, they were induced to lie
+down upon their various beds of leaves and grass, sleep must have
+utterly refused to visit their eyes, save in the case of Bumpus himself;
+and he could drop into slumber in almost "any old position, even if he
+were hanging by his heels," as Giraffe used to say.
+
+And so the night passed away, and another morning found them, red-eyed
+but joyful beyond compare; for they felt that their great hike among the
+mountains had turned out to be the finest thing possible, both for their
+comrade, Bob, and themselves.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+HOME AGAIN--CONCLUSION.
+
+
+THE mountain hike had come to an end.
+
+One and all, the Boy Scouts declared that they had seen about enough of
+this wild country of the Blue Ridge, and would be glad to turn their
+steps toward dear old Cranford. They believed they could find other ways
+to enjoy themselves that offered better inducements than climbing the
+sides of mountains, with suspicious moonshiners watching their every
+move.
+
+Of course, now that Old Phin Dady had taken them under his protection,
+they had no reason to fear any bodily harm. And what Thad had done for
+Cliff Dorie must go pretty far toward making them friends among the
+ignorant mountain people. But because Old Phin meant to desert his
+former calling for one that would have the sanction of the law, did not
+mean that moonshine stuff would not continue to be made up in the dells
+back of the trail in the Smoky Range. There were many others who knew no
+other means for making a slim livelihood, than by cheating the
+Government of the heavy tax it placed on strong drink.
+
+So the scouts decided, by a unanimous vote, that they had seen enough of
+these parts; and would hail with delight an order to turn their backs on
+it all. Besides, did they not know that both Bob and his father would be
+fairly wild to hasten to the waiting mother and wife in that Northern
+home?
+
+They made the start as soon as they could get in marching order. Polly
+and her father accompanied them through the mountains. This was
+considered best, lest some suspicious moonshiner think it his duty to
+take a pot shot or two at those figures far down the valley, wearing the
+khaki uniform he hated.
+
+At every cabin they passed, the natives swarmed out to see the strange
+sight of Old Phin walking amiably by the side of the boy soldiers, as
+they supposed the scouts to be. Once or twice there was an ugly
+demonstration, some of the natives fancying that the mountaineer must
+have surrendered, and was being carried off to jail. It took
+considerable explaining to get these people to understand the truth
+about things, and that Phin was on the best of terms with the boys.
+
+Finally he dared go no further, because as yet he did not know what
+success his agents, the drug men, had in Washington; and there was
+danger of revenue men sighting him at any moment, when trouble must
+break out, since there had been war between them for so long.
+
+When the little party of scouts turned up again in Asheville, they found
+plenty to do there to keep them over until another day. First of all,
+Mr. Quail underwent a complete transformation at the hands of a barber;
+for he declared he believed the sight of him, in his present condition,
+with such long hair and beard, would be enough to send his poor wife
+into a fit, or else have her drive him from the door as a pretender.
+
+And when he appeared before the scouts, decently dressed in a new suit,
+which Bob's money paid for, as he had none himself just then, Bumpus
+voiced the sentiments of the entire patrol when he declared that Mr.
+Quail was as fine looking a gentleman as he knew.
+
+Of course a message had been sent to Cranford, to apprise Bob's mother
+of the glorious result of his hike down in the Blue Ridge country, which
+they had once upon a time called home. It had to be very carefully
+worded, lest the shock to her nerves prove too great. And in another
+day, father and son hoped to be once more with the one who would not
+sleep a wink until her own eyes beheld the loved form which she believed
+had gone from her forever.
+
+Then there was that affair concerning little Bertha to be considered.
+Great had been the indignation of Mr. Quail when, on examining the paper
+which Bob had secured through the help of the girl, he realized all the
+rascality that Reuben Sparks had been guilty of.
+
+They held an interview with a well-known lawyer, who, on hearing the
+facts, and seeing the legal document, advised them to leave it all in
+his charge.
+
+"I promise you that this party will be summoned to appear forthwith,
+bringing his ward with him," this legal gentleman had declared; "and
+once within the jurisdiction of the court, it will be an easy matter to
+dispossess him. Indeed, should he show fight, we can have him sent up
+for a term of years."
+
+With such a pleasant prospect before them, did the scouts leave the Old
+Tar-heel State. They had come down here for an outing, and to see what
+Bob had once called his home; but the tour had turned out to be a more
+serious affair than any of them could ever have anticipated.
+
+And now they were on the way home again, filled with memories of the
+many events that had seasoned their brief stay in the Land of the Sky;
+home to familiar scenes and to look upon faces that were dear to them.
+
+A jolly party they were on the train that bore them away toward the
+North. Bob and his father sat by themselves, for they had a thousand
+things to talk about, that concerned only their private interests. But
+the rest clustered at one end of the sleeper, and eagerly reviewed the
+stories they would have to tell.
+
+"Oh! we'll have the greatest time ever, just showing the fellers how we
+did it," declared Bumpus. "First of all, we'll get Giraffe to wade into
+a creek, and explain how he was bein' pulled down by that sucking
+quicksand, when the prompt arrival of the rest of the bunch saved his
+precious life. I always heard that when one's just born to be hanged
+there ain't no use tryin' to get rid of him by any other means; which I
+guess stands for quicksand too."
+
+"That sounds mighty fine, Bumpus," remarked Giraffe, unmoved by the
+laughter greeting the proposition; "but just think what a great stunt
+it'll be when we get Davy Jones here showing 'em what he c'n do dropping
+down head-first into a bully old camp-fire, and swimmin' in red coals.
+That ought to bring down the house; if only we c'n coax him to do it
+over again."
+
+"Not much you will," declared the said Davy, looking ruefully at sundry
+red marks on both his wrists, that served to remind him of the accident.
+"Once is enough for me; and I tell you right now, fellows, if ever I
+_do_ climb a tree again, to exercise, I'm going to be mighty careful I
+don't hang down over a blaze. There's such a thing as takin' too many
+chances."
+
+"A burnt child dreads the fire," sang out Step Hen.
+
+"Hello! are you there, old sobersides?" remarked Giraffe, pretending to
+be surprised; "now, we all of us thought you might be busy writin' out
+in your mind a treatise on how to be happy watching a tumble-bug try to
+roll his big ball uphill; or else what lessons can be gained by watching
+the humble beetle in his never-say-die act as a gymnast. But I see
+you've got your badge right-side up to-day, all to the good, Step Hen;
+what wonderful stunt have you been pulling off now?"
+
+"Oh! it didn't amount to much, I guess, fellows; but then even a little
+speck of kindness counts, they say," remonstrated Step Hen.
+
+"I happen to know," remarked Thad, breaking into the conversation; "for
+I was just coming into that other ordinary car, when I saw our comrade
+doing himself proud. Perhaps it _is_ only a little thing for a boy to
+notice that a poor woman with three kids clinging to her skirts, and a
+baby in her arms, wants to get a bottle of milk warmed, and don't know
+just how to manage it; and to offer to do it for her; but let me tell
+you, that poor tired mother said 'thank you, my boy' just as if it meant
+a _heap_ to her! Yes, Step Hen, you had a right to turn your badge; and
+I only hope you find as good a chance to do it every single day, as you
+did on this one."
+
+And Giraffe became suddenly silent. Perhaps something within told him
+that he too had passed that same weary mother; and if he thought
+anything at all at the time it was only to wonder why a woman could be
+so silly as to travel with so many children.
+
+"Well, you see," remarked Step Hen, feeling that some sort of
+explanation was expected from him, after the scoutmaster had given him
+the "spot light" on the stage. "I got to talkin' with her afterwards,
+and she told me that the children's paw had just died down South, and
+she was on her way home to her mother's. After hearin' that, fellers, I
+wanted to do anything more I could for the poor thing; and I did jump
+off at the last station, and buy the kids some sandwiches, 'cause, you
+see, they didn't have a great lot to munch on. But it was worth while to
+watch 'em gobble the snack of chicken I got along with 'em, like they
+hadn't had a bite to eat this livelong day."
+
+Thad walked away, satisfied that Step Hen was proving his worth as a
+scout. That little lesson of the humble bug had opened his eyes, and
+through those touched his heart. Perhaps he might not change all at
+once, for he was inclined to stumble, and fall down, when he had made
+good resolutions; but the chances were he would see more in life than
+ever before.
+
+And that is what a scout wants to do, keep his eyes open all the while,
+in order to notice many of the strange things that are happening every
+minute of the day all around him; until he learns to do that which will
+give him the greatest treat that could possibly happen to any one.
+
+Time was when Step Hen might have passed that poor mother, and never
+have given her a second thought; but it was different now. And the
+strange thing about it, in Thad's mind, was that an obscure little
+tumble-bug, one of the lowliest of all created things, could have
+succeeded in showing Step Hen that he had a heart; and that even a boy
+can find chances to do kindly acts, if he looks for them.
+
+"Well," said Bumpus, as they huddled together in a bunch, exchanging
+views and watching the mountains and valleys as they were whirled past,
+"if we could have the say right now where the Silver Fox Patrol would
+spend next vacation, where d'ye reckon it would be?"
+
+"Let's take a vote!" suggested Step Hen.
+
+"That's the ticket, Mr. Secretary, get eight ballots ready, and let's
+write first choice and second, majority rules," and the patrol leader
+nodded in the direction of his chum Allan, just as much as to say it was
+easy to guess what one vote would be.
+
+"Count as I call out, Bob White. Here goes now: Maine first choice,
+Rocky Mountains second."
+
+"Hurrah!" cried Bumpus.
+
+"Another for Maine, with the Saskatchewan country of Canada second,"
+Thad went on; "but this comrade forgot that as American Boy Scouts we
+do not want to spend our money and vacations in a foreign land."
+
+When the eight ballots had been counted, strange to say Maine was first
+choice with every one, and the Rockies well in the lead as second.
+
+"Move we make it unanimous," laughed Giraffe, which was duly done
+according to statute.
+
+"Much good that will do, with a whole year to wait, because it wouldn't
+pay to go up into Maine for only Christmas week," grumbled Step Hen.
+
+But strange to say it was decreed in a most remarkable way that the wish
+expressed by the scouts should be made an actual fact, and just how this
+came about the reader will find duly set forth in the third volume of
+this series entitled, "The Boy Scouts on the Trail, or Scouting through
+the Big Game Country."
+
+In due time the scouts arrived at Cranford station, where their coming
+had been anticipated; for the story of how the boys had found the
+missing husband of Mrs. Quail had somehow gotten around, since Cranford
+had its gossips. One of these happened to be calling on the lady at the
+time Bob's telegram arrived. Of course its nature was such as to give
+Mrs. Quail a shock, though she quickly recovered; but there had been
+ample time for the visitor to glance at the message, between dabs at the
+face of the fainting lady with a handkerchief wet with cologne. And that
+was how the news got out.
+
+"Look at the crowd, would you?" gasped Bumpus, as he poked his head out
+of the door, and saw what seemed to his excited imagination about the
+whole of Cranford filling the home station, and craning necks in the
+endeavor to be the first to glimpse the resurrected father of Bob Quail.
+
+"Hurrah for the Boy Scouts!" some one called out.
+
+They were given with a rush and a roar that brought other passengers
+hurrying to the windows of the cars, to see what popular hero it could
+be arriving home, to excite such a tremendous demonstration.
+
+"Hurrah for Thad Brewster!" called a second school-boy, as the young
+scoutmaster stepped off the train, bearing certain bundles, that might
+be a haversack and a take-down shotgun.
+
+Another wave of applause went sweeping up from the crowd.
+
+"Three cheers for Bob Quail, and his dad!" shrilled yet another
+enthusiast; upon which the echoes were fairly awakened by the racket.
+
+The scouts fell into line, and two and two marched along the station
+platform; for Mr. Quail had already taken his wife into his arms, and
+they had retired to the interior of the little building, in order to be
+less conspicuous while they talked it all over.
+
+Bumpus sounded his bugle, and the boys kept step as they walked along,
+with heads up, and feeling that they had gained the right to feel a bit
+proud, after what they had gone through. The crowd pushed after them,
+still shouting, and making a great clamor.
+
+And from one of the car windows looked a bevy of childish faces, back of
+which was the wan one of the tired mother; Step Hen disobeyed the rules
+for one second only, when he turned, and waved his hand to his little
+friends of the train. Seeing which Thad Brewster said softly to himself:
+
+"I warrant you that little woman believes all this noise is meant for
+just one boy, and he the fellow who was so kind to her; because, in her
+sight Step Hen is a real hero, and this racket is meant especially for
+his home-coming."
+
+
+          THE END.
+
+
+
+
+The Boy Scouts Series
+
+BY HERBERT CARTER
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+          For Boys 12 to 16 Years
+          All Cloth Bound Copyright Titles
+          PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH
+
+          New Stories of Camp Life
+
+          THE BOY SCOUTS' FIRST CAMPFIRE; or, Scouting with
+            the Silver Fox Patrol.
+
+          THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE BLUE RIDGE; or, Marooned
+            Among the Moonshiners.
+
+          THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL; or, Scouting through
+            the Big Game Country.
+
+          THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE MAINE WOODS; or, The New
+            Test for the Silver Fox Patrol.
+
+          THE BOY SCOUTS THROUGH THE BIG TIMBER; or, The
+            Search for the Lost Tenderfoot.
+
+          THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE ROCKIES; or, The Secret of
+            the Hidden Silver Mine.
+
+          THE BOY SCOUTS ON STURGEON ISLAND; or, Marooned
+            Among the Game-Fish Poachers.
+
+          THE BOY SCOUTS DOWN IN DIXIE; or, The Strange
+            Secret of Alligator Swamp.
+
+          THE BOY SCOUTS AT THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA; A story
+            of Burgoyne's Defeat in 1777.
+
+          THE BOY SCOUTS ALONG THE SUSQUEHANNA; or, The
+            Silver Fox Patrol Caught in a Flood.
+
+          THE BOY SCOUTS ON WAR TRAILS IN BELGIUM; or,
+            Caught Between Hostile Armies.
+
+          THE BOY SCOUTS AFOOT IN FRANCE; or, With The Red
+            Cross Corps at the Marne.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price
+          by the Publishers
+
+          A. L. BURT COMPANY
+          114-120 EAST 23rd STREET      NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+The Golden Boys Series
+
+[Illustration]
+
+          BY L. P. WYMAN, PH.D.
+          Dean of Pennsylvania Military College.
+
+A new series of instructive copyright stories for boys of High School
+Age.
+
+          Handsome Cloth Binding.
+          PRICE, 65 CENTS EACH.
+
+          THE GOLDEN BOYS AND THEIR NEW ELECTRIC CELL
+
+          THE GOLDEN BOYS AT THE FORTRESS
+
+          THE GOLDEN BOYS IN THE MAINE WOODS
+
+          THE GOLDEN BOYS WITH THE LUMBER JACKS
+
+          THE GOLDEN BOYS ON THE RIVER DRIVE
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+  For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by
+          the Publishers.
+
+          A. L. BURT COMPANY
+          114-120 East 23rd Street,         New York
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+Obvious punctuation errors were corrected.
+
+Page 4, "Granford" changed to "Cranford" (home town of Cranford)
+
+Page 4, "Allen" changed to "Allan" (command, was Allan)
+
+Page 5, "Allen" changed to "Allan" (looked to Allan)
+
+Page 24, "in" changed to "it" (is it, right here)
+
+Page 54, "knicked" changed to "kicked" (beast kicked up his)
+
+Page 60, "pome" changed to "poem" (that stirring poem)
+
+Page 62, "neen't" changed to "needn't" (needn't be afraid)
+
+Page 87, "moat" changed to "mote" (mote out of your)
+
+Page 90, "at" changed to "apt" (are apt to interest)
+
+Page 94, "happennings" changed to "happenings" (of the queer happenings)
+
+Page 142, "supose" changed to "suppose" (I suppose we've)
+
+Page 147, "putties" changed to "puttees" (their puttees protected)
+
+Page 181, "tournaquet" changed to "tourniquet" (making a tourniquet)
+
+Page 190, "too" changed to "to" (going to tell you)
+
+Page 193, "Allen" changed to "Allan" (direction, too," added Allan)
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE BLUE RIDGE***
+
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