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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Great Hike, by Alan Douglas
+
+
+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: Great Hike
+       or, The Pride of the Khaki Troop
+
+
+Author: Alan Douglas
+
+
+
+Release Date: December 14, 2011  [eBook #38307]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREAT HIKE***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Dave Morgan, Emmy, and
+the Online Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net)
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 38307-h.htm or 38307-h.zip:
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38307/38307-h/38307-h.htm)
+      or
+      (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/38307/38307-h.zip)
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+      Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=).
+
+      Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_).
+
+
+
+
+
+The Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts
+
+GREAT HIKE
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE HICKORY RIDGE BOY SCOUTS
+
+A SERIES OF BOOKS FOR BOYS
+
+By Capt. Alan Douglas, Scout-master
+
+
+The Campfires of the Wolf Patrol
+
+      Their first camping experience affords the scouts
+      splendid opportunities to use their recently acquired
+      knowledge in a practical way. Elmer Chenowith, a lad
+      from the northwest woods, astonishes everyone by his
+      familiarity with camp life. A clean, wholesome story
+      every boy should read.
+
+
+Woodcraft; or, How a Patrol Leader Made Good
+
+      This tale presents many stirring situations in which
+      the boys are called upon to exercise ingenuity and
+      unselfishness. A story filled with healthful
+      excitement.
+
+
+Pathfinder; or, The Missing Tenderfoot
+
+      Some mysteries are cleared up in a most unexpected
+      way, greatly to the credit of our young friends. A
+      variety of incidents follow fast, one after the other.
+
+
+Fast Nine; or, a Challenge from Fairfield
+
+      They show the same team-work here as when in camp. The
+      description of the final game with the team of a rival
+      town, and the outcome thereof, form a stirring
+      narrative. One of the best baseball stories of recent
+      years.
+
+
+Great Hike; or, The Pride of The Khaki Troop
+
+      After weeks of preparation the scouts start out on
+      their greatest undertaking. Their march takes them far
+      from home, and the good-natured rivalry of the
+      different patrols furnishes many interesting and
+      amusing situations.
+
+
+Endurance Test; or, How Clear Grit Won the Day
+
+      Few stories "get" us more than illustrations of pluck
+      in the face of apparent failure. Our heroes show the
+      stuff they are made of and surprise their most ardent
+      admirers. One of the best stories Captain Douglas has
+      written.
+
+
+Under Canvas; or, The Hunt for the Cartaret Ghost
+
+      It was hard to disbelieve the evidence of their eyes
+      but the boys by the exercise of common-sense solved a
+      mystery which had long puzzled older heads.
+
+
+Storm-bound; or, a Vacation Among the Snow Drifts
+
+      The boys start out on the wrong track, but their scout
+      training comes to the rescue and their experience
+      proves beneficial to all concerned.
+
+
+Boy Scout Nature Lore to be Found in The Hickory Ridge Boy Scout Series,
+all illustrated:--
+
+      Wild Animals of the United States--Tracking--Trees and
+      Wild Flowers of the United States--Reptiles of the
+      United States--Fishes of the United States--Insects of
+      the United States and Birds of the United States.
+
+
+    _Cloth Binding_      _Cover Illustrations in Four Colors_
+              _40c. Per Volume_
+
+    THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
+    201 EAST 12th STREET       NEW YORK
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+GREAT HIKE
+
+Or
+
+The Pride of the Khaki Troop
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+COMPLETE ROSTER, WHEN THE PATROLS WERE FILLED, OF
+
+THE HICKORY RIDGE TROOP OF BOY SCOUTS
+
+MR. RODERIC GARRABRANT, SCOUT MASTER
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+THE WOLF PATROL
+
+    ELMER CHENOWITH, Patrol Leader, and also
+    Assistant Scout Master
+
+    MARK CUMMINGS
+      TED (THEODORE) BURGOYNE
+        TOBY (TOBIAS) ELLSWORTH JONES
+          "LIL ARTHA" (ARTHUR) STANSBURY
+            CHATZ (CHARLES) MAXFIELD
+              PHIL (PHILIP) DALE
+                GEORGE ROBBINS
+
+
+THE BEAVER PATROL
+
+Matty (Matthew) Eggleston, Patrol Leader
+
+    "RED" (OSCAR) HUGGINS
+      TY (TYRUS) COLLINS
+        JASPER MERRIWEATHER
+          TOM CROPSEY
+            LARRY (LAWRENCE) BILLINGS
+              HEN (HENRY) CONDIT
+                LANDY (PHILANDER) SMITH
+
+
+THE EAGLE PATROL
+
+    JACK ARMITAGE, Patrol Leader
+      NAT (NATHAN) SCOTT
+
+    (OTHERS TO BE ENLISTED UNTIL THIS PATROL HAS
+    REACHED ITS LEGITIMATE NUMBER)
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+[Illustration: . . . and presently they followed on their motor
+cycles.]
+
+
+The Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts
+
+GREAT HIKE
+
+Or
+
+The Pride of the Khaki Troop
+
+by
+
+CAPTAIN ALAN DOUGLAS
+
+Scout Master
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration]
+
+The New York Book Company
+New York
+
+Copyright, 1913, by
+The New York Book Company
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+
+  CHAPTER                                                      PAGE
+     I.--THE TALK IN AN APPLE TREE                               17
+    II.--JASPER'S IDEA TAKES ROOT                                25
+   III.--AS THE CLOCK IN THE TOWER BOOMED SIX                    33
+    IV.--SIGNS OF TROUBLE                                        41
+     V.--THE MOTORCYCLE SQUAD                                    49
+    VI.--GETTING IN A RUT                                        57
+   VII.--IN HOT PURSUIT                                          65
+  VIII.--TWENTY-SEVEN MILES FROM HICKORY RIDGE AND HOME          73
+    IX.--NEARING THE CRISIS                                      81
+     X.--FOUND AT LAST                                           89
+    XI.--THE HOWL OF THE WOLF SIGNAL                             97
+   XII.--THE AMBUSH                                             105
+  XIII.--FRIENDS IN TIME OF NEED                                113
+   XIV.--HOW THE PLOT FAILED                                    121
+    XV.--VICTORY--SISS! BOOM! HURRAH!                           129
+   XVI.--"THE FINEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO FAIRFIELD!"    137
+
+
+
+
+GREAT HIKE
+
+OR
+
+THE PRIDE OF THE KHAKI TROOP
+
+
+
+
+THE HICKORY RIDGE BOY SCOUTS
+
+
+
+
+GREAT HIKE;
+
+OR,
+
+THE PRIDE OF THE KHAKI TROOP.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE TALK IN AN APPLE TREE.
+
+
+A NUMBER of active boys were perched high among the heavily laden
+branches of a big fall pippin apple tree, back of the old Philander
+Smith house, located just outside the limits of the thriving town of
+Hickory Ridge.
+
+"Take care, Landy!" called out Chatz Maxfield, whose soft, mellow voice
+told of his Southern birth; "that long ladder might chance to slip, suh,
+and it would be a long ways to the ground!"
+
+"Oh, shucks! I've got the upper end wedged fast in the crotch along the
+outside of this limb, Chatz. And believe me, I'm getting my basket full
+of the biggest yellow pippins you ever saw. Who cares for expenses,
+anyhow?"
+
+Landy, whose father owned the property, was very much inclined to be
+fat; though he would never admit the fact; and was forever declaring he
+had a new method of exercise that would reduce him to a "living
+skeleton," sooner or later.
+
+Besides Chatz Maxfield, whose real name, of course, was Charles, the
+busy bees in the tree who were assisting their chum pick the ripe apples
+on this late August day consisted of three fellows, all members of the
+Hickory Ridge troop of Boy Scouts; and well known to every lad who has
+read the preceding volumes in this series.
+
+First there was Ty Collins. Every boy in town would know Ty as far away
+as they could see him; for, when not going to school, winter and summer
+he clung to an old red sweater that he seemed to love above all the
+garments he possessed.
+
+Then came a small fellow, Jasper Merriweather by name, whose one
+ambition it was to get out of the "runt" class. Jasper was never weary
+of asking some one to take his measure, and compare it with past
+records; but thus far he had not made much progress toward reaching the
+ordinary height of a lad of fifteen. Still, he clung to hope and tried
+to fill his position as Number Four in the Beaver Patrol, to the best of
+his ability.
+
+Last of all, but by no means least, was Ted Burgoyne. Ted had the
+misfortune to lisp when he grew the least bit excited; though no one
+ever knew him to acknowledge the fact, and indeed, if accused, he would
+grow very indignant, even while others could catch the fatal slip in his
+warm denial.
+
+They called him "Dr. Ted," for the very good reason that he had his
+heart set on medicine and surgery, and often found himself in great
+demand to practice on his fellow scouts. Outside of a few rather wild
+theories, and a boy-like desire to have a little fun out of things, Ted
+was quite practical. He was held much in respect by the twenty odd boys
+constituting the khaki troop.
+
+The Hickory Ridge troop had passed the experimental stage of progress,
+and had become an established fact. Three patrols, of eight boys each,
+were complete, and there were candidates to start a fourth, if they
+could meet the requirements and feel capable of subscribing to the
+twelve cardinal principles that every true scout has to try to live up
+to.
+
+Lately a rival troop had sprung up in Fairfield, led by one Matt Tubbs.
+Formerly Matt had only been known as a great bully, and those who
+trained with him had served under his banner simply through fear,
+without a grain of respect.
+
+But Matt had, strange to say, seen a great light. He had watched the
+boys of the khaki troop in their open-air tests. Something in the
+business seemed to appeal strongly to him; and then had come the
+determination to start a troop in his town.
+
+Of course he ran up against a snag in the beginning, for no boy with the
+loose principles Matt held at that time could ever be accepted as a
+scout. He studied the matter, watched the Hickory Ridge lads some more,
+and then came the great awakening.
+
+And now Matt Tubbs was on the right road. He controlled his followers
+just as thoroughly as before, but generally in a different manner. They
+respected him too. Still, once in a while the old spirit cropped out;
+and it was told how, when one of his cronies, thinking to take advantage
+of this new mantle of meekness, boldly challenged Matt to a fight, the
+new leader of the Fairfield troop gave him the best kind of a whipping;
+after which he helped bind up his scratches, and stop the flow of blood
+from his nose.
+
+But the insurrection had been nipped in the bud: and they did say that
+Matt tried to atone for his breaking of the rules of the organization by
+being unusually patient with those under him who had difficulty in
+keeping up with the reform pace he set.
+
+It was pretty generally understood all through the region that Matt
+Tubbs might never have started to climb the ladder only for the boyish
+sympathy which he received from Elmer Chenowith, the leader of the
+Hickory Ridge troop, and assistant to the scout master, Mr. Garrabrant.
+
+And the reformation of the worst boy in Fairfield and Cramertown long
+astonished the good people of those communities. When they awakened to
+the truth that it was no myth, but apparently an accomplished fact, they
+were quick to give most of the credit to the discipline of the new
+organization.
+
+And the Fairfield troop from that time on had never lacked for backing
+from the parents of those boys connected with the same.
+
+The fellows in the apple tree had been talking about these things as
+they helped Landy pick the fruit, a task that had been set for him by
+his father, and which must be fulfilled ere he could get off for play
+that day.
+
+Of course they also discussed the great baseball game that had recently
+been played between the rival troops, in which Hickory Ridge came out
+victor, after a very strenuous afternoon's work.
+
+"The way Lil Artha circles the bases gets me," declared Ty Collins, as
+he munched on a particularly fine specimen of fruit he had struck, and
+which tempted him beyond his capacity to decline, though it was possibly
+the seventh he had eaten within the hour.
+
+"Oh, I don't know," remarked Ted, swinging his legs from the limb he
+straddled. "Most persons theem to think there's no one tho fatht as Lil
+Artha. Now, I admit in the thtart that he can cover the ground at a
+pretty rapid rate; but nobody knowth jutht how long he could hold out on
+a long hike. I've got my own ideath on that thubject, fellows."
+
+"Sure you have, and so have a lot of others in the troop, suh," declared
+Chatz. "Might I ask who you think would have the best chance in an
+endurance hike that would last, say for twenty-four hours straight?"
+
+"Why, Elmer would, for a thtarter," replied the other, quickly; "and if
+that ain't enough, what'th the matter with Ty Collinth himthelf? Theemth
+to me you'd hold out, and give long-legged Lil Artha a run for hith
+money."
+
+"Me for Matty Eggleston!" declared Jasper, eagerly; for the boy in
+question was leader of the patrol to which Jasper belonged, and in his
+eyes seemed a marvel second only to Elmer himself.
+
+"If Lil Artha fell down on the long run, I kind of think Red Huggins
+might pull in a victor," Ty went on. "That fellow is just chock-full of
+grit. When he shuts his teeth, and starts in, there's no telling where
+he'll stop."
+
+"How about George Robbinth, your couthin, Matty?" asked Ted. "I've theen
+him walk half a dozen fellowth until they admitted they weren't in the
+thame clath? Perhaps now he might have a chance to win in a long tetht."
+
+"Oh, George is a good one, all right," declared Landy. "Our family is
+noted for producing marvels. You just wait a little while longer, till I
+trim my weight down a few more pounds, and I'll show you something worth
+while. Huh, if there was a long-distance hike right now, d'ye know I'd
+be strongly tempted to enter. You never can tell. Appearances are
+sometimes mighty deceiving, boys."
+
+"There's another swift one in our bunch, fellows," called out little
+Jasper, who never could hope to enter any of these competitions until
+Nature was kinder to him, and began to add a few inches to his stature.
+
+"Who's that, Jasper?" demanded Ty, perched high up in the immense tree,
+and lowering his basket when filled with an ingenious tackle he had
+contrived so that he need not climb down with a bulky load; though twice
+he had managed to upset the whole picking, to the disgust of Landy who
+feared the apples would be too badly bruised to find a market, as his
+father intended.
+
+"What d'ye say to Jack Armitage?" the small scout went on. "Ever seen
+him get around and steal bases, no matter what the catcher was doing?
+He's a screamer, that's what! But of course I ain't sure how Jack would
+hold out on a twenty-four-hour walk. He's full of staying power though,
+and might surprise some fellows who have been reckoned at the top of the
+heap."
+
+"Well, you fellows have about put all the available candidates on the
+list," declared Ty, laughing because he himself figured in the same.
+"Elmer is out of the running because he got a thorn in his foot a day or
+two ago, and is limping to beat the band. His best chum, Mark Cummings,
+might enter, but it happens he's out of town and may not be back for a
+week. But what's all this talk going to amount to, anyhow?"
+
+"We ought to have thith important question thettled, boyth!" declared
+Ted.
+
+"There's been a heap of hot air circulating for a month past about who
+is the best all-round walker in the troop," remarked Jasper; "and seems
+to me that matter ought to be threshed out, once and for all!"
+
+"Hurrah, that's the talk, Jasper!" cried Chatz, throwing an apple at the
+other.
+
+"Bully boy!" called Ty. "Go on and make a suggestion, Jasper. You've got
+something in your noodle after all. Keep it up, my boy, and success to
+you."
+
+"That's right, Jasper," said Landy, stretching around to pick several
+tempting yellow beauties that seemed just beyond the reach of his rather
+short arm. "Tell us what you've been thinking about. Is it a big hike
+for the best walkers and runners of the celebrated Hickory Ridge
+troop?"
+
+Jasper swelled with importance. It was not often he found himself in the
+lime light, and his opinion in demand. The experience seemed delightful,
+and he was not in too great a hurry to satisfy the demand for
+information; since once they had his views the discussion must become
+general, and he would only stand on an equal footing with the rest.
+
+"Well, to tell the truth I was thinking about suggesting a great hike,
+with, say a limit of half a dozen fellows connected with the troop as
+contestants. Perhaps you noticed that I mentioned a twenty-four-hour
+consecutive tramp as the basis of the test. Each fellow could be bound
+by a solemn promise not to accept a lift on the way, under penalty of
+displacement. And several others, like Elmer for instance, might keep
+tabs on the bunch by following them on their wheels."
+
+"Listen to him, will you? Hasn't Jasper got it down pat?" cried Landy,
+again exerting himself to the utmost to gather in another lot of
+unusually tempting pippins.
+
+"He's going to fill a long-felt want," declared Chatz. "We need an
+organizer, some one who could take the responsibility of fixing up these
+meets from the over-burdened shoulders of Elmer. And, suh, I suspect
+Jasper is going to develop into a master of ceremonies."
+
+"Then you rather like the idea, fellows?" asked the small scout, pleased
+beyond measure.
+
+"It's just the thing," declared Ty.
+
+"We'll take the thame up at wunth, and have the affair arranged in a
+jiffy," Ted announced.
+
+"Hey, take care there, Landy, your ladder's slipping! Quick, grab hold
+of something, or you're a goner!" shouted Ty, suddenly.
+
+Landy tried to wriggle himself back again, but his stretch had been
+fatal to all chances for maintaining his position. The top of the long
+ladder lost its grip in the swaying crotch and slid from under him.
+There was a rattle of apples thudding down on the ground twenty feet
+below; but Landy had, on the spur of the moment, seized hold of the
+outer branches, so that there he hung, swinging back and forth; afraid
+to let go, and yet incapable of long maintaining his frantic grip.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+JASPER'S IDEA TAKES ROOT.
+
+
+"HOOP-LA, somebody grab me before I drop!" shouted Landy, as he kept
+trying to get a grip with his fat legs on the foliage of the outer
+branches which seemed to take particular delight in evading his
+ambitious designs.
+
+"Get a feather bed under him!" shrieked Ty, although at the same time he
+was changing his position in the tree with all possible haste, meaning
+to assist the clinging boy, if it could possibly be done.
+
+"Oh, save me first, and joke about it afterward!" cried Landy, who was
+really alarmed and under a tremendous strain, both bodily and mentally.
+
+"If I only had a rope with a loop in it, I could lasso him!" declared
+Jasper.
+
+"But you haven't, you see," cried Landy. "Think up something else! Hurry
+along, boys; I can't hold out much longer. I'm no Elmer as a gymnast.
+I'm slipping right now, I tell you. Wow! Is that measly old ladder under
+me, and will I come down with a splash on it?"
+
+He panted as he uttered this complaint, and the boys saw that his face
+resembled the setting sun, as he looked up to them almost piteously. But
+who could reach him there? On the very outer edge of the big tree, with
+the ground fully twenty feet below, and nothing to break his fall, it
+began to look like a serious business for poor Landy.
+
+Dr. Ted realized that there was real danger of the boy getting a broken
+leg if he fell that distance. Landy was not like agile Lil Artha, or
+some other members of the troop. His weight made him solid, and being
+without any spring, he would likely come down with a dull, sickening
+thud.
+
+"Hold on as long as you can, Landy!" yelled Ted, even neglecting to lisp
+in his great excitement.
+
+He was slipping down the tree like a "greased pig," as Jasper termed it,
+though what that sort of animal would be doing up in an apple tree he
+never took the trouble to explain.
+
+Ty saw what the idea was. He had been about to try and reach Landy by
+standing far out on a limb; but the prospect of success was very small.
+And so he followed Ted down the tree, slipping from limb to limb with
+the agility that some boys can only display when the owner of the
+orchard is seen coming on the full run with a ferocious bulldog at his
+heels.
+
+"Oh, hurry! hurry! I'm near gone, and can't hold out much longer!
+What're you doing down there to help me, boys?" wailed the one whose
+legs swung back and forth like a couple of pendulums, as they vainly
+sought for a chance to grip something that would ease the strain on his
+arms above.
+
+"The ladder! They've gone to set it up again, Landy! Just hold on half a
+minute longer. And there's Elmer jumped off his bicycle; and he's
+already raising it up. Set your teeth, Landy; take a fresh grip, and
+it's going to be all right!"
+
+So the excited Jasper shouted as he sat there in the tree, unable to
+lend a helping hand, but at least capable of offering good advice.
+
+A boy who had been coming toward the place on a wheel, seeing the state
+of affairs, had instantly sized up the situation; and even while those
+in the tree were shouting back and forth, and before they could get
+started, Elmer Chenowith, jumping from his saddle, had limped forward to
+where the unlucky ladder lay.
+
+By the time Ted, followed by Ty, landed on the ground, he had raised it
+single-handed, and with a readiness that told of long familiarity with
+ladders; for one not accustomed to such things would never know the
+secret of bracing the bottom against some root and then lifting rapidly.
+
+So just in the nick of time the treacherous ladder was dropped against
+the outer branches of the tree, alongside the hanging boy. Elmer himself
+flew up the rounds, for he feared that Landy, always more or less
+clumsy, might not be able to swing his form around, and take advantage
+of the opening.
+
+But desperation gave Landy new abilities, and he managed by a violent
+effort to roll around to the outer side of the leaning ladder. Utterly
+exhausted by the strain he had been under, the fat boy must have slipped
+helplessly down only that Elmer managed to clutch him.
+
+Step by step the gasping Landy was lowered until he reached the bottom
+round. He was no longer furiously red, but had turned a sickly white.
+
+"Here, let him down on the ground," said Dr. Ted, taking command at that
+point as though it were his acknowledged right. "He's only getting the
+reaction now. I'll fix him up, boys, and he'll be picking apples again
+before ten minutes, believe me."
+
+He was as good as his word, for Landy soon recovered; but it was noticed
+that from that moment the fat boy showed great caution how he climbed up
+that ladder, by which he had once been betrayed.
+
+"What was all that talk going on as I passed?" asked Elmer, a bright,
+wide-awake young fellow, whose year out on a Canadian ranch belonging
+to an uncle was proving of considerable value to him in his experience
+as a scout.
+
+"What did you hear?" asked Jasper, assuming a little of his former
+importance.
+
+"Seemed to me it smacked of a contest," Elmer replied, "and somebody was
+telling how a few of us could keep tabs on the same, while using our
+wheels. That struck me as interesting, and so, wanting to know more, I
+just wheeled around, and was coming in through the back gate to the
+garden when the ladder fell. Now tell me the rest, fellows, because you
+all know that I'm head over ears interested in anything that touches on
+contests of any sort."
+
+"Well," spoke up Ty, grinning; "somehow we got to talking about who the
+best all-round walker and runner in the troop might be. A lot of names
+were mentioned, including my own. Then there were Red, Lil Artha, Matty,
+George Robbins and Jack Armitage. Even Landy here threatened to enter
+for the big hike."
+
+"But what was the idea?" asked Elmer, his face aglow with interest.
+
+"To fix up a long-distance hike, say for twenty-four consecutive hours;
+and a few fellows, mounted on their wheels, kind of superintend things
+by keeping tabs along the line. The contestant coming in ahead at the
+end of the walk to be declared the pride of the troop, and the greatest
+ever."
+
+Jasper rattled all this off with a fluency that told how he had indeed
+been deliberating over the scheme for some little time, and only sprang
+it on his chums now because the talk had gotten around to the subject.
+
+"How's that strike you, Elmer?" asked Ty.
+
+"Yeth, give uth your opinion, Mr. Thcoutmaster!" echoed Ted.
+
+"Boys, it's just dandy, and that's a fact!" declared Elmer. "We can make
+up the arrangements to-night, if you'll all come around to my house.
+I'll get a lot of the other boys on the phone. I was thinking this
+morning that we ought to have a meeting about now, anyway, for there are
+a lot of matters that need attention."
+
+"Then if you say so, it will be a go," declared Jasper, highly pleased
+because his little scheme had met with such instant approval at the
+hands of one in whom he placed the utmost confidence.
+
+"Sure to be, Jasper," came the reply. "And it does you great credit too.
+Some of us were wondering what we might do to stir things up a little.
+With school opening just two weeks off, we want to make the most of the
+few days left of our vacation. Now this big hike will be just the
+thing."
+
+"Besides, you see, Elmer," the small scout continued, eagerly, "it's
+going to settle a dispute between the lot of us here. Some think one
+fellow is going to have a walkover, and others hold different opinions.
+Of course we all know you're bound to be shut out, on account of that
+sore foot of yours. And as Mark is out of town, he can't enter the game
+either. But we think the six fellows we picked out ought to make things
+lively enough to suit anybody."
+
+"They will, for a fact," replied Elmer. "Of course I pin my faith on Lil
+Artha, but I may be mistaken just as well as any one of you. But I must
+be going, fellows, as I was on an errand, and just ran around here to
+see how you were getting on. Better not try those gymnastics again,
+Landy. That was an ugly scrape for even an acrobat, let alone a fellow
+as chunky as you are."
+
+"Elmer, never again," said the fat boy, solemnly, as he slowly shook his
+head. "I'll be sore for a week after that job. My arms feel right now
+like they'd been nearly pulled out of their sockets. Gee, but nobody
+can understand just how it feels to be hanging twenty feet up, on the
+outside branches of a tree, and slowly slipping, slipping! And I lost a
+basket of the biggest pippins you ever saw; every one a prize winner,
+but now all bruised and wasted!"
+
+"You'd have been the biggest squashed pippin of the lot if you went down
+that time," sang out Ty from the top of the tree.
+
+"Now that's real cruel of you, Ty," complained Landy; but he did not
+take the jibes of his comrades much to heart, for he was fond of a joke
+himself.
+
+"Remember, every one of you drop around to-night," said Elmer, as he
+picked up his wheel, which he had hastily thrown aside at the moment he
+discovered how necessary prompt action was required in order to save
+Landy.
+
+"Any chance of striking some of that delightful sponge cake your
+housekeeper makes to beat the Dutch?" asked Landy, who had never
+forgotten the treat set before the scouts the last time some of them
+were invited around to Elmer's home.
+
+"Seems to me Mrs. Gregg was making a big batch this very morning when I
+left home," called back Elmer; just as if he hadn't asked her to do the
+same, since he intended having the boys in khaki there that night.
+
+"Then count me in," declared the fat boy, firmly; "even if my arms are
+so sore I'll have to ask somebody to raise the cake to my mouth. Yum,
+yum; that was the finest thing that ever came down the pike, barring
+none! And you tell her that, Elmer, with my compliments."
+
+"All right, I will," sang out the departing one, as he passed out of the
+rear gate, mounted on his wheel and riding as one to the manner born.
+
+The apple picking went on, with the heap at the base of the tree
+growing in size as basket after basket was added to it. And the
+conversation between the five lads covered a great variety of subjects
+as they stripped the big tree of its golden freight.
+
+"What makes me sore," remarked Landy with a big sigh, "is the fact that
+I upset the basket that held the finest apples going. You see, my dad
+expected to show some of these at the fair next week, if they turned out
+as well as they looked from the ground. And I was just saying to myself
+that I had the beauts, when the silly old ladder went back on poor
+little Philander."
+
+"Don't weep, old chap," called out Ty. "If you look over that last lot I
+sent down on my little cable here, you'll find them the mates of the
+ones you dropped. And for a wonder, too, I got that basket down safe
+without an upset."
+
+"Thanks, you make me happy again, Ty," remarked Landy. "And for that
+you'll be remembered in my last will."
+
+"Huh!" grunted Jasper; "he deserves a heap of credit for letting all
+those fine pippins get past him; because he acted like he meant to
+gobble every extra good one that came along. I've counted about a dozen
+he's got away with up to now; and I think even at that he's just taken
+the edge off his appetite."
+
+"Well, in that case I'll get down and pick out a basket from the pile to
+take in the house, before Ty starts at full speed," and Landy did
+actually head for the ground to put his threat into execution.
+
+So they kept up a crossfire of remarks, sometimes more or less witty,
+until the last apple that could be reached was bagged. Then the game was
+declared off, and Landy invited his chums in to help dispose of a quart
+of peanuts he happened to have in his room.
+
+"We'll all be around to-night at Elmer's house, I suppose?" remarked Ty
+as, with Ted, Jasper and Chatz, he started for the door.
+
+"Count on me, if I have to be carried on a stretcher," vowed Landy,
+laughing at the speaker, as he recalled to mind the attractive lure that
+had been held out for their attendance.
+
+"And I'm anxious to have this thing put through," declared Jasper;
+"because, you see, it was partly my suggestion; and besides, I've got a
+hunch that the Fairfield troop are figuring on a long hike, to try out
+their best fellows. I'd like to see our Lil Artha or Matty Eggleston up
+against the best they have. It'd be a hike worth hearing about, believe
+me, fellows."
+
+"And perhaps we _can_ fix up a match; I'm going to mention the thing to
+Elmer, anyhow," remarked Chatz, who really had no small nature, and
+could see one of his comrades winning laurels without showing the
+slightest envy.
+
+And talking it over earnestly, they left Landy, heading for their
+various homes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+AS THE CLOCK IN THE TOWER BOOMED SIX.
+
+
+IT lacked but ten minutes of six.
+
+The sun had been up for about half an hour and there was every promise
+of a fine August day. Possibly, before the shades of evening fell, the
+heat of the dog days might prove more or less exhausting; but at that
+early hour the outlook was all that could be asked.
+
+Around the old church with the belfry, fully half the young people of
+Hickory Ridge seemed to have congregated. Girls were there as well as
+boys; for what with the sisters of the scouts, as well as all the other
+fellows' sisters, the starting of what promised to be the greatest hike
+on record among the lads of the new organization was an event that could
+not be missed.
+
+Of course, besides the six contestants, there were numerous other
+khaki-clad members of the various patrols. Each fellow was, as a rule,
+the center of a questioning group and felt compelled to supply all the
+information in his power.
+
+Mr. Garrabrant, the young man who served so faithfully as scout master
+to the troop, was talking to the boys who expected to participate in the
+long tramp. He encouraged them, and at the same time laid down the law
+in plain language.
+
+No one was to accept any kind of a ride while on the hike; even if only
+for a short space, it would invalidate all his rights to be considered
+in the contest. And of course each fellow gave his solemn word of honor
+to abide faithfully by the rules, a copy of which had been given to him.
+
+The conditions were simple enough; Mr. Garrabrant had arranged with the
+scout master of the troop of Boy Scouts in Little Falls, and each of the
+rival contestants was supplied with a letter of greeting, which they
+were to hand to that gentleman upon arriving at the headquarters in
+Little Falls. This town being some forty-seven miles away from Hickory
+Ridge, as the crow flies, it can be seen that a herculean task awaited
+the boys, in order to cover this distance inside of the twenty-four
+hours.
+
+What added spice to the game was the fact that it was known there were
+to be several fellows who meant to leave Fairfield at exactly the same
+hour, and under similar conditions. And the spirit of Hickory Ridge was
+aroused in civic pride. They yearned to win out over all competitors,
+just as they had done in that wonderful baseball game only a short time
+before.
+
+Elsie Craig, one of the prettiest girls in the whole town, and who was
+particularly fond of Elmer, waylaid Landy as he was changing his
+position, meaning, to get closer to the group where the six who had
+entered for the race were making ready for the start.
+
+"Oh, please wait a couple of minutes, Landy!" she exclaimed, with an
+entreating smile on her winsome face.
+
+Landy, much as he wanted to get where he could hear the last
+instructions given to the half dozen scouts before they started, could
+not resist this plea. Truth to tell, Landy was a little "soft" himself
+when it came to a certain girl, and Elsie happened to be her chum.
+
+"All right, Elsie," he remarked, as he came to a halt, though looking
+longingly toward the excited group about Mr. Garrabrant. "What can I do
+for you?"
+
+"I want to know, that's all. Elmer is so busy he just can't spend one
+little minute talking to me," she replied with a pout.
+
+"Why, you see, he just has to do his duty as the assistant scout
+master," declared Landy, actually wincing when the girl rested a hand on
+one of his sore arms. "But I was at the meeting where all the
+particulars were decided on, and perhaps I might be able to tell you
+what you want to know, Elsie."
+
+"First of all, do the boys only walk and not run?" she asked, eagerly.
+
+"This is a hike, and that means a walk, not a Marathon race. So every
+fellow is put on his honor not to run," replied Landy.
+
+"But I should think Arthur Stansbury had all the advantage, because he
+can take such big steps," observed the girl, frowning a little, as
+though Lil Artha had never been a very great favorite of hers.
+
+Landy laughed with the air of one who knows all the ins and outs of
+walking matches.
+
+"Oh, that's nothing to go by, Elsie," he declared, with a shrug of his
+shoulders that compelled him to make an immediate grimace, for the
+muscles were sore. "Why, it often happens that some little runt can
+outstrip a fellow nearly twice his height. It's endurance that tells in
+the long run. The boy who can set his teeth together, and fight it out
+to the bitter end. That's what Mr. Garrabrant says, and all of us
+athletes understand it."
+
+Elsie smiled, and looked roguishly up and down Landy's plump form when
+she heard him mention that word so proudly. But then, after that
+experience when the ladder fell and left him dangling twenty feet from
+the ground, Landy really believed he deserved to be classed among the
+strenuous ones, even though it might be in an humble capacity.
+
+"And they have to walk all the way to Little Falls before to-morrow
+morning; poor fellows, don't I pity them, though!" the girl went on.
+"Elmer would have been in the game too, only for that ugly thorn in his
+foot. And don't you think he would surely have won the prize, Landy, if
+he had competed?"
+
+"Oh, nearly everyone believes that," replied the fat boy, readily;
+"though to tell the truth, there never has been a hike like this around
+here before, and we don't just know who's got the Injun sign on the rest
+of the bunch. Between you and me, Elsie, I'm pinning some faith on
+George Robbins. You know he's my cousin, and he's got some of the old
+Philander Smith stock in him. The record of my family is a proud one";
+and he drew himself up as he inflated his chest with a pompous air that
+would have well become the drum major of the town band.
+
+"To be sure, Landy," remarked the little miss, quickly; "and it covers a
+lot of ground, too. Why, even in history we come across it every now and
+then. But, Landy, how will it be known that the six contestants keep to
+the route that has been laid out for them? Some one might look up a map
+and find a road that would be a short cut. That would be an unfair
+advantage."
+
+"Sure it would," remarked the boy; "and it was just to prevent knowledge
+and craft from winning when this was to be a question of speed and
+endurance, Mr. Garrabrant says, that made the committee insist on
+stations along the way."
+
+"Stations? Whatever do you mean by that?" Elsie demanded.
+
+"Well, they picked out a number of taverns where one of the scouts who
+goes on ahead with Mr. Garrabrant will establish a register. In that
+book every fellow in the great hike is expected to enter his name in his
+own handwriting, also the time of his arrival and departure."
+
+"Oh, now I understand; and Landy, that is a clever idea!" the girl
+exclaimed. "But Elmer intends setting out on his wheel later on in the
+day; will you please tell me what reason there is for that, Landy?"
+
+"Oh, it was arranged by the committee, that's all. Several of the
+fellows will go from time to time. Sort of keep tabs on the contestants
+and see how they are getting on. I expected to be chosen to be one of
+these inspectors, but I had a little accident yesterday that knocked me
+out. But all the fellows said that the game old Philander Smith spirit
+cropped out, and that few boys could have held on up in that tree as
+long as I did."
+
+But if sly Landy expected in this manner to lead the conversation into a
+personal line, so that he could glorify his own prowess, he made a
+mistake. Evidently the pretty little miss with the golden locks and the
+blue eyes had no desire to hear about his wonderful escape.
+
+"How will the six contestants get anything to eat on the way?" she
+asked.
+
+"Oh, that's left to them," answered the fat boy, frowning with
+disappointment over the failure of his attempt to rivet her attention on
+himself. "They can stop and have a meal at any old tavern; but I reckon
+most of the fellows are wise to the fact that they must lose valuable
+time that way. I know George has a snack stowed away in his haversack
+right now. He's on to all the dodges, you know."
+
+"Why, of course he is, because he is your cousin, Landy. But suppose one
+of the poor fellows breaks down? It's a terrible long trip, and all
+sorts of things might happen, don't you think?" Elsie continued.
+
+"Not much danger of that, I guess," Landy answered. "You see every one
+of them had to undergo a physical examination before Mr. Garrabrant
+would allow them to enter; and they're all as fit as fiddles. Of course
+we don't expect that after they've put, say twenty miles, behind them
+they'll be as chipper as they are now. Their feet will drag more or
+less; but that's where the grit must show."
+
+"They expect to start all at the same time, then?" asked the girl.
+
+"Sure, but after a mile or so they'll be likely to separate. One will
+believe the pace too warm for the start, and drop back. You know they
+say it's a bad thing to urge your horse early in a long race. All sorts
+of ideas will prevail, so that long before the first ten miles have been
+covered the six boys may be far apart, and each trudging along to suit
+his ideas."
+
+"How much you know about all these things, Landy!" said Elsie, with a
+twinkle in her sunny eyes that he failed to catch; for he again
+stiffened up with that superior air that boys are apt to assume when
+explaining the science of baseball or some other manly sport to a girl
+who has never attended a game before.
+
+"Oh, well, we just have to, you see, if we ever expect to make good
+scouts," he replied, thinking that after all Elsie was even a little
+prettier than her chum, when she chose to smile on a fellow that way.
+"And besides, we pick up a lot of information from our scout master, and
+Elmer, who knows all about woodcraft, because he lived out on the big
+plains. But it must be getting near time for the start, because they're
+lining up now. Let's push ahead so we can see what happens."
+
+Despairing of getting away while the persistent little maid continued to
+seek information, Landy was now hedging, and content to carry her along
+with him as he pushed through the crowd of talking, laughing spectators.
+
+The clock in the church tower pointed to two minutes of six. And at the
+first stroke of the hour they were expected to be off.
+
+Six boys stood in line, eager and expectant. Their particular friends
+called out encouraging words, and there was a perfect babel of confusion
+about this time. But Mr. Garrabrant anticipating such a happening, had
+spoken the last words of caution. So that there was now nothing to be
+done but wait for the loud boom of the big clock in the tower.
+
+"Good luck, Lil Artha!"
+
+"Keep that good left foot of yours going right along, George!"
+
+"Red, we're counting on you to win out, remember!"
+
+"That's Ty Collins on the extreme left; just you watch his smoke!"
+
+"Take it easy, Matty! You know the rules of the game, old fellow!"
+
+"Jack, don't you ever come around again unless you bring that prize with
+you!"
+
+This last created a roar of laughter, as one of the scouts imitated the
+voice of a girl whom everyone knew Jack Armitage was sweet on.
+
+One minute of six!
+
+Gradually this clamor died down as the critical minute drew closer and
+closer. Many eyes were turned upon the big face of the clock on the side
+of the square tower of the church.
+
+"Ready, all!" they heard Mr. Garrabrant call out.
+
+Then came a deathly silence. Everyone craned his or her neck, and the
+figures of the six contestants who wore the khaki garments of the Boy
+Scouts proved to be the hub of all glances.
+
+Some of the boys looked grim and determined; others, like tall Lil
+Artha, wore confident smiles, as though they believed in their hearts
+that it would be an easy snap. But all were evidently primed to do their
+level best, no matter what the final result.
+
+Ah! There was a whirring sound up in the tower. Well did the boys know
+that the big clock always emitted this seeming gasp just before the
+striking of the hour. Then came a reverberating boom!
+
+It was time.
+
+"Hurrah!" yelled the crowd, as hats and handkerchiefs filled the air;
+"they're off!"
+
+"And may the best man win!" said the smiling scout master, looking after
+the fast walking line of contestants.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+SIGNS OF TROUBLE.
+
+
+"LOOK at 'em all in a bunch!" cried one of the watchers; for the crowd
+had been particularly requested not to follow the six walkers or annoy
+them in the start.
+
+"But with Lil Artha at the head!" called another exultantly.
+
+"But they're all keeping up close with him, even if Red does have to
+cover five steps to three by Lil Artha. It ain't the length of a
+fellow's legs that counts for everything in a hike, let me tell you!"
+
+"Shucks! Why, Lil Artha is just playing with 'em," laughed another.
+
+"Sure he is; when he feels like it, he'll make a ring around the rest,
+and then not be pushed!"
+
+"Oh, he will, eh? Shows how much you know about these things. Lil Artha
+may be due to a little surprise before many hours go past; and it'll be
+George Robbins who will do it," said Landy, proudly.
+
+"For he has the true Philander Smith grit," sang another; at which there
+was a shout from the rapidly breaking-up crowd, for this little weakness
+on the part of the fat boy was pretty generally known.
+
+Presently a turn in the road shut out the walkers. They were all going
+strong when last seen, and Lil Artha even turned to wave a jaunty
+farewell to those of his friends who had wished him success in the great
+hike.
+
+Elmer and the balance of the scouts gathered together to talk over
+matters connected with the affair. A plan of campaign had been mapped
+out with almost as much care as if a battle were impending. Indeed, all
+sorts of road maps had been consulted in laying out the course over
+which the six contestants were expected to pass. And a copy of the same,
+as well as the rules governing their actions, had been sent over to the
+Fairfield troop at the earnest request of the scout master who had
+lately taken charge there.
+
+The morning began to wear on.
+
+Some of those who had gathered to watch the start had come without
+waiting for breakfast, though the scouts, as a rule, could not be
+reckoned in that class, being early risers. And as the hours went by
+there was always more or less excitement around headquarters.
+
+Several fellows had brought their wheels around. These were the chosen
+inspectors whose duty it was to sally forth at certain hours when Elmer
+gave the word, and pick up the several contestants along the way,
+perhaps telephoning any interesting news connected with them from some
+convenient inn where the registers were placed.
+
+Mr. Garrabrant and one of the scouts had gone off in an auto long ago.
+They expected to establish the chosen stations and leave the registers
+in which each fellow was to enter the time of his coming and going.
+
+At ten o'clock the first scout on a wheel was sent out. Another would
+follow at twelve, and around four Elmer, as the last inspector, expected
+to start. He chose to be last because a fellow who owned a motorcycle
+had loaned it to him for the occasion, and thus he had a big advantage
+over the others.
+
+When noon came there was a ripple of interest. A scout had come from the
+store where the telephone station happened to be located, and he
+brought the first news of the big hike.
+
+All the contestants had made the first station easily, passing within
+five minutes of each other. And, strange to say, it was Lil Artha whose
+time seemed to be just at the tail end of the procession. No one could
+understand it, and all sorts of speculations began to pass current.
+
+"Got a stone in his shoe and bruised his heel!" one suggested.
+
+"More'n likely he's gone and strained a tendon again; remember he did
+that two years ago when he made the home run that won the game!" another
+exclaimed.
+
+"Rats!" called out a third, scornfully. "The sly old fox is only doing
+that for fun. He's playing with the other fellows, believe me. When he
+gets good and ready he'll pass the bunch, and leave 'em so far behind
+they'll forget their names. Oh, I know Lil Artha! Why, he even took his
+little camera along. Said he wanted to snap off a few pictures on the
+way, just to pass time, when he got too lonesome."
+
+After a hasty lunch the boys again assembled at the church, and if
+anything, in greater numbers than before; for every fellow in town
+seemed to be on the spot, anxious to hear what news might come dribbling
+in.
+
+Two o'clock came, and with it a running scout from the store, where
+several were stationed in order to be ready to answer the phone.
+
+More news, and of a character to arouse great excitement. At the second
+station there was a difference of just thirteen minutes between the
+arrival of the leader and the last contestant. That leader was Lil
+Artha; and sad to relate, the tail ender trailed the proud banner of the
+Philander Smiths in the dust, for it was no other than George.
+
+"Told you so!" burst out the fellow who had been so positive about the
+tall Lil Artha playing tricks. "He's starting now; and by night time
+he'll be hull down in the distance. It's sure a walkover for Lil Artha."
+
+"Reckon you're right, and that it's all over but the shouting!" declared
+another, who had been for Red Huggins, but proved rather weak-kneed in
+his faith.
+
+Strange how the different natures of boys crop out under such
+conditions.
+
+"Huh, it's too early in the game to throw up the sponge like that, Ben!"
+declared another fellow, derisively. "All sorts of things might happen
+to Lil Artha. You never can tell about them long-legged fellows. They're
+apt to double up like a hinge with cramps or something. Wait and see.
+Jack's holding his own with the rest, because he was only three minutes
+behind the leader!"
+
+"Next time it'll be half an hour, because Lil Artha has unlimbered his
+heavy artillery. Why, I bet you he's going along like a Weston, right
+now, and just eating the miles up."
+
+"Yes, we'll get a message from Little Falls any minute now telling how
+he blew in there with his seven-league boots, and has started back!"
+mocked another, who apparently did not love the lanky one any too well.
+
+Meanwhile Elmer was trying to keep his finger on the pulse of things as
+well as he could. It was while he was taking a look at the motorcycle
+that had been placed at his disposal, to make sure the tank had a full
+gallon and a half of oil aboard, and everything in order for a start,
+that he heard the tooting of a horn up the road.
+
+A couple of the scouts chanced to possess motorcycles. True, they had
+seen considerable of service, and were often in a condition far from
+useful; but then Nat Scott, whose father was at the head of the schools
+in Hickory Ridge, and Toby Jones, had had more or less sport in times
+past with the second-hand machines purchased with their savings.
+
+It was now just five minutes of four, and Elmer expected to make his
+start as the hour struck. He knew that he would have time enough to
+overtake the leading walker long before night set in.
+
+Somewhat to his surprise, the boys who were coming began to shout as
+soon as they drew near; and he noticed that both of them seemed very
+much excited.
+
+Elmer's face paled a trifle. He wondered whether any accident could have
+overtaken one of the contestants; though he could not imagine how such a
+thing might be.
+
+"Hold on, Elmer, was afraid we wouldn't get here in time to catch you!"
+called Nat, as they came along, both machines popping merrily; though it
+might be noticed that they were erratic in their explosions, proving
+that the spark could not be doing its full duty.
+
+Of course nothing could have tempted Elmer to hasten off now. He wanted
+to hear what these scouts had to say.
+
+And he remembered something just then. Neither Nat nor Toby had been
+present to witness the start of the six who had entered for the race.
+The scout master had appointed them, at their earnest request, as a
+committee to go over to Fairfield and watch the start of those scouts in
+the rival organization, so as to bring back a detailed account.
+
+Perhaps Mr. Garrabrant, knowing boys as well as he did, may have
+secretly suspected that it might pay to have a couple of wide-awake
+fellows around Fairfield during the day to keep their eyes and ears
+open. He happened to know that there had arisen a new bully in
+Fairfield, who was doing all in his power to assume the reins laid down
+by Matt Tubbs at the time he saw a great light and gave over his evil
+ways when taking up the attractive scout movement. And it might be that
+some of those turbulent Fairfield fellows would get together and hatch
+up a scheme for keeping the Hickory Ridge scouts from winning the long
+hike.
+
+All this flashed into the mind of Elmer as he saw Nat and Toby speeding
+toward the church and waving their hands as they shouted.
+
+They came to a stop with something of a dramatic effect, and leaned
+their motorcycles up against the wall of the church. Of course there was
+a rush on the part of everyone within sight and hearing of the spot; and
+already all sorts of wild theories were circulating, as they will at
+such a time.
+
+"What's happened, d'ye think?" one gasped, looking frightened; for he
+had a brother in the contest, and his first fear was that something had
+happened to him.
+
+"One of the boys must have been badly hurt! Perhaps they've come for the
+ambulance to fetch him home!"
+
+"Aw, get out! What's the use talkin' that way, Jim? However could they
+get knocked out that way?"
+
+"Besides, ain't Nat and Toby been over at Fairfield all day under
+orders? Must be news from that place. Perhaps Matt Tubbs has gone back
+to his old ways again and plans to do our fellows up on the road!"
+
+"Matt Tubbs is all right, and don't you forget it. Here, quit your
+pushin', and give a feller a chance to get in near Elmer!"
+
+Meanwhile Elmer had waited until the two scouts had saluted, as they had
+been taught to do when meeting a superior officer; since respect to
+authority is one of the cardinal principles to which the tenderfoot
+subscribes when he first joins a patrol.
+
+"Have you just come from Fairfield, Number Four?" Elmer asked, turning
+first to Toby, who belonged to the Wolf Patrol, which was under his own
+particular care as patrol leader.
+
+"Yes, sir; been there all day," replied Toby, who was breathing rather
+hard, as though he might have been having trouble with his machine on
+the road, and had found it necessary to do considerable wrestling with
+it in order to make the old tub behave.
+
+"You were dispatched there by our scout master, in order to watch the
+start of the Fairfield scouts, and be able to give a detailed report of
+the same?" Elmer continued.
+
+"Just what we were, sir; but that was not the whole extent of our
+instructions," Toby went on.
+
+"I believe you were also told to stay around during the better part of
+the day, mingling with the boys of the town all you could, and learning
+if any underhand doings were being engineered among the tough element
+outside of the scouts?"
+
+"That's what," replied Toby. "And just this afternoon we got on to
+something by accident that we thought ought to be reported to
+headquarters. Wanted to phone it, but they're repairing the wire between
+here and Fairfield, and we had to try another way. So we hit up a hot
+pace and came over direct on our machines; though of course we had
+trouble on the road."
+
+"You did the right thing, Number Four," remarked Elmer. "And now, tell
+us what you learned. Is there any sign of treachery afoot?"
+
+"Just that, as sure as you live!" cried Nat, unable to hold himself in
+longer, when he had as much right to be heard as his mate. "They're
+getting up a scheme to upset all our plans. We didn't hear a breath
+about it till three, but the fellers in the game had started more'n an
+hour before."
+
+"Meaning to waylay our boys, and put them out of the running?" asked
+Elmer, showing signs of anger, as well as an eagerness to be moving.
+
+"Yes, but not exactly by what Mr. Garrabrant would call physical
+violence," Toby spoke up, pushing his comrade back at the same time.
+"Four fellows who don't belong to the scouts, I'm glad to say, started
+out in a car, with the intention of finding whether it seemed likely a
+Hickory Ridge scout was far in the lead, and if he was, then they meant
+to tempt him to ride with them for a mile or more, knowing that if he
+did this he would be disqualified in the race."
+
+"And if he refused, what then?" asked Elmer, knowing what the answer
+would be.
+
+"They mean to take him along against his will!" shouted Nat,
+triumphantly, before Toby could answer.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+THE MOTORCYCLE SQUAD.
+
+
+NOBODY spoke for several seconds; but those of the scouts who were in
+the crowd looked at each other with gathering frowns. They saw instantly
+that, according to the rules of the game, if one of the contestants
+accepted a chance to ride, or even was induced against his will to be
+carried over a part of the course in an auto, a wagon, or any conveyance
+whatever, he would invalidate his chances.
+
+"It's a rotten shame, that's what!" declared Larry Billings who belonged
+to the Beaver Patrol, and pinned his faith on either Matty Eggleston or
+Red Huggins carrying off the prize, for party faith was strong in the
+troop.
+
+"Just what you might expect from Fairfield!" cried another disgusted
+one.
+
+"Hold on, don't say that!" said Elmer, holding up his hand. "There are
+decent fellows over there, just as there are in Hickory Ridge; and in
+both places you can find some mean ones. Didn't you hear Toby and Nat
+say that this contemptible game didn't crop up in the ranks of the
+scouts of Fairfield, but some rank outsiders, who think they are doing
+their mates a good turn, when in fact it's the worst thing they could
+hatch up? Even if they win the prize it will always be tarnished; and
+people will say it would have come to Hickory Ridge troop only for foul
+play."
+
+A clamor of many tongues broke loose. Everybody seemed to want to air
+his or her views; and the girls were just as indignant as any of the
+boys in denouncing the outrage.
+
+"Here, you'll have to let up on that, friends, or else I'll take the
+boys inside the church to talk with them," called Elmer, waving his
+campaign hat with a show of authority.
+
+"Keep still, everybody!"
+
+"Give us a chance to think!"
+
+"Let Elmer run it; he knows what to do!"
+
+"Sure; and he'll do it, too, you bet. I'm sorry for them four Fairfield
+bullies. They're going to be up against it good and hard, right quick
+now!"
+
+Gradually the racket ceased, and Elmer could talk again. Those who were
+close enough leaned forward to listen, eager to understand just what
+plan the young assistant scout master would engineer in the absence of
+Mr. Garrabrant, with the idea of frustrating the clever if unscrupulous
+scheme of the enemy.
+
+It was a time that called for prompt action, as Elmer well understood.
+If one of the Hickory Ridge scouts was well in the lead, doubtless those
+four schemers in the automobile would, by the time night came on, start
+operations. Whether the victim was Lil Artha, or any one of the others,
+he could not successfully hold his own against four stout fellows. And
+having once dragged him into the car, they meant to carry him many miles
+along the route; dumping him out after they had "played hob," as Nat
+expressed it, with all his chances.
+
+Elmer thought fast. He had his motorcycle ready, and knew that in all
+probability he could readily head off the game, unless it was rushed
+through without waiting for night to fall.
+
+The only thing that bothered him was the fact that he would be just one
+against four; and in such a case he might suffer the same fate it was
+intended to mete out to the leader in the race.
+
+If only the machines of Nat and Toby could be depended on now, there was
+nothing to prevent his taking the boys along; and he felt confident that
+both of them were in a humor to accept at the drop of the hat. Filled
+with indignation at the mean nature of the trick which those Fairfield
+fellows had up their sleeve, and which they doubtless considered smart,
+Toby and his mate would be only too glad of the chance to accompany the
+scout leader on his mission of rescue.
+
+"How about your gas?" he asked, turning to the boys; and it would seem
+as if they understood just what the question implied, for a look of
+delight took the place of the frown that had marked both faces.
+
+"Heaps!" cried Toby, grinning.
+
+"Filled mine just this morning, enough for seventy miles, and I haven't
+gone more than thirteen!" declared Nat, also newly excited at the joyous
+prospect.
+
+"Then let's get a start away from here," Elmer called, for the noise had
+begun again, and it was difficult to carry on any sort of a conversation
+with comfort. "Anyhow, we can drop out of town a few miles, and then
+stop to consult."
+
+"Wow! That's the ticket, Elmer!" exclaimed Toby, making a rush for his
+machine.
+
+"Bully! Bully all around! I'm on deck, Johnny on the spot. Won't we do
+'em up brown though, if we only ketch 'em," cried Nat, rather forgetting
+that as a scout fighting was only to be resorted to as a last thing, and
+then in defense of another rather than himself.
+
+When the crowd saw the three getting ready to mount, they went fairly
+wild; and every imaginable sort of exhortation was shouted. The news had
+circulated like wild-fire, and everyone knew in some sort of hazy way
+that the bullies of Fairfield were aiming to break up the great hike.
+
+"Get 'em, Elmer!"
+
+"Oh, you Fairfield crowd, we're sorry for you!"
+
+"Pinch 'em, Elmer! Knock the skunks into the middle of next week!"
+
+"You can do it, Elmer, we know you can! Give the rascals the best
+licking they ever had! It's been a long time coming; hand 'em the
+interest that's due!"
+
+Evidently these last remarks did not come from any fellow in khaki,
+since they had been learning other things from the day they signed the
+roster of the scouts. But even Elmer himself was thrilled with
+indignation; it seemed so mean and contemptible in those Fairfield boys
+to want to spoil the greatest hike contest that had ever been started.
+
+The machine that had been loaned to him was in good trim; and, moreover,
+Elmer knew considerable about managing a motorcycle, though he had never
+as yet owned one.
+
+He started his engine without the least difficulty, and then jumped into
+the saddle with the grace of one who had long since mastered the art.
+The crowd opened up before him, and Elmer sped along the road.
+
+"Oh, you Indian, I bank on you!" called one of the enthusiastic town
+fellows.
+
+"Hi! Get a move on you, Toby and Nat!"
+
+"Give the old wrecks a poke in the slats, and make 'em be good!"
+
+"There goes Toby! Good boy, you!"
+
+"Now, Nat will you let that dare slip by? Hit her up, Nathan; that's the
+ticket!"
+
+"Whoopla! We're all off!"
+
+In this fashion did they call out, with other remarks which space would
+not admit of our printing. Nat had had a little trouble in making the
+start, since his engine must have cooled down more or less; but after a
+little fussing he managed to coax his battered old machine into emitting
+a few rattling volleys, and then suddenly launched forward.
+
+Passing a mile or so down the road, Elmer threw up his hand in the way
+drivers have of telling that they mean to either turn aside or else
+stop, and which is a warning for those who may be following to look
+sharp.
+
+Then, picking out a place where they could stand the heavy machines up
+against a rail fence, he came to a halt, stepped off, and awaited the
+coming of the others.
+
+"What happened?" exclaimed Toby, as he, too, reached the spot and
+dismounted.
+
+"Had a puncture, or spark gone back on you?" demanded Nat, when he, too,
+came booming along, to make a sudden halt and straddle his balky machine
+while he talked.
+
+"Nothing happened," returned Elmer; "but before we start off we want to
+make sure it isn't going to be a wild-goose chase."
+
+"But we heard that talk, and we don't think they could have been
+kidding; because you see none of 'em dreamed we were near by," Toby
+declared, vehemently.
+
+"That may be all true enough," Elmer said, "and at the same time, unless
+we know just what we aim to do, we may make a bad mess of it. Now, did
+you learn anything that would tell just where they expected to hold our
+fellow up, in case he was in the lead?"
+
+"Why, no, of course not, Elmer," replied Toby. "You see, that would have
+to depend altogether on how far the race had gone. It might be thirty
+miles away from the start, and it might be less."
+
+"Right. And we'll have to follow along the course in order to get ahead.
+Here, we can put in a few minutes to good advantage studying my map.
+I've got an idea that by taking the Glenville short-cut road we can save
+five miles easy. Perhaps there may be some other ways of cutting the
+distance down. We looked after that when we arranged the stations."
+
+"Look here, Elmer, don't you think it might be a good idea for us to go
+right along to the first station, and see if there has been any late
+news from the front?" asked Nat.
+
+"Gee, that sounds like we were in a regular battle!" declared Toby, his
+face aglow with eagerness, as he awaited the scout leader's reply.
+
+"A fine suggestion, Nat, and we'll do it, just as soon as we've glimpsed
+this map again," observed the one addressed, as he sat down by the
+roadside and drew a folded package from his pocket.
+
+Elmer had made these road maps himself from one he found in the house.
+They were rather cleverly done, and showed every road, with the
+distances properly marked, all the way to Little Falls. Besides, they
+had the various taverns, where stations had been established, carefully
+marked in red ink, so that no one could complain that he lacked
+information.
+
+Running a finger along the route, Elmer quickly showed where in two
+places they could, if they wanted, leave the main road and take
+advantage of short cuts that must save them quite a number of miles.
+
+"But after all," he said, shaking his head, as he glanced at the
+motorcycles of his comrades, "it might be a case of saving at the spigot
+and wasting at the bunghole."
+
+"How's that, Elmer?" asked Toby, perplexed.
+
+"Well, we don't know what shape these side roads may be in after that
+heavy rain night before last," he answered, folding up the map.
+
+"That's a fact!" ejaculated Toby; "and neither of us thought about that
+for even a minute. Say, Nat, those roads are only dirt ones, and not
+macadamized a single bit. Perhaps we wouldn't have a warm old time
+jolting along over 'em, eh? I can just imagine your old omnibus going
+out of commission before you made a quarter of a mile."
+
+"Well, I admit that's so; but that would be about twice as far as your
+rattlebox would carry you, Toby," the other remarked, with a sting in
+his words.
+
+But, then, when together they usually occupied much of their time, when
+not engaged in waiting to make repairs, in poking fun at each other's
+motorcycle; so that there was little venom to the sting. It had all been
+threshed out time and time again.
+
+"Do we tune up now, Elmer?" asked Toby, as he prepared for a flying
+start, that would make his companion turn green with envy.
+
+For answer Elmer took hold of his machine, manipulated the lever, and as
+the engine started to throb, jumped into the saddle, much to the envy of
+both the others, who could never depend on doing anything as they
+planned.
+
+However, they managed to get moving, though Elmer had to slow up at the
+next bend in order to let them come along. He believed he would need
+the assistance these two stout scouts were capable of affording; and but
+for that must have been tempted to put on speed and leave them far in
+the lurch to wrestle with their various troubles as best they might.
+
+So they sped along. Now and then something would happen to one of the
+old machines and cause a delay. Thanks to the presence of Elmer, who
+knew more about machinery than either of the others, even though they
+had owned motorcycles for years, these troubles were adjusted in an
+unusually short time. Had it been otherwise, Elmer must have felt
+compelled to abandon his running mates, since minutes were valuable to
+him just then.
+
+They presently came in sight of a road house, which Elmer understood was
+the first on the list of stations. He also remembered that one of the
+scouts had been detailed to remain at this place, to use the phone as a
+sort of relay station, and transmit any message from farther up the
+road.
+
+"We'll hold up here a little while, boys," he remarked, as he shut off
+power and prepared to bring his machine to a full stop. "Perhaps the
+news from up the road may be worth listening to. Pull in and jump off.
+There's Hen Condit in the doorway right now, beckoning to us."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+GETTING IN A RUT.
+
+
+"GREAT news, fellows!" called Hen Condit, as he gave the salute on
+seeing that the assistant scout master was with the party on
+motorcycles.
+
+"What's that you say, Hen?" shouted Toby, making a flying jump from his
+saddle that caused him to land plump on hands and knees before the road
+house.
+
+"Here, hold on, what d'ye think you're doing, Toby Jones?" called Nat,
+who was showing a little more deliberation in dismounting. "Guess you're
+dreaming about aeroplanes and all such tomfoolery. Think you can fly,
+eh? Well, grow a pair of real wings first!"
+
+Toby's pet hobby lay in the line of aeronautics. He was forever studying
+up the mysteries of bird motion, and had the records of all the leading
+aeroplane drivers at his finger tips, so that he could tell instantly
+what was the highest point as yet reached by a bird-man; the fastest
+flight made singly and with a passenger; the longest distance traversed
+without alighting, and lots of other similar facts in which the average
+boy might not be greatly interested.
+
+He had several times made a gallant attempt to fly, but thus far the
+machines he had constructed lacked some essential quality. At any rate
+Toby had suffered pretty much as did the Darius Green of whom we older
+fellows used to read in our earlier days; and perhaps can still
+remember declaiming the story of a vaulting ambition that took a tumble
+from the old barn roof.
+
+Elmer gained the doorway where Hen Condit, one of the later recruits in
+the Hickory Ridge troop, awaited him. Hen had only received his new
+uniform on the preceding day, and hence he felt as proud as a peacock.
+His chest had never before been known to have anything like the fine
+appearance that it now presented. And only that morning his doting
+father had remarked that joining the scouts had done more for the Condit
+son and heir than years of pleading and scolding had effected, in so far
+as making him stand up, and throw his shoulders back.
+
+"Now, what's the news, Number Eight?" asked Elmer; for the boy in the
+doorway belonged to the Wolf Patrol, though a real tenderfoot, in that
+he had only qualified for the lowest rung in the ladder by learning how
+to tie a number of knots, learning what the requirements of a scout
+consist of, and similar things.
+
+"I just had news from up the road, sir," said Hen, eagerly.
+
+"Good news, or bad?" asked Elmer, just as if his eyes did not tell him
+that.
+
+"Fine and dandy, sir," was the reply.
+
+"Of course connected with the advance member of our immortal six?" Elmer
+continued.
+
+"Sure." Hen forgot to add the term of respect now, for he was burning
+with impatience to disclose his knowledge.
+
+"Where from?" asked the scout leader.
+
+"Rockledge, which is, I find, about thirty-two miles from Hickory Ridge
+by the route marked out," answered Hen.
+
+"That's right," muttered Toby, who had the map in his mind pretty
+accurately, because he and Nat had often scoured the country when their
+machines were newer and acted more decently.
+
+"What was the report, Number Eight?" Elmer asked.
+
+"One of our boys had just registered there. He was nearly half an hour
+ahead of the next contestant; though that one appeared to be Felix
+Wagner, the smart second baseman of the Fairfield nine!"
+
+Elmer looked sober. He realized that the conditions seemed to be
+peculiarly fitted for the carrying out of the scheme which those four
+Fairfield plotters had arranged, and started up the road some time
+before to execute, if it was necessary, in order to help their man win.
+
+A Hickory Ridge scout half an hour ahead of the fleetest of the rival
+organization! That would mean a Fairfield victory, providing the present
+leader could in some way be disqualified.
+
+"Who was the first man?" he asked, feeling pretty confident as to what
+the answer would be.
+
+"Lil Artha! He's doing the Hickory Ridge troop proud this day. We'll
+forgive a heap in the way of practical jokes if he only comes in away
+ahead of Felix," Hen observed, with the natural pride boys always take
+in their home-town doings.
+
+"Hurrah for Lil Artha! Didn't I always say he would show them a clean
+pair of heels? Oh, he's a wonder at hiking and running! A three-bagger
+for most fellows lets Lil Artha score the circuit. Bully boy, Artha!
+Yes, we'll forgive everything if only he keeps this up and puts the
+Injun sign on Fairfield."
+
+Somehow or other it seemed as though most of their concern lay in the
+possibility of the rival organization winning the laurels. No matter
+which of the six home scouts came in ahead, if only he could have the
+laugh on Fairfield!
+
+"Half an hour ahead, you said, Number Eight?" Elmer pursued, as he
+turned the matter over in his mind and began to figure as to just how
+they should act in order to play the game right.
+
+"That's what I got over the wire. If you want, you can call up Rockledge
+now, and perhaps they'll be able to give more information," Hen Condit
+answered.
+
+"No need, I reckon. What we want to do now is to get busy," said Elmer.
+
+His eye naturally turned toward the two old machines that were apt to
+prove so unreliable. And no doubt Elmer was compelled to once more
+debate within his mind whether it would be best for him to leave Nat and
+Toby far in the lurch, depending on his single arm to protect Lil Artha
+against the vandals who would ruin the great hike; or by suiting his
+pace to their progress, accidents and all, and have comrades to depend
+on in an emergency.
+
+He quickly made up his mind to stick to them, for a while at least. If
+things grew to be too bad, he could say good-by and go whirling off at
+the rate of forty miles an hour.
+
+Elmer was convinced that the fellows in the Fairfield car would hardly
+be likely to start doing things until darkness came. They would not want
+Lil Artha to see their faces, so that he could recognize them and later
+on accuse them when openly denouncing the miserable game.
+
+"Send on the news to headquarters, Number Eight," he said, as he
+prepared to mount again; a movement that sent both Toby and Nat hurrying
+toward their machines, anxious to coax them into a fresh start.
+
+"Shall I tell them that you were along, sir?" asked Hen, making the
+salute.
+
+"Why, of course," said Elmer; "because they'll be anxious; you see,
+there's a nasty plot afoot to kidnap Lil Artha, and make him forfeit his
+place in the race, which would go to the next in line."
+
+"And that happens to be Felix Wagner! Great governor! Now I know why you
+fellows are hitting up the pace! Give 'em one for me, Toby, won't you?"
+Hen bellowed after the three scouts; but they must have gone beyond
+earshot, for at least no one seemed to pay the slightest attention to
+his request.
+
+It had been Elmer's first intention to make this trip on his wheel, like
+the other inspectors, even though his still sore foot would have
+rendered this a rather painful undertaking. Perhaps it was the knowledge
+of his disability that had caused the owner of the motorcycle to offer
+it to Elmer. At any rate the patrol leader was very glad to have it,
+since there was little labor needed in order to cover all the ground
+necessary.
+
+Of course there was little chance for the trio of scouts to exchange
+words while they were spinning along on their motorcycles. The road was
+not all that could be desired, the heavy rain of the recent storm had
+washed it badly in places, so that they had to keep a sharp lookout for
+ruts.
+
+Possibly there is nothing more exasperating to anyone riding a
+motorcycle than to find that he is in a deep rut. For a brief time he
+may be able to keep his proper balance; but presently he leans a trifle
+too much one way, the heavy machine strikes the side of the rut, and as
+a consequence there is a sudden dismounting; so that he feels himself
+lucky if he alights anywhere but on his head.
+
+Knowing this, and feeling that the wabbly machines of his comrades were
+doubly dangerous under such conditions, Elmer always slowed down when he
+struck a poor streak of road.
+
+Even then their advance was not free from thrills. Toby was the first to
+take a little header, because of thinking he could push through a rut
+that somehow seemed to have drawn him as with a magnet, even when he was
+fully determined that he would give it a wide berth.
+
+He came down with quite a hard bang; and Nat, hearing the noise, and
+being just a little in advance, tried to twist his head around in order
+to discover what had happened to his companion in misfortune, when he,
+too, turned a complete somersault and landed in the midst of a big clump
+of thorny bushes that grew alongside the thoroughfare.
+
+Of course, Elmer immediately stopped, and leaving his motorcycle, ran
+back to see whether either of them could be seriously hurt. First of all
+he laid hold on Nat, who was kicking his legs vigorously in the air, and
+bleating like a calf. After a little pulling, and working the prisoner
+of the bush to and fro, he managed to set him free.
+
+"No bones broken, I hope, Nat?" asked Elmer, as the other started to
+dance up and down, rubbing his elbows, his shins, and every part of his
+anatomy he could possibly reach.
+
+"Oh, I guess not, Elmer; but ain't I just a sight though?" groaned the
+other. "My face feels like it was marked with scratches like a map; and
+here's a big tear in my trousers. Got a safety pin, Elmer? Oh, dear,
+won't I look terrible!"
+
+"Don't worry over it so much, Nat. Be a scout and show your grit. Those
+are only little scratches and will be gone in a few days. They're
+bleeding some now, of course, and feel bad. Let me wash them with some
+water from this brook, to take any poison out. How is it with you,
+Toby?" and Elmer turned upon the other unfortunate who came limping
+along just then, trundling his heavy motorcycle.
+
+"Nothing much, I reckon, Elmer; got a lump about as big as a pigeon's
+egg on top of my coco; but this ain't the first time by a long shot.
+I'll be satisfied if only the upset didn't put my old ice wagon here out
+of commission." And Toby bent over to test the sparking of his machine
+after dropping the rest to the road.
+
+It started off at a rattling pace, which fact seemed to tickle the owner
+very much indeed.
+
+"Say, blest if I don't think that tumble must have just knocked it back
+into its old shape again!" he exclaimed in glee. "Haven't heard her take
+the spark like that for a year and more. Hoopla! Nat, give yours a try.
+Hope the same good luck fell your way."
+
+However, such was not the case. Indeed, Nat's machine utterly balked,
+and refused to do anything. Even after Elmer had spent as much as
+fifteen minutes puttering over it he could not make it behave.
+
+"I'll give it just one more try, Nat," he declared finally, "and then if
+it won't work, I'm afraid Toby and myself will have to leave you here.
+We've just _got_ to get along now, or it'll all be too late."
+
+"That's right, Elmer," declared the scout, manfully. "I'm not the one to
+kick on account of being sacrificed for the good of the troop. Lil Artha
+must be protected against these Fairfield bullies. And if I have to hang
+out here till after dark, why I'll just feel that I'm doing my little
+part of the work. But I hope you make it this time, Elmer, because I'd
+rather be along with you, and have an active share in the rush."
+
+Once more did Elmer bend down over the motorcycle as it leaned against a
+tree. Two minutes later there suddenly broke forth a rattle of sharp
+reports and the rear wheel flew around at a dizzy pace.
+
+"Good, good! You did it, Elmer! She's in the running again; and I won't
+have to camp out here on the road till some wagon comes along to pick me
+up." And filled with newborn pleasure, Nat proceeded to execute a
+hornpipe right then and there.
+
+"Well, get along with you both, then; I'll overtake you in about three
+shakes of a lamb's tail," laughed Elmer, as he stepped off along the
+road to where he had left his motorcycle.
+
+Ten seconds later the others, just about to start out, heard him calling
+aloud.
+
+"He says, hurry, Nat," cried Toby, for a little bend in the road hid
+their chum from them; and not waiting to test their machines any further
+they were off.
+
+They found Elmer running around, with his head bent low, as though he
+might be interested in the make of the roadbed.
+
+"What is it, Elmer?" asked Toby, coming to a stop.
+
+"My motorcycle has gone!" was the startling reply the scout leader
+made.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+IN HOT PURSUIT.
+
+
+TOBY and Nat stared, first at Elmer, and then at each other. Plainly
+they could not understand what he meant by these strange words.
+
+"Er--d'ye mean you forget just where you left it, Elmer?" asked Toby.
+
+"I tell you it's gone, vanished completely, disappeared!" said the scout
+leader, with a show of anger in his usually steady voice.
+
+"Great goodness, Nat, he means somebody's swiped it!" ejaculated Toby,
+his mouth opening in his astonishment.
+
+Nat looked all around him, and then, not seeing a single trace of the
+fine motorcycle, he began "barking," as Toby called it, after his own
+peculiar way.
+
+"Gee, whiz, now what d'ye think of that for a hummer! The old story over
+again of the traveler on the highway falling among thieves. My stars,
+Elmer, now who under the sun do you think would be so mean as to run off
+with your machine!"
+
+"I don't know--yet; but I'm going to find out," replied Elmer, setting
+his teeth in a way he had when greatly aroused.
+
+They saw him bend down again, and start to examine the ground near a
+tree, against which he evidently had leaned the motorcycle at the time
+he hurried to the rescue of his comrades in distress.
+
+"Get next to him, would you, Toby?" remarked Nat, as he watched the
+mysterious actions of the one who had been robbed.
+
+"Why, sure, I can understand what he's doing easy enough," the other
+declared.
+
+"Then for goodness' sake put me wise, won't you please?" cried Nat.
+
+"He's examining the tracks left by the chap who got away with his
+machine while he was working with your old ice wagon!" observed Toby,
+proudly.
+
+"Well, now, I guess that's just what he is doing, sure as you're born.
+And don't I just hope he gets on to him! How is it, Elmer?" as the scout
+leader started to move away.
+
+Toby and Nat followed as close to his heels as they could, considering
+that he immediately moved into the woods; and they were compelled to
+trundle their heavy machines along, no easy task under the best of
+conditions.
+
+"He went this way, all right. I only hope he won't think to smash the
+thing when he finds we're after him," said Elmer over his shoulder.
+
+He was keeping his head bent low, and following the trail with apparent
+readiness. The lessons he had learned when on that ranch in the Canadian
+Northwest were undoubtedly coming in "pat" just now; though really the
+trail was so very plain that even a novice might have followed it.
+
+"Who d'ye thing could have done it, Toby?" asked Nat, as he pushed his
+motorcycle through the scrub with a desperate intention not to be left
+behind.
+
+"Well, Elmer hasn't said a thing yet; but all the same I can give a
+pretty good guess," returned the other.
+
+"Go on and do it, then, for I'm all in the dark and up a stump. Put me
+wise, Toby."
+
+"Huh, reckon you forget mighty soon!" grunted the other, who was
+struggling manfully to rush his heavy wheel along and did not have any
+spare breath, to tell the truth.
+
+"Oh, slush, now I'm on!" cried Toby. "You mean them Fairfield chaps that
+came out here to break up Lil Artha's great winning streak?"
+
+"Sure!" Toby grunted again, beginning to conserve his breath when
+possible.
+
+"They flagged us, and saw a chance to put us on the blink!" exclaimed
+Nat who, like Lil Artha, was more or less addicted to present-day slang,
+though otherwise he was known to be a clean fellow, with no serious
+faults.
+
+"That's it!" snapped Toby, gritting his teeth as though even the thought
+made him furious.
+
+"It's a punk deal, that's what," Nat went on. "They just believe that if
+Elmer's out of the running the game is in their hands. But he can have
+my machine, if he wants to go ahead. If anybody can make it behave,
+Elmer can."
+
+"Or mine either," declared Toby.
+
+Now Elmer, of course, heard all this talk, even though he seemed to be
+devoting himself wholly to the business in hand. And at this juncture he
+beckoned to his comrades.
+
+"He wants us to pick up, and get even with him," declared Toby.
+
+"Sure thing. Guess Elmer is going to take us at our word, and borrow a
+mount," observed Nat, cheerfully.
+
+Accordingly they put on an extra spurt, and managed to gain enough
+ground so as to come alongside.
+
+"I heard what you were saying, boys," Elmer immediately remarked, as
+soon as he saw that they were up with him; "but you're away off in your
+calculations. It isn't one of those Fairfield fellows at all who's
+jumped my claim with that borrowed motorcycle!"
+
+"W--w--what's that?" gasped Toby.
+
+"I said that it wasn't a Fairfield fellow who ran off with my machine,"
+repeated Elmer, more positively than before.
+
+"Well, you make me feel like thirty cents," observed Nat; "now, what
+under the sun would one of _our_ boys want with a motorcycle when, if he
+rides on it, for even a minute, he's disqualified in the race?"
+
+"It wasn't one of our scouts either," said Elmer.
+
+"Then for goodness' sake tell us who it could be, Elmer!" cried Toby.
+
+"I haven't even glimpsed him once yet, though he's only a little way
+ahead of us right now," the scout leader said; "but judging from the
+fact that his shoes are all broken out, I'm almost dead sure he's some
+Wandering Willie."
+
+"He means a hobo, a common tramp!" exclaimed Toby in astonishment.
+
+"Tell me about that, will you!" cried Nat. "Just to think of a four
+flusher like that making off with Elmer's motorcycle, when he needs it
+the worst kind to block that nasty little game of the envious Fairfield
+dubs! Oh, it's a cruel world!"
+
+"But we're goin' to get it back, don't you forget that!" Toby
+insinuated.
+
+"You never spoke truer words, Toby," laughed Elmer; though there was
+little of mirth in the sound; for the boy was tremendously aroused by
+this new calamity that threatened to upset all his calculations.
+
+"Hurry, hurry! I can go a bit faster, now that I know what's on!"
+declared Toby, although his manner of gasping belied his words.
+
+"Oh, there he is right now! Look, look, Elmer!" cried Nat.
+
+All of them caught a glimpse of some moving object that was pushing at
+top speed through the scrub ahead. Undoubtedly it was the party who had
+run away with Elmer's motorcycle. They had gained on him constantly, and
+were now surely overtaking the rascal.
+
+"We're just bound to get him, fellows!" said Toby.
+
+"That's so, Toby; it looks good to me," remarked Nat, as he strained
+every muscle to keep alongside the others.
+
+Elmer, being free to make a sprint, since he had no machine to trundle
+along, suddenly left his chums in the lurch. They saw him leaping
+through the low underbrush as might a deer.
+
+"Hurrah! He'll get him!" shouted Toby.
+
+"Twenty-three for yours, Mr. Wandering Willie!" added Nat.
+
+"Don't I wish Elmer would just hold him till we come up," added the
+other, with a threat in his manner that hardly became a scout; but then
+Toby had been a boy long before this scout movement was dreamed of, and
+the natural instinct is very hard to repress.
+
+"Hey, do we drop our wheels, and make a spurt, so as to be in at the
+finish?" demanded Nat.
+
+"You can, if you want to," replied his mate; "but something tells me a
+machine may come in handy yet, even if it is an old huckleberry
+makeshift like mine."
+
+"Gee, yes! I didn't think of that," Nat muttered, still clinging to his
+motorcycle. "The hobo might strike the road again, you mean?"
+
+"Yep, that's what, Nat."
+
+"And go skeetering off on Elmer's wheel?"
+
+"Just what I meant," replied Toby. "He's been making a sorter curve all
+along, like he wanted to strike the road; I noticed that, Nat."
+
+"So did I. Don't like the job of pushing that machine through the scrub
+any too much, I reckon," Nat remarked, panting from his own exertions.
+
+"And say, do you blame him?" Toby asked.
+
+"Listen!" and Nat cocked his head as though he could hear better in that
+position.
+
+"What was it? Did you catch a shout for help? Perhaps Elmer's caught up
+with him, Nat!"
+
+"I thought I heard somebody call out, or laugh," Nat began, when he was
+interrupted by a shout.
+
+"Toby--Nat, hurry along with your wheels!"
+
+"That's Elmer!" gasped Toby, as he tried to add a little more speed to
+his forward progress.
+
+"Perhaps he's got him under his knee, and is holding him for us,"
+suggested Nat.
+
+"That's silly," returned the other, immediately. "It won't hold water,
+Nat. Whatever would he tell us to bring our machines, if he had the
+hobo? Tell you what, I reckon he's made off along the road with Elmer's
+motorcycle, that's a fact!"
+
+"And he wants one of ours to chase him with! Oh, I wish I could fly
+right now, so's to hurry!" Nat cried.
+
+"A fine mess _you'd_ make of it, if even a fellow like me, that's up to
+snuff, don't seem able to get it down pat," sneered Toby.
+
+"I see Elmer, and he's waving his hand to us like fun!" exclaimed Nat,
+without appearing to take any notice of the slur cast upon his abilities
+in the line of aviation.
+
+Elmer came bounding toward them just then, as though meaning to lend all
+the assistance in his power toward getting the machine he fancied, if
+there was any choice in the matter, to the road near by.
+
+He clutched hold of Toby's motorcycle, possibly believing that its
+recent regeneration might prove fairly lasting.
+
+So they came upon the edge of the road again, after making all that half
+circle through the woods and scrub.
+
+Toby's first act was to stretch his neck, and stare along the road. A
+moving object caught his eye, which he had no difficulty in making out
+to be a motorcycle, upon which a ragged specimen of a tramp was seated,
+and which he was working at a great rate _with his feet on the pedals_!
+
+"He don't know beans about how to run the engine!" Toby exclaimed, with
+sudden delight, as he saw this plain fact.
+
+The road just there was as straight as a rule, for at least a couple of
+miles; and the fellow had not gotten more than a quarter of a mile away.
+
+He happened to turn his head to look back just then, while the machine
+"yawed" at an alarming rate, threatening to dispose of the tramp in the
+bushes. To the indignation of Toby and Nat, the latter having also
+managed to reach the spot by this time, the Wandering Willie jauntily
+waved a hand toward them, as though bidding them a fond adieu.
+
+There was a sudden sputter, and a rattling volley. Then away sped Elmer,
+mounted on Toby's old machine, which seemed about to redeem itself in
+this momentous crisis.
+
+"Wow! Watch his smoke, will you!" shrieked Nat.
+
+"Now will you be good, Mr. Hobo!" cried Toby; hoping in his heart that
+the pursuing machine might not take a notion to perform any of its
+frequent tricks and betray its new master.
+
+The man on the stolen wheel must have heard that rattle as of artillery
+behind him, for Elmer never bothered using the hush pedal, such was his
+desire to speed up and overtake the thief who was running off with his
+mount.
+
+They saw him look back over his shoulder as if in sudden alarm. Then his
+legs began to work faster than they could possibly have done in ten
+years, as he endeavored to pedal his stolen property at a rate of speed
+that would take him beyond reach of the relentless pursuer. But like a
+meteor shooting across the sky, Elmer bore down on the hobo motorcycle
+thief.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+TWENTY-SEVEN MILES FROM HICKORY RIDGE AND HOME.
+
+
+"LOOK at the silly guy, will you! Thinks he can run away from a
+forty-mile-an-hour engine! I like his nerve, now!" exclaimed Nat.
+
+"But Elmer's eating up the distance like fun!" cried Toby, dancing up
+and down in his great excitement. "Think of my old machine behaving so
+decent, would you! Why, she runs as smooth as grease--better than when
+she was new! There! He's closing in on him now like hot cakes. Watch
+what happens, Nat!"
+
+They stood there in the road, with their eyes glued on the little comedy
+that was happening not a great distance away.
+
+The tramp knew from the loudness of those rapid-fire explosions that the
+speeding motorcycle must be rapidly overhauling him. No need to turn his
+head any longer to size up the situation, which in his mind was becoming
+acute.
+
+"He's going to skip out!" shrieked Nat, suddenly.
+
+"Sure thing!" echoed Toby. "Look at him dragging his big trilbies along
+the road to slow up. Hope he don't run slap into a tree though, and bust
+things higher'n a kite!"
+
+"There he goes! Hoopla!" shouted Nat.
+
+They saw the tattered thief suddenly bring the motorcycle to a stop, or
+at least what looked like it from a distance. Then he fell over on the
+ground, and rolled into the bushes, as if only too anxious to get out
+of the reach of the owner, before he could lay hands on him.
+
+Elmer shut off power and applied the brake, for he quickly came to a
+stop close by the spot where his machine lay.
+
+"Chase after him, Elmer! Get him!" yelled Nat, as he and his comrade
+started to hasten along the road, Nat apparently forgetting that he
+might as well make use of his machine, if so be it would answer his
+demand.
+
+But it looked as though wise Elmer saw no reason why he should get mixed
+up with a rough hobo, simply to satisfy his desire for revenge. He
+seemed to be bending over the motorcycle, as though investigating the
+extent of damages it might have sustained in being so hastily dropped on
+the hard road.
+
+"Here, what's the reason we can't get along in style?" demanded Toby.
+"Hit up your old ice wagon, and I'll hitch on behind that far."
+
+"Sure thing!" remarked Nat, as if the idea had never once occurred to
+him, he was so busy thinking of how he would like to lay hands on the
+thief.
+
+After several attempts the machine decided to be good; and as it
+started, Toby managed to hang on in some fashion, until presently they
+arrived on the scene.
+
+Elmer had raised his motorcycle and started the engine going, after
+dropping the rest at the rear, so that the back wheel could spin in the
+air.
+
+"Seems to work all right!" declared Toby.
+
+"Glad to say there's been no damage done, except a dent in the gas tank,
+and that can be easily pounded out later on," Elmer declared, as he
+heaved a sigh of relief.
+
+"Are we going to let that hobo get off so easy; or do we chase after
+him?" asked Nat, glaring around at the neighboring woods, in the depths
+of which no doubt the object of his anger was snugly ensconced, watching
+to see what they would do.
+
+"No use trying to get hold of him," remarked Elmer. "Forget it, and
+let's bump along the road. He just saw a chance to steal something that
+he really had no use for, and couldn't hold back. It's all right now,
+and no damage done. Get ready to start, fellows!"
+
+In another minute they were speeding away, possibly much to the relief
+of the concealed tramp, who had begun to fear that he had stirred up a
+hornet's nest, and was likely to get stung pretty badly.
+
+Ten minutes later, with all three machines humming merrily, they flitted
+past a roadside tavern.
+
+"See that?" called Elmer over his shoulder to Toby, who was next in
+line.
+
+"The road house, d'ye mean?" answered the other.
+
+"Second signing station, fourteen miles, about, from Hickory Ridge,"
+Elmer said.
+
+"But you didn't make any move to stop," remarked Toby.
+
+"No need," came the reply. "We wouldn't be apt to pick up any later news
+than what Hen Condit gave us. And we want to make all the time we can.
+Been enough delay already."
+
+"But perhaps there won't be any more, from my machine anyhow, Elmer.
+She's going like a greased pig. That shake-up must have been just what
+the old buster needed." Toby bawled, knowing to what the other referred
+when he mentioned hold-ups.
+
+Nat was trailing along in the rear, but coming apparently with no sign
+of another balk; although doubtless he lived in perpetual fear of
+something new springing a surprise on him. A motorcycle, once it gets
+to acting queer, can establish a reputation for opening up new avenues
+of trouble second to none.
+
+"Hey, look ahead!" called Toby, presently, after they had covered
+another long distance of quite a number of miles.
+
+Elmer, upon doing so, discovered that a couple of fellows occupied the
+middle of the road, and seemed to act as though they meant to stay
+there, no matter what came along.
+
+As the motorcycle squad rushed toward them, Elmer had no great
+difficulty in recognizing Landy's cousin, George Robbins, and one of the
+Fairfield crowd, Angus McDowd.
+
+They had their arms locked, and seemed on the best of terms with the
+world in general, though their steps had a tottery look, as Nat
+expressed it.
+
+Finding themselves left far in the rear, these two had apparently made
+up their minds not to bother about who won the great hike; but to stick
+to each other, and take things as easy as they could.
+
+Hearing the sputtering of the several machines, they looked back and
+waved their hands, evidently recognizing Elmer in the lead. Then they
+stepped to one side of the road so as to let the procession pass.
+
+Elmer threw out his hand so as to warn Toby to slow up, as he meant to
+do that same, and did not wish to take the chances of being run down.
+
+"How far are we from home?" shouted both the walkers, as Elmer came
+close.
+
+"About twenty miles," he replied, for he had anticipated such a
+question, and prepared himself to meet it promptly.
+
+"Is that all?" called Angus McDowd, who looked pretty much "all in."
+
+"What's the news; who's ahead, Elmer?" called George, as the motorcycle
+passed.
+
+"Lil Artha at last accounts, by a long lead!"
+
+"Bully for Lil Artha!" both trampers shouted; for Angus was so tired
+himself that he really cared very little who won.
+
+"How far ahead of us, hey?" shouted George.
+
+"Only about thirteen miles, George," answered Toby as he flitted past
+with a fresh start.
+
+"Oh, won't poor old Landy feel sore when he hears how the hope of the
+Philander Smiths has gone aglimmering!" mocked Nat, as he, too, went by.
+
+George made a quick motion with his hand as though throwing something at
+his tormentor; then his care-free laugh floated after them.
+
+About three miles farther along the road they discovered another sight.
+
+"What's going on there?" shouted Toby, who again hung rather dangerously
+close in the rear of the leader, because he wanted a chance to exchange
+remarks from time to time.
+
+"Looks like a breakdown, and that's a fact," Elmer replied.
+
+"That's right," called Toby immediately. "It's Tom Cropsey, and he's
+trying to put a plug in his tire. He's got a puncture, and that ended
+his run as inspector."
+
+The boy looked up as they drew near, and shook his head even as he
+grinned.
+
+"All in, I reckon, Elmer, can't seem to fix her!" he called, as the
+scout leader flashed past.
+
+Possibly he would have been glad if they had stopped in order to assist
+him repair the obstinate break; but Elmer had other fish to fry just
+then, and time was too valuable to waste in gaining a recruit who could
+never keep up with them for even half a mile.
+
+So they presently saw the last of poor Tom, marooned so far away from
+home, and with night coming on apace.
+
+Elmer knew that they might expect to overtake some of the others at any
+minute now, and every time he turned a bend he looked closely to see if
+there were not figures on the road ahead.
+
+Nor was he mistaken.
+
+A few more miles, and he saw a lone pedestrian manfully struggling
+onward, with a stout stick, which he had stopped to cut, assisting him.
+At first Elmer thought it was an old man hobbling along, until coming up
+on the party, the other wheeled.
+
+"Hello, Jack, old fellow! making a game push for it, eh?" called Elmer,
+who had slowed down considerably, so as to give the contestant a cheery
+word to encourage him in persisting.
+
+"Wow, but I guess I'm pretty near the limit, Elmer," answered the other,
+who turned out to be Jack Armitage. "How far have I come since morning,
+hey?"
+
+"About twenty-four miles," answered Elmer, as he passed.
+
+"Gee, is that all? Thought it was near fifty!" lamented the scout, as he
+waved his cane at both Toby and Nat as they went by and doubtless cast
+an envious look at the machines that were carrying them over the ground
+so easily, while he was completely done up, and ready to cry quits.
+
+"Next!" shouted Nat, who was really enjoying this thing of overhauling
+the various used-up walkers more than anything that had come his way for
+a long time; it is always so nice to spin along on a wheel, or a
+motorcycle, or in a car, and _pity_ the poor fellows who have to walk!
+
+"Well, there he is, right beyond," said Toby over his shoulder.
+
+"Who under the sun is it?" demanded the rider in the rear, whose view
+was somewhat obstructed by his companions.
+
+"Blest if I know; looks a little like our Ty Collins!" Toby shot back.
+
+"It is Ty; anybody ought to recognize that old red sweater of his,"
+Elmer announced; "and he's got a fine stone bruise on his foot, if that
+limp means anything!"
+
+The contestant stepped out of the road as they drew near. He stiffened
+up to salute, game to the last, and chasing away the look of pain that
+had been on his boyish face.
+
+One of his shoes was held in his hand, and he had been walking along in
+this way, determined not to give up until the last gasp.
+
+"Better throw up the sponge, Ty," called Elmer, who had the authority to
+order anyone out of the race who in his judgment was unfit to continue
+further.
+
+Ty's face told that he welcomed this command, as it released him from
+all further responsibility, and he could retire with good grace.
+
+"What'd I better do, Elmer?" he called out.
+
+"Station four just ahead; stay there to-night. Some one come for you in
+morning!" the scout leader shouted back.
+
+"All right, I will. Hello! Toby, and you ditto, Nat. Who's winning? That
+fast Fairfield fellow, Wagner, passed me a long time ago, going strong."
+
+"Oh, Lil Artha is miles ahead of him!" replied Nat.
+
+"Hurrah for the pride of Hickory Ridge troop! Bully for Lil Artha!" they
+heard Jack whoop as they sped onward.
+
+Thus one by one they were fast picking up the contestants who were
+spread out along the road to Little Falls, covering many miles from the
+leader to the fellow far in the rear, the Hope of the Philander Smiths.
+
+"There's the other bicycle boy, Phil Dale!" shouted Toby a little later,
+after they had passed the tavern which had been selected as the fourth
+station.
+
+"And he's near played out, too. Look at him wabble, would you! Wow, he
+can't do many more miles at that rate!" Nat yelled.
+
+Elmer gave a salute to warn the rider they were coming and wanted half
+the road. As he swept past Phil called out something, but Elmer failed
+to catch what he said, the others also went whooping by, no one having
+thought to slow down.
+
+And so both inspectors as well as a number of the played-out contestants
+had been overhauled. They were now fast coming to the point where a
+crisis would be waiting for them. Twenty-seven miles from Hickory Ridge
+and evening close at hand, when the miserable plot of the Fairfield
+schemers could be put into play!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+NEARING THE CRISIS.
+
+
+A SUDDEN howl arose from Nat in the rear.
+
+Both Elmer and Toby knew what it meant. The tricky wheel of Nat had
+given signs of balking again, and they must make a stop in order to coax
+it to be good. Elmer seemed to have a "wheedling" way about him, both
+the others had confessed, when it came to patching up the peace with a
+mutinous motor. He seemed just naturally to know how to go about
+smoothing out difficulties in a way that told of his being a born
+mechanic, although as yet he had found but few chances to show his
+skill.
+
+So Elmer, though not without considerable reluctance, threw up his hand
+as a signal that he meant to stop. Perhaps he might even have thought of
+leaving Nat, and taking only Toby with him; but after the other had
+stuck it out so valiantly all this while, it hardly seemed fair to
+abandon him on such a slight pretext.
+
+So they were soon busy over the refractory motor, Elmer looking into the
+trouble with his customary skill.
+
+"How many other fellows are there ahead of us?" asked Nat, who was
+hovering over the one who worked, eager to lend a hand if called upon.
+
+"Quite a bunch," replied Toby. "Let's see, there ought to be Red, Matty,
+Lil Artha on our side, and from what we know about the Fairfield crowd
+we've still got to reckon with Henry Cobb and Felix Wagner."
+
+"Just leave out Cobb, boys," remarked Elmer, as he worked rapidly.
+
+"Why?" demanded Toby.
+
+"Oh, he's all in, for a fact!" laughed the other.
+
+"But say, we didn't pass Cobb; unless he was lying in the bushes along
+the side of the road. How d'ye know he's given up the fight, Elmer?"
+questioned Toby, bent on finding out.
+
+"I saw him sitting in that number four station, with one of his feet on
+a chair, and being bound up," replied the scout leader.
+
+"Shucks, you don't say so!" exclaimed Nat. "Whatever in the wide world
+do you think can have happened to him?"
+
+"Perhaps he's been bit by a mad dog!" suggested Toby.
+
+"Might a' been a rattlesnake; I've heard tell about lots of the critters
+being found up this way. One man used to hunt 'em just for the skins and
+the rattlesnake oil he got. Some people say it's mighty fine for
+rheumatism; and athletes use it a heap. Say, Elmer, what d'ye think?"
+Nat went on.
+
+"Oh, nothing like all that stuff," chuckled the other. "Henry has just
+sprained his ankle, I reckon, and is getting it bound up. That
+eliminates all the Fairfield contestants but one--Felix Wagner."
+
+"And him the most dangerous of the bunch!" muttered Toby.
+
+"How does it come on, Elmer; think you can get it fixed? Gee, I hope so,
+because I'd sure hate to drop out now!" said Nat.
+
+"It's going to be all right; just give me three minutes more, and I'll
+have it in shape for a long run," came the reply.
+
+"Oh, that sounds good to me!" declared Nat; "because I do want to be in
+at the finish"; and secretly behind Elmer's back he doubled up his fist,
+showed it to Toby and the two conspirators grinned and nodded, as though
+they had their minds fully made up as to what they meant to do if the
+chance opened.
+
+Elmer knew what he was saying when he made that promise. By the time the
+three minutes were up he handed the motorcycle over to its owner.
+
+"There you are, Nat; give the engine a tryout," he said.
+
+And as the other did so, with the result that the explosions started off
+with a rush such as Nat had not been acquainted with of late, he gave a
+shout.
+
+"Runs bully, Elmer, you're just a wiz, when it comes to tinkering with
+things. I bet you the old hippo runs like a scared dog now. Here goes,
+fellows!"
+
+He jumped for the saddle, almost missed it, and managing to climb on,
+went along the road furiously, though quickly slackening his speed as
+Elmer called out.
+
+"How is it?" asked the latter, as he overtook Nat.
+
+"Just oh be joyful, that's what!" answered Nat, who seemed tickled at
+the way his rackety machine was now behaving. "Why, she answers to the
+least touch, and is as spry as a young colt. I'm almost afraid she'll
+take a sudden notion to run away with me yet, Elmer."
+
+"There's Red, boys! He's still hitting up the pace; but it's only grit
+that carries him on now!" observed Elmer.
+
+Red had always been known as the possessor of a stubborn will. Although
+he was dragging his feet after him when first the three on motorcycles
+discovered him, no sooner did he know of their coming than he braced up
+wonderfully and pretended to be as fresh as in the start.
+
+Again were a few sentences exchanged as they drew past. But Red did not
+deign to ask how far he was from home. He gave a shout upon hearing that
+the long-legged Hickory Ridge scout was said to be well in the lead; as
+though his one thought was to have his troop win out.
+
+"Ambulance be along later, Red!" shouted Nat, who could not resist the
+chance to get in another little dig; but Red put his hands up to his
+mouth to serve as a megaphone as he yelled after them:
+
+"Not for me; I'm able to walk back home again, if I want to,
+understand!"
+
+Now they kept a lookout for Matty, who could not be far beyond. They
+discovered him bending down at a running stream where he had evidently
+been slaking his thirst, and perhaps bathing his tired feet, for his
+shoes were both off.
+
+Again did Elmer give the "high sign," and the others took heed. The
+three riders jumped to the ground. That clear water looked mighty
+enticing; and, besides, here was the last fellow whom they might expect
+to overtake, save Felix and Lil Artha; and a wide gap was believed to
+exist between them.
+
+"Come on in, fellows, the water's fine," laughed Matty, whose face
+looked as if he had dipped it partly in the creek, for the dust was
+washed in streaks; but his smile was just as genial as ever.
+
+The trio soon slaked their thirst.
+
+"Where are we at?" demanded the leader of the Beaver Patrol, who had
+made a pretty good bid for the prize, considering that he was not gifted
+with such long legs as the two fellows ahead.
+
+"I think about twenty-nine miles out," Elmer returned.
+
+"And with just two fellows ahead; but I've got a poor chance to overhaul
+'em, though I don't give up yet awhile. That's all, ain't it, Elmer,
+Lil Artha and that muscular Dutchman, Felix Wagner?"
+
+"That's all," nodded Elmer. "Glad to find you so filled with pluck,
+Matty; though it looks as if Lil Artha would have to carry the colors of
+Hickory Ridge troop to the scout master of Little Falls."
+
+"How does the game stand; is Felix overhauling our chum?" asked the
+other, as he started to put on his shoes, making a wry face while doing
+so, as if his feet might be more or less sore.
+
+"Not that we know of; for at last accounts Lil Artha had a lead of some
+three miles, and was going strong," Elmer replied.
+
+"Then what in the mischief do you fellows look so serious about, that's
+what I want to know?" demanded Matty, whose sharp eyes had read
+something in their manner that told him everything was not as serene as
+outward conditions would seem to imply.
+
+"Listen, then, and I'll try to tell you as quickly as I can." And saying
+this, Elmer started to relate how word had come of the detestable scheme
+engineered by some of the rougher element among the Fairfield boys,
+looking to rendering Lil Artha ineligible as a contestant, by either
+coaxing him to ride in their auto, or if he persistently declined,
+forcing him into doing so.
+
+Matty's indignation was immediate.
+
+"What a lot of scoundrels they are!" he declared, between his set teeth.
+"If I wasn't a scout right now, d'ye know what I'd say they deserved?"
+
+"Well, never mind," laughed Elmer; "don't commit yourself, Matty. And
+now, boys, since we've refreshed ourselves, let's be moving. This is
+probably the last stop we'll make up to the time we overhaul our chum
+who is so gallantly carrying our colors to victory. Come along, both of
+you."
+
+Elmer had thought they could spare the few minutes needed to get a
+drink, and give Matty some hints as to how things stood. The leader of
+the Beaver Patrol had made such a brave fight of it, in that he had
+covered nearly thirty miles of territory since morning, that really he
+deserved to be told.
+
+Fortunately both of the older machines started in decent order.
+Doubtless Toby and Nat breathed sighs of relief when this fact became
+evident; for they had been having so much trouble of late that they
+distrusted the working capacity of the worn-out motors to rise to an
+occasion.
+
+But everything seemed going along smoothly, and once more the three sped
+along, passing the fifth station, which was the same Rockledge from
+whence the news had come concerning Lil Artha some two hours and more
+before.
+
+"How far d'ye think he could have gone in two hours, Elmer?" asked Toby,
+who, as usual, was making the leader a pacer for his own progress, as he
+hung dangerously close at the rear of Elmer's machine.
+
+"Well, if he was fairly fresh Lil Artha might make eight miles, and
+think little of it," replied the other.
+
+"But he must be tired by now, and say he's made six, wouldn't that about
+fill the bill, Elmer?"
+
+"We'll call it six, just for fun, and let it go at that. Look out for
+Felix about this time. He ought to still be half an hour behind the
+leader."
+
+"Unless the conditions have changed a whole lot, which I don't think has
+happened," Toby called.
+
+Elmer had even considered dropping off while passing through Rockledge,
+just to find out when Felix entered his name and time of arrival. But on
+second thought he decided that it did not matter much anyway; since it
+was not the persistent work of Felix that bothered them half so much as
+what the plotters meant to do.
+
+Thirty-two miles' walk was something worth while for boys who had never
+made any pretense of being skilled pedestrians; and even the slowest in
+the bunch, George and Angus McDowd, need not be ashamed, after having
+tramped over twenty miles since sunrise, without any previous experience
+and no preparation, such as old walkers of the Weston and O'Leary type
+practice before starting on a long hike.
+
+A short time after leaving Rockledge, they believed that they must have
+reached the thirty-five-mile stage.
+
+Elmer gave his horn a little toot, that being his way of signaling to
+his comrades that he had sighted something ahead.
+
+"Is it Felix?" asked Toby, fearful lest the reply might indicate that
+Lil Artha had fallen back to second in the race, and the sturdy Dutchman
+beat him out.
+
+"It isn't our chum, anyhow," Elmer answered; "because he lacks half a
+foot of being as tall. Yes, it must be Felix Wagner."
+
+"He's walking strong, Elmer!" declared Toby, anxiously.
+
+"So is Lil Artha, you'll find," the other flung back.
+
+"Do you think he can be far ahead still?" Toby persisted, just as though
+the boy in the lead could tell everything.
+
+"I reckon he's holding his own," answered Elmer. "When we last heard he
+was half an hour to the good. Then we'll likely run across him a few
+miles farther on."
+
+"Say, it ain't far from dusk now, Elmer!" sang out Nat from the rear.
+
+"Oh, we know that easy enough," called Toby. "Just you keep your machine
+in good temper, Nat, and everything'll be lovely, with the goose hanging
+high."
+
+So they flew past the Fairfield walker in rapid style.
+
+After that little exchange of opinions the trio relapsed into silence
+for a brief time. The motors kept humming away as though out for
+business, and the regular music that his machine was giving forth seemed
+especially pleasing to Nat. Why, he was that delighted he could not bear
+to hush matters in the least by using the muffler! Who cared for the
+noise anyway; this was no crowded town for the police to interfere.
+
+And now Elmer began to grow anxious. Felix had waved his hand to them in
+passing, and they had answered in a friendly way, Felix was not supposed
+to know anything about the mean plan on foot to further his interests at
+the expense of the one whose fine work entitled him thus far to the
+lead.
+
+How would they find Lil Artha? Was the pride of the khaki troop holding
+out all right, or would they discover that he showed signs of weakening
+when that sturdy and persistent Dutchman in the rear would soon pass him
+by?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+FOUND AT LAST.
+
+
+ELMER was thinking about the car that had started from Fairfield an hour
+before Toby and Nat learned about the scheme to waylay the leader in the
+great hike, in case he proved to be a representative of Hickory Ridge,
+and prevent him from carrying out his intentions not to ride a foot of
+the way to Little Falls.
+
+It could have easily overtaken Lil Artha long before this. Possibly the
+four reckless young fellows in the car may have gone on ahead, to pick
+out a favorable place for the ambush, from which they meant to pounce on
+the walking Lil Artha and play their mean game.
+
+He was looking on either side of the road as he went, as though the
+thought had come to him that perhaps he might discover the car in
+hiding; the plotters having decided to wait until dark before overtaking
+the leader.
+
+Then another idea flashed across Elmer's mind, and he no longer bothered
+looking either to the right or the left. Instead his eyes sought the
+road in front of his motorcycle.
+
+It was now beginning to grow a trifle like twilight. The glowing sun had
+sunk in the west, and left a legacy of red and gold to paint a few
+fleecy clouds that hovered there in the heavens.
+
+So it was not as easy as one might wish, to discover signs on the road,
+especially when going at the pace they held. But here and there the
+conditions became a little more favorable. Perhaps it was because the
+trees were farther back, allowing more of that glow from the west to
+reach them; or else the shading branches had prevented the sun from
+drying the mud entirely, so that such a broad mark as that made by a
+poorly inflated automobile tire might be detected.
+
+And this was just what Elmer was looking for. He found it presently,
+too; and was even able to tell that the car had been going at a pretty
+good clip in the same direction in which they were even then headed.
+This he did by noting that the mud had been splashed _forward_, so that
+it struck trees ahead of where it had formerly rested on the roadbed.
+And the distance it had been thrown was proof of considerable speed on
+the part of the passing car.
+
+So Elmer constantly found his previous experience in following a trail
+of considerable benefit when filling the position of a scout leader.
+Little things that others would have neglected to notice, or which, if
+seen, might be looked upon as mere nothings, assumed an importance in
+his eyes just as they would to an Indian born to reading signs when
+following a trail in forest or on the desert.
+
+There was no especial need of shouting all this out for the information
+of the two fellows following after him. They were quite satisfied to
+leave the arrangement of things in his hands. All Toby and Nat wanted
+was a chance to have a say in the wind-up; and if the opportunity arose,
+to put in a good lick for Hickory Ridge.
+
+All the while Elmer was trying to figure distances. He had taken note of
+the cyclometer at the time he passed Felix Wagner. It stood at just
+thirty-five miles then. And if, as they suspected, Lil Artha, the
+gallant Hickory Ridge representative, was some three or four miles ahead
+of his closest rival, it was now about time they were sighting the
+long-legged boy pedestrian.
+
+Indeed, unless they soon came upon him, Elmer would begin to worry, lest
+those reckless blades in the Fairfield car had declined to wait for
+darkness to come in order to hide their actions, and had already carried
+their plan into execution.
+
+It was therefore with a purpose that Elmer shaded his speed down until
+they were not moving along much more than twice as fast as a walker
+would go.
+
+"Keep tabs on the road to the left, boys, as we go," he called back.
+
+"What for?" demanded Toby, eager to do whatever the leader wished, and
+yet not able to see for himself.
+
+"Notice any signs that might stand for a struggle," Elmer went on.
+
+"Good gracious! Elmer, do you think they've jumped Lil Artha already?"
+demanded Toby; and from the rear Nat called out:
+
+"Didn't you say you thought they'd hold over till it got dark enough so
+he couldn't recognize 'em, Elmer?"
+
+"That's right, I did; and I still believe so," replied the leader,
+confidently. "When I ask you to help me look for any signs of a
+free-for-all scrap, I don't believe we'll find such a thing; but I'm
+just insuring the correctness of my ideas."
+
+"Oh, that's it, eh?" said Toby; though from the manner in which he
+uttered the words it could be plainly seen that he failed to fully grasp
+Elmer's true meaning.
+
+But with three pairs of young eyes on the watch, it was not very likely
+that anything in the nature of marks indicating a scrimmage would
+escape. A lot of boys engaged in a wrestling match would be apt to leave
+many traces on the road; for knowing Lil Artha as they did, the three
+chums felt sure he could not be hauled into that Fairfield auto without
+a desperate resistance.
+
+Once Nat sang out something that sounded as though he had made a
+discovery; and instantly Elmer gave the signal for a stop. With his
+heart beating like a trip hammer he dropped his machine and hurried
+back.
+
+"Where is it, Nat?" he asked, eagerly, ready to attempt the reading of
+such signs as might be found on the dirt of the road.
+
+Nat's eyes opened wide.
+
+"Where's what?" he asked, as if astonished.
+
+"Didn't you sing out that you'd seen something that ought to be
+investigated?" asked Elmer.
+
+"Why, not that I know of," replied Nat, seeming rather confused.
+
+"But you did call out something?" went on the other, hardly knowing
+whether to feel provoked or to laugh.
+
+"Sure I did; but it was only to tell you I was feeling as empty as a
+sugar barrel that's been scraped clean. When do we get a snack, I'd like
+to know?" Nat replied, rubbing the pit of his stomach as if to indicate
+its state of emptiness.
+
+"Well, if that ain't the worst cheek I ever struck," growled Toby; "to
+stop us just when my machine had got into its best stride, and was
+humming most beautifully!"
+
+"Oh, come off your perch!" cried Nat. "I didn't stop you--never dreamed
+of such a thing. It was an accident, that's all."
+
+"Never mind," remarked Elmer, as he prepared to mount again. "Not much
+time lost, and I've made sure that Lil Artha has gone along here, _with
+the car in front of him_!"
+
+"What's that?" asked Toby, hardly understanding.
+
+"Why, I've seen a place where our chum's footprint is marked _in the
+tread_ the automobile tire made in the half-hard mud. That tells as
+plain as print the car must have passed him back here a little; for if
+he was not coming _after_ it he could not have stepped in the trail left
+by the tire," Elmer went on, calmly.
+
+"Oh, yes, I see now what you mean, Elmer; and as sure as you live it's a
+mighty clever idea. Takes you to think up all those things. That's what
+you learned when you were out there on the plains, didn't you?" Toby
+remarked.
+
+"Of course," was all the scout leader replied; but he could not help
+thinking that in the case of some fellows it would be necessary for them
+to have about fifty years' experience out West before they could grasp
+the true meaning of clews and trails and such things.
+
+"Is there any need now for us to look out, and try to find traces of a
+scrap?" asked Nat, as he balanced his machine and prepared to start.
+
+"You might as well keep it up," came the answer.
+
+"But if those chaps have gone ahead, what's the use?" demanded Nat.
+
+"Because, don't you see," put in Toby, anxious to air his knowledge,
+"what's going to hinder them lying in wait, and jumping out on Lil
+Artha. Shall we keep tabs of the left side as before, Elmer?"
+
+"The left--yes; but I imagine we're going to come upon our chum mighty
+soon now. That track was fresh, and I've an idea it wasn't made more
+than ten minutes ago, at the most fifteen."
+
+Both the other lads looked admiringly at the one who was able so
+confidently to say such a positive thing. They could not imagine how it
+was done; and as their glances met they shook their heads, as though
+condoling with each other on their mutual ignorance.
+
+Then pop-pop-pop, and they were all off in a line, with Nat, as usual
+bringing up the rear, and Elmer in the van.
+
+Ahead of them, about half a mile away, there seemed to be some sort of a
+bend; although the shadows played around the spot so densely that even
+the sharp eyesight of Elmer failed to make sure just what sort of a
+curve the road took there.
+
+He had what he called a "hunch" that once around this they would be apt
+to sight the one in whose fortunes they were so vitally interested. So
+away they tore, letting the engines out for all they were worth; and
+Nat, as before, utterly ignoring the fact that he had a muffler
+connected with his metal steed.
+
+And as Elmer whirled around the curve he looked eagerly ahead. At first
+he saw nothing save a long stretch of road that seemed to mellow as it
+dropped a little in the distance. Was it possible that Lil Artha could
+have passed beyond the extreme limit of observation? If so, then the
+deduction he had made as to the length of time elapsing since that
+footprint was made could not have been the true one.
+
+Ah, what was that moving there under the trees about half a mile ahead,
+and just before the road took its slight downward pitch? Surely he had
+seen something rise and fall with regularity; and it could hardly be a
+branch.
+
+The object caught his eye again. It was red, and Elmer suddenly
+remembered that Lil Artha always made it a point to carry a couple of
+big red bandana handkerchiefs along with him when about to indulge in
+any game, whether baseball, football or a fishing excursion that
+entailed a long walk.
+
+Yes, surely that must be their comrade, who, hearing the familiar
+explosion of the motorcycle engines, and possibly guessing that some of
+the Hickory Ridge boys were following on his trail, had stepped aside to
+let them pass. And that waving of the red flag was not intended as a
+signal of warning, but simply Lil Artha's method of greeting his mates
+as they flew by.
+
+He could see the tall figure plainly now, and even note how he carried
+his khaki jacket over his left arm, as the evening was anything but
+cool.
+
+And Elmer felt a thrill of satisfaction as he realized that after all
+their troubles on the way they had finally come to the point where they
+were about to join forces with the gallant fellow who was on his
+thirty-sixth mile and still set upon arriving at Little Falls long
+before dawn closed the contest.
+
+Lil Artha stood at attention. He had recognized in the leading figure
+the assistant scout master of the troop, and, like a good scout,
+believed in paying him the respect due his office. Under ordinary
+circumstances they were chums and ready to indulge in any sort of
+rough-and-tumble boyish wrestle, but when on duty it must always be a
+different thing.
+
+So, as his hand came up in the regular scout salute, Lil Artha was
+surprised to see that the other was bringing his motorcycle to a slow
+down, as were also those in the rear, whom he now recognized as Toby and
+Nat.
+
+Apparently, then, they intended to stop and speak with him, perhaps with
+the idea of giving him fresh courage to plod along over the ten miles or
+so that still remained between himself and his destination.
+
+Nothing averse to having a little chat with his chums as he walked
+along, the tall scout stepped out from under the overshadowing branches
+of the tree.
+
+"Hello, fellows!" he remarked. "Say, this is mighty nice in you, hunting
+me up just to say howdy and wish me luck. What's the news back along the
+line?"
+
+"All pins down in this alley but one other besides you, Lil Artha," said
+Toby, quickly.
+
+"And I bet you I know who that chap is--he comes from Fairfield and his
+name is Felix Wagner. How'd I get on to that? Why, what's the use of
+telephones if you don't use 'em? I called up and found out, you see. But
+don't you worry one minute. Why, I ain't near played out. Fact is,
+fellows, I'm getting my second wind, and right now I'm good for another
+thirty without stopping."
+
+"Gee, you are a wonder, all right!" exclaimed Nat, admiringly.
+
+"But listen, Lil Artha," said Elmer as they walked on in company, those
+who had motorcycles trundling them along; "we've followed you all the
+way from Hickory Ridge, which we left at four to-day, just to warn you
+that you're in danger of being kidnaped!"
+
+"What!" exclaimed the tall scout, evidently astounded. "Say that again,
+won't you, Elmer? Me kidnaped! Say, are you joshing me now or what? Open
+up and tell me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+THE HOWL OF THE WOLF SIGNAL.
+
+
+"WELL, I like that, now!" burst out Toby. "He thinks we've run all the
+way from good old Hickory Ridge, thirty-five miles away and more, just
+to hand him a string."
+
+"And me taking all the dreadful chances of breaking my neck with this
+cranky machine that's got into its second childhood!" echoed Nat,
+indignantly.
+
+Elmer paid no attention to these side remarks. He could easily
+understand just how Lil Artha looked at things. Not having the slightest
+suspicion concerning any crooked work in connection with the great hike,
+he could not comprehend what was meant by "kidnaping" him.
+
+"Just what we're here for, old fellow," he remarked. "In the first
+place, perhaps you know it, and again you may not; but Mr. Garrabrant
+sent these two good scouts over to Fairfield on their motorcycles to
+take notes of the start made by the three fellows who meant to compete
+with us in this event."
+
+"Yes, I knew about that," muttered Lil Artha.
+
+"All right," Elmer continued. "They performed their duties, and then,
+according to orders, hung around to find out whether there might be any
+talk about some of those famous tricks that used to be played when Matt
+Tubbs was running things with a high hand over there."
+
+"But hasn't Matt turned over a new leaf; did Mr. Garrabrant expect that
+it was all a make believe with him?" asked the other, quickly.
+
+"No," said the scout leader; "so far as we can tell, Matt is in dead
+earnest about doing the right thing from now on. I reckon he'd be as mad
+as hops if he heard what some of his old mates have arranged."
+
+"Well, hurry on and tell me, please, Elmer; I'm as curious as any old
+woman you ever ran across," and Lil Artha laughed as he said this.
+
+"Late in the afternoon they happened to overhear a talk between two
+Fairfield boys, and then and there learned about the scheme. It seems
+that four fellows in a car had already been gone an hour. They were to
+run up to the head of the line, and find out just how things lay. If a
+Fairfield competitor was running in the lead, of course nothing would
+happen; but in case it proved to be a Hickory Ridge scout _they had
+their orders_."
+
+"But see here, Elmer, wouldn't that knock them out of the organization.
+The rules of the scouts wouldn't stand for such an outrage," protested
+Lil Artha.
+
+"Hold on, Lil Artha," interrupted Elmer. "You don't seem to get on to
+the real facts. Nobody said a word about any scouts being connected with
+this thing."
+
+"Outsiders, then, you mean, Elmer?"
+
+"Yes, some of the crowd that used to run with Matt Tubbs when he was the
+terror of the county. You know they broke with him at the time he saw a
+great light. Some of the best in the bunch followed him into the
+Fairfield troop. Others laughed at the idea of turning over a new leaf.
+And they say there's a new bully cropped up in Fairfield, a fellow who
+used to sneeze in the old days every time Matt took snuff."
+
+"Yes," said Lil Artha, "I know--Eddie Johnston; and a bad egg he is,
+too."
+
+"Well," went on Elmer; "he's engineering this deal. The idea is that
+these four fellows will try to coax you to enter their ear for a lift,
+promising that nobody will ever hear about it, you see."
+
+"But they ought to know I'd laugh at 'em. I'm good for the rest of the
+hike, and could put on fresh speed if I sighted any feller coming along
+to bother me," the tall scout declared.
+
+"Well, in that case they had orders to jump you, get you in the car by
+force, and carry you off, to drop you ten miles away, perhaps at Little
+Falls. In that way, you see, Lil Artha, you would be eliminated from the
+game, because you had _entered a vehicle_, which is against the rules.
+And the second one in the race would win. That must be Felix Wagner."
+
+"Does he know about this?" demanded the excited scout, frowning.
+
+"Of course," answered Elmer, "we don't feel sure about it; but the
+chances are he doesn't. No fellow who has his heart in the true
+principles the scout movement stands for, could take a hand in such a
+nasty game. And I'm hoping that if Felix learned what has been done he'd
+be the very first to declare that he wouldn't accept a tainted title!"
+
+"Good for you, Elmer! I don't know Felix very well myself, but I want to
+think of him in that way, because he's a fellow scout. But look here. I
+guess I saw the bunch you speak of pass me by only a little while back."
+
+"Yes, I knew they had gone on ahead, because I saw that in several
+places your footprint was plainly marked in the tread of the auto tire
+in the mud," said the scout leader, quietly.
+
+"Well, I declare now, if you don't beat anything in finding out them
+tricks!" remarked Lil Artha, who frequently forgot there was such a
+thing as grammar in the wide world. "Nobody else'd think of that way.
+The rest of us have got heaps to learn. But I only saw two fellers in
+the car, Elmer."
+
+"Oh, well, perhaps the others were hiding low down for a purpose,"
+returned the one who observed things closely and figured out results.
+"If they all showed themselves you would be apt to know them later when
+they started in with their rough-house business."
+
+"Then what d'ye think they mean to do?" asked the tall scout, anxiously;
+at the same time Toby and Nat noticed that his hands were doubling up
+into fists, as if the old spirit of self-defense had begun to run riot
+within him.
+
+"They've gone down the road a few miles to some place that looks good to
+them. Then, I reckon, the bunch will pile out and hide till you come
+along. And while they're about it, they may disguise their faces in some
+way with handkerchiefs. When fellows are in for something that won't
+bear the light of day, they nearly always do that, don't you know, Lil
+Artha?"
+
+"Sure I do," nodded the tall scout, promptly. "More'n a few times I've
+done the same myself, and so has Toby here. But all the same it's a mean
+dodge to try and cheat me out of my honest dues. What're we goin' to do
+about it, Elmer?"
+
+"It stands to reason that we don't mean to let the game go through,"
+replied the one addressed, frowning. "I'm as much opposed to violence as
+any fellow could be; but there may come times when even the scout is
+justified in using his fists. Mr. Garrabrant says so; and if he was
+here, even if he is a man of peace, he'd say the same."
+
+"That's right Elmer; I've heard him say that myself, and he'd laugh
+right out when he declared that he was a man of peace, and that he was
+bound to have peace even if he had to fight to get it," chuckled Toby.
+
+"All right," snapped Elmer. "We must remember that we're up against a
+condition that can only be met by standing up for our rights. If those
+four rascals from Fairfield tried to push Lil Artha into their car
+against his will, he'd be justified in kicking and striking out in
+defense of his liberty, wouldn't he, scout law or not? And on the same
+ground, we, as his comrades, have the right to defend him."
+
+"And by ginger we will!" burst out Toby, triumphantly.
+
+"Make your mind easy on that, Lil Artha," declared Nat; "we haven't run
+all the way from Hickory Ridge to see our chum badly treated without
+putting in a few good licks for him. Gee, it will seem like old times!
+My style is getting rusty, and will need some sandpapering, I guess."
+
+"Of course, talk won't amount to a row of pins," said Elmer.
+
+"Not with that kind of skunks it won't," observed Lil Artha.
+
+"As Mr. Garrabrant isn't here, and I stand in his place, I'll have to
+try and do what I think he'd commend," Elmer went on.
+
+"About that peace racket, even if you have to fight to get it, eh?"
+laughed Nat.
+
+"Wait and see," replied the scout leader, nodding his head, and giving
+the other a significant, look that made Nat's heart glad; for, like Red
+Huggins, Nat had always had something of a reputation as a fighter, and
+found it most difficult to repress this pugnacious spirit after he
+joined the scouts.
+
+"Lay out the programme, Elmer, won't you, please?" begged Lil Artha.
+
+"Yes, tell us just what each fellow must do," added Toby.
+
+"Well, I've been thinking it over as we came along," remarked the one to
+whom these appeals were addressed; "and this is the plan I settled on as
+promising the best results. In the first place, as these chaps want
+darkness before they show their hand, so that Lil Artha won't be apt to
+recognize them, the chances are they've gone several miles farther on
+before running the car in among the trees at a likely spot. Do you agree
+on that, boys?"
+
+"Sounds good to me, Elmer; please go on and roll your hoop," said Nat.
+
+"Beats all how you can hit things so close," remarked Toby; "because,
+now that you've mentioned it, I c'n see how they'd be apt to do just
+that very thing."
+
+"I'm agreein' with the rest, so keep moving, Elmer," Lil Artha observed,
+deeply interested in the results, as he had a right to be.
+
+"Well, then, suppose now we ride on behind Lil Artha for another mile.
+Then he can hold up when I give a little whistle, or he hears the faint
+howl of a wolf in the distance. The three of us will then proceed to
+hide our motorcycles somewhere in the woods, marking the place at the
+roadside so we can find 'em again easy later on to-night. After that
+we'll haul upon our chum, and keep a little distance behind him as he
+tramps on toward Little Falls."
+
+"Bully idea!" declared the object of all this attention, shaking the
+hand of the one who had suggested it. "And a feller don't have to have
+more'n two eyes, with a mite of common sense back of 'em, to know
+what's goin' to happen when the Fairfield bullies jump out on me."
+
+"Whack! whack! that's two down; one with the right, and t'other with the
+left duke, leaving only two for you three boys," declared Nat, making a
+violent lunge in either direction, as though getting in trim after these
+months of idleness, when following the mild paths of peace.
+
+Toby laughed.
+
+"Say, what d'ye suppose we'll be doing all that while?" he demanded.
+"Don't be so greedy, Nathan. It's one apiece all around. Nothin' could
+be fairer than that, and I put it up to Elmer here. Who wants to get
+cheated out of his share, tell me that!"
+
+"I reckon that ought to be understood in the beginning," remarked Elmer,
+dryly. "Get this notion out of your heads, fellows. All we want is to
+protect Lil Artha. If talking would do it I'd say leave it to me
+entirely; but we all know it needs something stronger. So let each
+fellow try to capture one of the bunch in ambush and hold him. Perhaps
+they'll skedaddle as soon as they see us coming, and the job will be
+done without one blow."
+
+"But if they do resist when we're trying to defend our chum, what then?"
+asked Nat, with the most agonizing appeal in his voice, as though he saw
+his dearest hopes fading, fading gradually away.
+
+"Oh, that goes without saying," chuckled Elmer. "I don't think there's
+any real need of my giving you fellows orders along that line, because
+you know what the only remedy is. Only, please don't forget for one
+minute that you are scouts, and as such should hold your hand the
+instant the white flag goes up."
+
+"Sure we will, Elmer, if we see it!" chuckled Nat. "You make me happy
+again. Gee! I was afraid you might say that under no circumstances was
+a poor fellow allowed to defend himself--that, like a lot of old women,
+all we could do was to grab an enemy and hold on, no matter how he
+scratched and bit and gouged. It's all right. We've got our orders,
+fellows. Nuff said."
+
+All this time they had been walking at a rather stiff pace along the
+road that led in the direction of Little Falls, distant something like
+nine miles. When Lil Artha had said that he believed he was in
+possession of his second wind, he evidently knew what he was talking
+about. At least the others were hard pushed to keep up with the
+long-legged contestant, hampered as they were by their heavy machines,
+which had to be trundled along with considerable effort.
+
+"Fall back and mount, fellows," said Elmer; "and you, Lil Artha, keep
+listening for the signal to wait for us. Only a mile do we dare keep
+going; to get closer to the place of ambush might betray us, as they
+would hear the explosions from one of these machines, the muffler of
+which never works decently. Get that?"
+
+"It's as plain as the nose on my face, and nobody can miss that,"
+replied the other, as he started off along the road.
+
+Elmer cautioned his comrades to make as little racket as possible, and
+presently they followed on their motorcycles.
+
+About ten minutes later a low, weird sound floated through the air. To
+most persons it would have meant that some farmer's watchdog was uneasy,
+and baying at the stars; but Lil Artha knew better.
+
+It was intended for the howl of the wolf, the sign of his patrol!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+THE AMBUSH.
+
+
+"I SEE him, Elmer," whispered Toby.
+
+"Couldn't be anybody else," chuckled Nat, "because Lil Artha is as tall
+as a house, you know."
+
+The contestant representing the Hickory Ridge scouts was standing there
+in the middle of the road, waiting for them to come up.
+
+"Is it time, Elmer?" he asked, anxiously, as the other three joined him.
+
+The gloaming was about them; indeed, since the heavens were beginning to
+be overshadowed by clouds, the dusk had already commenced to settle,
+earlier than usual in the end of August.
+
+It had been a pretty fair day, but there was no telling what the night
+might bring forth; and Lil Artha, wisely looking ahead to a possible
+thunder-storm about midnight, was determined to complete his long hike
+as early as possible.
+
+"Yes," replied the leader of the Wolf Patrol, quietly. "We're going to
+hide our machines somewhere about here, where we can find them when we
+need them a little later."
+
+"And you want me to hold up till you're ready?" asked Lil Artha.
+
+"That's the programme," came the reply. "You see, we expect that the
+four hold-up fellows must be hidden only a little farther along; and we
+want to have our part of the game fixed. Just sit down here, Lil Artha,
+and we'll be back again in a jiffy."
+
+"Well, if it's all the same to you, Elmer, I think I'll keep on
+standing," replied the tall boy, with a chuckle.
+
+"Oh, all right," replied Elmer; "you're the doctor, and ought to know
+what's best for your own case. Just wait for us here. Come along,
+fellows, and bring your motorcycles with you."
+
+Of course there was no mystery about the refusal of Lil Artha to sit
+down. He knew from past experiences how difficult it is to get in
+working order again at such a stage in a long hike should he give way to
+the temptation and drop upon the ground. It was better to keep moving,
+and not allow any of his muscles to get stiffened.
+
+Following Elmer, the others pushed into the woods on the right, where
+the scout leader seemed to think the conditions looked best for the
+hiding of the three machines.
+
+It was not a hard task to secrete them in the bushes.
+
+"Hope it don't rain before we come back again," remarked Toby, as he
+came out from the thicket where he had placed his motorcycle as
+carefully as though it were a brand-new one; for on account of its
+recent fairly decent performances the boy began to feel a return of his
+former affection for the wheel.
+
+"We'll have to take the chances on that," replied Elmer. "These clouds
+may not stand for anything, after all."
+
+"Often tries a big bluff like that," remarked Nat; "so we ain't going to
+worry about it. Besides, if the little circus is soon over, we can come
+here to get the bunch before long."
+
+"Back to the road then, fellows," Toby observed, leading off with
+confidence.
+
+A minute later Nat broke out again:
+
+"Say, what d'ye know about this?" he remarked. "Don't seem a bit
+familiar to me along here. What're you laughing at, Elmer? Has Toby led
+us the wrong way?"
+
+"Rats!" exclaimed that worthy, bristling up in indignation. "Don't you
+suppose I know what I'm about? Of course this is the right way to the
+road, ain't it, Elmer?"
+
+"You might get there, if you kept on long enough!" admitted the other.
+
+"But how far would we have to go?" demanded the incredulous Nat.
+
+"Oh, about twenty-five thousand miles, more or less," chuckled Elmer.
+
+"Gee, he's turned right around and is heading _away_ from the road,
+that's what," declared Nat, laughing softly. "A nice guide you'd be,
+Toby, old chum. Think of us floundering deeper and deeper into these
+blessed old woods, when every minute is worth a heap to us right now!"
+
+"But what did you let me do it for, Elmer?" complained the culprit.
+
+"Well, you started off as if you wanted to show us what you know about
+woodcraft; and I thought the chance to open your eyes a little too good
+to be lost," Elmer replied.
+
+"But we've wasted time by it," declared Toby, feeling disheartened.
+
+"Only a minute or two, and that doesn't count much beside the lesson it
+may be to a couple of scouts I know," said Elmer.
+
+"Tell us just how you know which way the road lies," said Nat.
+
+"Oh, that is as easy as falling off a log," came the crushing reply. "I
+just kept my eyes about me when we were coming in, and noted that we
+were moving due east at the time, with the breeze exactly on our right,
+and you remember it was coming out of the south a bit ago. If it had
+been daylight I'd have known the points of the compass from the
+direction of the sun; or, that failing, by the moss that nearly always
+grows on the north side of the trunks of forest trees. There are many
+ways for a wide-awake boy to find out these things; but only when he
+keeps his wits about him _all_ the time, and his eyes and ears open."
+
+"I guess you're right, Elmer," grunted Toby. "Time I woke up and began
+to do some tall thinking, if ever I'm going to get out of the greenhorn
+class."
+
+While the three were talking after this fashion, in low, cautious tones,
+Elmer had been leading the way in a confident fashion through the gloomy
+woods.
+
+Both the others were now more than a little curious to ascertain just
+how near the point where they had left Lil Artha their guide would fetch
+up. So far as they themselves were concerned it was by this time all a
+confused jumble. If asked to point out the proper direction neither
+could have done better than shut his eyes and thrust out a hand at
+random; for they were very much turned around, now that the clouds had
+rendered it impossible for them to even decide which direction was west.
+
+"Well, I declare!" ejaculated Toby, presently, "here's the bally old
+road, as sure as you're born, Nat!"
+
+"Elmer!" said a low voice, as some object moved near by.
+
+"And better still, here's Lil Artha!" declared Nat, lost in wonder as to
+how Elmer could have done such a remarkable stunt, and with hardly an
+effort, too.
+
+"Sure," came in the same low tone. "Where else should he be but here
+just where you left him? But say, Elmer, you were gone a long time."
+
+"Not a bit over five or six minutes," replied the leader, immediately;
+"and even then, we've had quite a lesson in woodcraft. Besides, Felix is
+half an hour behind, and there's little danger of his catching up, yet
+awhile."
+
+"Do we start on again now?" asked Nat, who was opening and shutting his
+hands nervously in a way that might have excited the scout leader's
+suspicions had he been able to notice the movement.
+
+"Yes, we're going to set the stage now for the last little scene in this
+act of the drama entitled the Great Hike Conspiracy," chuckled Elmer.
+
+"That sounds good to me," murmured Nat.
+
+"Go on, Elmer, and tell us just what you want us all to do," urged Lil
+Artha.
+
+"First of all, you are to start on again, just as before, Lil Artha."
+
+"Yes, I get that all right," replied the tall lad.
+
+"And the rest of us will shadow you," Elmer continued.
+
+"I don't quite understand what you mean, Elmer; will you keep a certain
+distance behind me all the time?" Lil Artha asked.
+
+"You can make up your mind that we'll be close enough every minute to
+hear you whistle steadily as you trudge along," came the reassuring
+reply.
+
+"And that means you'll get on to what they say to me when they show
+their hand: eh, Elmer?"
+
+"Just what it does, Lil Artha," the leader answered.
+
+"Fact is, I want to hear that little dialogue or conversation the worst
+way. Because, you see, we may have to repeat this story a few times
+later on, and we'd like to be able to have it all down pat."
+
+"Well, what happens then after they show their teeth?" questioned the
+tall boy.
+
+"You make up your mind which one of the lot you like best, and hang on
+to him with tooth and nail, as if you thought he was your long-lost
+brother. Get that, Lil Artha?" Elmer continued.
+
+"I understand," came the reply. "You want me to count for one hold-up,
+so as to leave the other three to you fellows?"
+
+"Well, you wouldn't be greedy, would you, and cheat us out of all the
+fun, after we've come all this long way, and risked breaking out necks
+time and time again?" remarked Nat, reproachfully.
+
+"He understands, Nat," remarked Elmer, pouring oil on the troubled
+waters as he frequently did when little frictions arose in the khaki
+troop. "And there's no need of wasting any more time. Be off, Lil Artha,
+and success to you."
+
+"Same here, fellows," came the merry reply; "and more power to your
+elbow, Nat"; from which last remark it was very evident that Lil Artha
+knew full well the impulsive character of the Scott boy, and how his
+desire to engage in "scraps" had not as yet been wholly tamed down by
+his becoming a scout in good standing.
+
+Nat's father was the principal of the public schools in Hickory Ridge;
+and from the time that Nat started to attend he had possibly given the
+professor as much trouble as any lad in the whole town. Not that Nat was
+naturally bad, but his quick temper, and readiness to use his fists to
+settle argument, had drawn him into innumerable scrapes.
+
+Accordingly, Lil Artha once more started along the darkening road,
+swinging out with those long strides which his length made possible.
+
+Elmer calculated to a nicety just how far they ought to allow their chum
+to get before starting to follow. It was important that they should be
+concealed from the eyes of the four in ambush; and yet, on the other
+hand, he did not want to drop back to such a distance that they might be
+cheated out of hearing what happened when the surprise came.
+
+In order to maintain a certain distance in the rear he had instructed
+the one ahead to keep up a steady whistle. Lil Artha was known to be a
+whistler, and often amused his chums by his accomplishment in this line.
+It was a gift, such as an occasional boy finds himself in possession of.
+And more than once had Elmer told his friend that he would make a good
+woodsman if only he turned his talent toward imitating the various clear
+sweet notes of wild birds.
+
+They could hear him easily now, and Elmer fixed the sound in his mind.
+As he had cautioned Lil Artha to keep up a steady flow, it would become
+apparent that they were either diminishing the distance or adding to it,
+if that whistle became louder or softer in volume.
+
+Five minutes passed.
+
+Elmer caught a big sigh close beside him, which he knew must proceed
+from the impetuous Nat. Doubtless every sixty seconds that dragged by
+seemed like an age to the Scott boy; who fancied that after all their
+trouble perhaps they were going to be cheated out of their fun, and that
+the plotters had weakened at the last round.
+
+Not so Elmer, who estimated things at their true value, and not by the
+rapid pulsations of an excited heart.
+
+"Cheer up, Nat," he whispered in the ear of the other; "it's going to
+come pretty soon now."
+
+"Oh, I hope so!" sighed the one who loved action above all things.
+
+"He's stopped whistling, Elmer!" whispered Toby, excitedly.
+
+"No, there he starts again," replied the leader, who in truth suspected
+what the little break in Lil Artha's melody might signify.
+
+Possibly he had caught some suspicious rustling sound, and unconsciously
+held his breath for just five seconds in order to listen better.
+
+Was it a false alarm, or would the music begin immediately? Warned by
+this suggestive hint, Elmer waited, fully expecting to hear a loud voice
+suddenly break forth from some point ahead. Since this was not "Out
+West" where lawless desperadoes held sway, it would hardly come in a
+hoarse demand to "throw up your hands," but in some milder fashion.
+
+And presently Elmer realized that his guess had hit the mark. The
+whistle suddenly ceased. Then they heard a voice call out in the most
+familiar way possible:
+
+"Hello, there, Lil Artha! Hold up a bit, won't you?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+FRIENDS IN TIME OF NEED.
+
+
+A NERVOUS hand gripped the sleeve of Elmer's jacket.
+
+Nat was trembling with suspense; and doubtless Toby, on the other hand,
+was almost as badly off. Elmer had come to a halt as the sound of that
+voice reached them; but it was for only a fraction of a minute. He knew
+that it was policy on their part to creep up, foot by foot; because,
+when Lil Artha wanted help he would need it in a hurry. If they were too
+far away perhaps those energetic Fairfield plotters might be able to
+throw the tall lad into the car, and start going; when, as Nat might
+have expressed it, "the fat would be in the fire."
+
+"Why, hello! Who's that?" they heard Lil Artha reply, in the most
+natural tone any fellow could display.
+
+Of course he ought to show surprise at being suddenly hailed from the
+bushes so far away from home, and by some one familiar with his name.
+
+Evidently the quartette at that came out of hiding and surrounded the
+tall lad; for his next exclamation seemed to announce this fact.
+
+"Four of you, hey? Well, this is nice of you, boys, to come all this way
+just to give me a good word of cheer!" he remarked.
+
+"Hold up, don't be in such a hurry to get along, Lil Artha," said one
+who seemed to be the leader of the lot.
+
+"But how do I know how close some other fellow may be on my heels!"
+remarked the tall lad; although he evidently did not make any further
+attempt to brush past them.
+
+"Say, that's just it!" declared the unknown, who, no doubt, had his hat
+pulled down over his face, and depended on this, as well as the
+gathering gloom of approaching night, to conceal his identity. "There is
+a Fairfield fellow hot on your trail, and he's bound to beat you out,
+because he's got his second wind."
+
+"Yes," spoke up another, quickly, chuckling at the same time; "that's
+what we're bothered about, Lil Artha. We just can't bear the idea of you
+being beat to a frazzle by Felix Wagner."
+
+"But I don't mean to be, you know, boys," expostulated the tall boy.
+"Little Falls ain't mor'n nine miles ahead; and if Felix has got his
+second wind, I'm in the same boat myself. Count on me to get there ahead
+of him, fellows!"
+
+"But you might have an accident, stub your toe or something like that,"
+declared the leader of the opposition.
+
+"So might Felix," remarked Lil Artha, cheerfully.
+
+"Yes, that's so," came the reply; "but you don't know the luck of that
+Dutchman. Everything comes his way, Lil Artha."
+
+"Well, this hike won't, bet you a cookey!" remarked the other,
+stubbornly.
+
+"He's right behind you, and coming like a house afire."
+
+"Then what in the dickens are you keeping me waiting here for?" demanded
+Lil Artha, indignantly.
+
+"I'll tell you," replied the leader of the four, mysteriously.
+
+"Hurry up, then, and let me go ahead," ordered the tall lad.
+
+"We've been talking it over, you see," began the other.
+
+"It's plain enough that talking is something in your trade," commented
+Lil Artha, bitterly; and Elmer heard Toby alongside him chuckle softly,
+as though he might be enjoying these caustic remarks of their tall chum
+mightily.
+
+"And we've come to a conclusion, Lil Artha," went on the other, as
+though he was not to be moved by any thrusts from the tongue of the
+contestant.
+
+"All right. Glad you've come to something. Hurry up and spit it out, and
+then give me a clear road, won't you?" the one who was being held up
+remarked, sharply.
+
+"The honor of good old Hickory Ridge is at stake," continued the
+unknown, in a solemn tone that suggested graveyards and all that sort of
+thing, Chatz Maxfield would have declared.
+
+"Sure it is, and if you don't let up on this business it'll go
+aglimmering. I want to walk, I tell you," declared Lil Artha.
+
+"Hold on, now. Easy, Lil Artha. We represent a committee of the Hickory
+Ridge boys, and have been sent out to make dead sure that you win this
+big hike; d'ye get on to that, now?"
+
+"Well, it sounds all right, but for the life of me I can't place you
+among all the fellows I know," returned Lil Artha, suspiciously.
+
+"Never mind about that; it don't cut any figure in the matter at all.
+Fact is, none of us want you to know us. Then you won't be able to give
+the game away."
+
+"Game? What's that mean?" demanded the other. "Open up here, and show
+your hand, won't you?"
+
+"We want to help you on your weary way, Lil Artha."
+
+"With cheery words and all that?" queried the one addressed, with
+something of a sneer showing in his tone.
+
+"Shucks! Something that counts better than cheery words. We've got a
+bully old car right here, Lil Artha. You can see it if you look."
+
+"Well, I see it all right," returned the Hickory Ridge scout; "but
+what's that got to do with a fellow that's on a long walk, and anxious
+to get to the end of his journey, tell me that?"
+
+"Huh, a heap, Lil Artha; and you must be silly not to see through a
+grindstone that's got such a big hole in it. What's a car made for,
+anyway?" demanded the leader of the ambushing party, while his comrades
+laughed harshly.
+
+"Look here, what're you hinting at?" asked Lil Artha. "You don't want me
+to get in there with you, I hope?"
+
+"Plenty of room for six, and there's only four along, Lil Artha."
+
+"But I don't need any help that way," protested the tall boy, angrily.
+"I tell you I'm good for hours of hard grind yet. Not one chance in
+sixty of me losing out to that Felix Wagner. I don't care what sort of a
+hustle he's got on him. Just you clear the track, and watch my smoke,
+that's all."
+
+"But we fellows of Hickory Ridge don't want to take the chances. Here's
+a bully opening for you to be carried along five miles in as many
+minutes. Then we'll set you down, and you can finish the hike into
+Little Falls as fresh as a daisy. You'll do it, Lil Artha, of course you
+will?"
+
+"Of course I won't, and you hear me warble at that!" roared the tall
+boy, furiously. "What's more, I don't believe a single one of you live
+in Hickory Ridge. Just let me strike a match and have a look at your
+faces. Then perhaps I'll believe you mean honest, even if I can't take
+up your offer."
+
+There was a slight scuffle at this. Evidently Lil Artha had attempted
+to put his suggestion into practice; but a ready hand had knocked the
+match out of his grasp just as he struck it. There was a sudden gleam of
+light, and then darkness again.
+
+"No, you don't, old fellow," said a voice that was now tinged with
+anger. "None of that funny business goes with us, does it, boys?"
+
+"Nixey, not this time," replied one.
+
+"Quit kidding, and make him be good," growled another, who plainly had
+tired of the game as far as it had gone and wanted to be on the move.
+
+"What's this mean?" demanded Lil Artha, just as though he could not as
+yet get the true facts through his fuddled brain.
+
+"The bird that can sing and won't, must be made to sing, they say,"
+growled the fellow who seemed to take the lead in the abduction game.
+
+"Grab him, boys, and jam him in the car; that's the only way!" burst out
+a second of the quartette.
+
+"Hold on here, do you know what this means?" asked the one who was being
+threatened in this fashion. "It's an outrage to stop me like this. And
+when you say you're from Hickory Ridge, you lie, that's what! You're a
+bunch of Fairfield cowards, and you're only trying to make me break the
+rules of the game so that I can't win! I'm on to your dodge, and don't
+you forget it!"
+
+A series of scornful laughs greeted these words. Evidently the hold-up
+fellows felt so very sure that they had things in their hands that they
+could afford to delay a little; just as the cat, not feeling
+particularly hungry, will play with the mouse that has been maimed.
+
+"Listen to him, will you?" jeered one.
+
+"He's on, all right, fellows," exclaimed another; "he sees through the
+dodge, does Lil Artha. Oh, ain't it a great thing to be a scout, and use
+your brains! But all the same, we don't expect to let our big friend
+have his way, do we, boys?"
+
+Of course they were clustered around the Hickory Ridge scout, cutting
+off all avenues of escape, even if Lil Artha should conceive the idea of
+running away.
+
+"Not much, we don't," echoed another.
+
+"Keep your hands off me now, I warn you all!" shouted the tall boy,
+aggressively; but in reality his words were intended to inform Elmer,
+Toby and Nat just how far events had progressed, so that they might
+arrange their movements accordingly.
+
+"Are you going to get aboard?" demanded the leader, harshly.
+
+"You mean of my own free will?" asked Lil Artha, fighting for a little
+time, so that he could make sure of having his chums come up for the
+crisis.
+
+"Yes, climb in, Lil Artha!"
+
+"I refuse; and defy the whole bunch of you. I'm going to stick to the
+rules of the game; and you can't make me change my mind. Bah!" the tall
+scout shouted.
+
+"Tackle him, and if he fights back, don't be too gentle with the big
+cub. He's going to be carried five miles and more, whether he wants to
+go or not!"
+
+As the leader snapped this out there were heard sounds of a scuffle. No
+need of daylight to tell those who were crouching so close at hand what
+was taking place.
+
+Grunts and low exclamations told that Lil Artha was doing his level best
+to resist the onslaught of the four Fairfield rowdies.
+
+Still, the tall scout from the Ridge was only a boy after all; and if
+those opposed to him were less lengthy, that was no reason they lacked
+in physical powers. And left to himself, there could have been no doubt
+in the world but that after a gallant resistance Lil Artha would have
+found himself bundled into the car, possibly bearing numerous cuts and
+contusions on his body as mute witnesses to the fight he had put up.
+
+And once they had him in the tonneau, three could hold him tight while
+the other fellow started the machine. After that it would have been
+"one, two, three," in the language of Lil Artha himself, so far as his
+right to claim the prize of the great hike was concerned.
+
+There could be no doubt but that the boy who was thus attacked was
+following out the suggestions given by his patrol leader. This was made
+evident by the loud cries of the fellow whose voice proclaimed him as
+being the leader of the attacking squad.
+
+"Pull him off, there, can't you?" he yelled. "He's hugging me like fun,
+and got his long arms twisted around my neck. Hi, there! somebody give
+him a jerk before he chokes me! Knock him in the ribs, and make him let
+go, fellows!"
+
+Nothing could hold Nat Scott back after that. The sound of battle acted
+on him just as the smoke of burnt powder is said to affect a horse that
+is accustomed to the roar of mighty conflict.
+
+Nor did Elmer have the slightest idea of trying to keep either of his
+chums in restraint longer. The crisis had arrived, and Lil Artha needed
+their help, lest he be bodily kidnaped and carried away in that car.
+
+So they swiftly bore down upon the scene of the fracas. In the gathering
+darkness they could just manage to distinguish a group of wildly
+struggling figures; for Lil Artha had one of the ambushing party in his
+embrace, and the other three were vainly endeavoring to make him break
+his hold.
+
+"Remember, one apiece!" Elmer said, as they arrived on the spot.
+
+Up to that second none of the Fairfield fellows had the slightest
+suspicion that their miserable game had reached a snag. One happened to
+discover the coming of a single figure, and apparently the only thought
+that flashed through his mind was that the next nearest contestant had
+somehow managed to arrive on the spot ahead of scheduled time; for he
+immediately began to shout aloud:
+
+"Keep your hands off, Felix; this is our job, and you don't want to know
+anything about it. Go right along the road now, and close your eyes and
+ears. You've got a snap, and a soft one at that. Here, let go of me, you
+fool! We're your friends, d'ye hear! Quit it, I tell you! Wow! What's
+this mean, fellows?" And the one who was making all this outcry suddenly
+changed his tune from indignation to fright, as he noticed other
+vigorous forms attacking his companions.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+HOW THE PLOT FAILED.
+
+
+"HELP, help! he's choking me! Pull him off, you fools, can't you?"
+shouted the valiant leader of the four, who had planned to have all this
+fun with Lil Artha, and now found that the shoe was on the other foot,
+since it seemed to be the tall scout who was enjoying a monopoly of the
+sport.
+
+But instead of his mates obeying, he found that they had suddenly ceased
+in what efforts they were putting forth. The mystery was not difficult
+to solve, because every fellow had enough to do defending himself
+against an assailant who had apparently sprung from the darkness.
+
+It was a lively scene for a short time. The Fairfield fellows understood
+that in some miserable way their scheme must have become known to the
+Hickory Ridge scouts. Perhaps they heard Toby call out the name of Elmer
+when asking what he was to do with the fellow on whose back he had
+lodged with the tenacity that the Old Man of the Sea exhibited when he
+refused to let Sinbad the Sailor put him down.
+
+They struggled hard, but it was no longer with the idea of completing
+their cowardly plan. All thought of carrying Lil Artha off in the car
+was now abandoned, and each and every Fairfield fellow only considered
+his individual chances for making what Nat called a "get-away."
+
+Speaking of Nat, that worthy was really and truly happy. Old times had
+come back again, and once more were his muscles being allowed to play
+their part in a struggle for the mastery.
+
+He had early picked out the victim whom he felt called upon to punish.
+If pugnacious Nat could only have had his sweet way about the matter,
+that party would undoubtedly have been the leader of the four Fairfield
+schemers; but since Lil Artha already had that worthy "in chancery," as
+it is called when one gets his opponent's head under his arm and in a
+position of abject helplessness, Nat had to content himself with
+selecting a less prominent foeman.
+
+What happened just then and there it would be hardly fair to state,
+because of the fact that Nat was a scout in good standing. But there
+were several loud thumps heard, and somebody seemed to pick himself up
+from the road twice, only to suddenly sit down again, with more grunts
+and finally decline to get up at all. Upon which Nat danced around him,
+making threatening gestures, and actually daring the alarmed plotter to
+try and get on his feet again.
+
+Elmer, on his part, had happened to lay hold of a very slippery
+customer. The Hickory Ridge scout did not want to hurt the fellow any
+more than he could help; but at the same time he was bound to do all in
+his power to hold him; for he meant to take a look at every one of their
+faces, so that he could tell them again.
+
+Twice the other had come close to slipping out of his clutches, despite
+the grip Elmer had upon him. The second occasion was when with some sort
+of movement, which he had possibly practiced until he had it down fine,
+the boy suddenly drew his arms out of the sleeves of his coat, and was
+in the act of darting away when Elmer threw out a foot and tripped him.
+
+Again he pounced on the other, and this time managed to get a good grip,
+so as to be able to exert himself. The consequence was that he spun the
+Fairfield chap around on his back and was able to place a knee on his
+chest.
+
+"Now, lie still, you, unless you want to get hurt!" Elmer exclaimed; and
+being by this time of the opinion that he had run up against a buzz-saw
+in action, the panting and defeated plotter gave in.
+
+The clamor had for the most part ceased. Only Nat seemed to be doing an
+Indian war dance around his prostrate foeman and shaking his fist every
+little while in the fellow's face.
+
+"Don't hit me!" yelled the alarmed one. "I'm all in, don't you see? I
+cave! I'm a prisoner, and scouts don't dare hit a defenseless fellow, do
+they?"
+
+"Aw, you make me think of a coward that would hide behind a woman's
+skirts!" declared Nat, in disgust, because his enjoyment had been so
+suddenly cut short by the collapse of his opponent. "Why don't you stand
+up and take your medicine like a little man? Just because I belong to
+the scouts I ain't allowed to hand you what you'd give me if you had the
+upper hand. It's tough, that's what."
+
+Possibly Nat might have been tempted beyond his powers of resistance but
+for the fact of the patrol leader's presence.
+
+"Hold up there, Nat, Toby, Lil Artha!" called out Elmer just then. "How
+is the world treating you, fellows?"
+
+"All to the good here," chuckled Toby, who was still clinging to the
+back of his capture and showed no inclination to let go.
+
+"My pig looks like thirty cents!" said the tall scout who, left to
+himself, had speedily reduced his opponent.
+
+"And mine is on the blink, too," declared Nat.
+
+"Shucks, I ain't had hardly a mite of fun out of it all! He laid down on
+me, that's what he did, Elmer."
+
+"'Taint so," bawled the fellow, indignantly. "He just went and knocked
+me down two times, and here he goes now waving his old fist under my
+nose like he wanted to do it some more. Call him off, Elmer, the game's
+all up and we cave!"
+
+"All right, boys, glad to hear it," sang out the patrol leader; "but
+before we let you go we're bound to have a look at every one of your
+faces, so we can know you again."
+
+There was more or less muttering at this, for the Fairfield boys began
+to see that they were doubtless in for considerable unenviable publicity
+on account of the affair. But beggars can seldom be choosers. They found
+themselves helpless in the hands of their enemies, and must do exactly
+what they were told.
+
+So Elmer took out his match-safe and prepared to strike a light.
+
+"See if you know the fellow you've got hold of, boys," he called.
+
+Then the little illumination flared up.
+
+"I know this duck all right!" called out Toby. "He's Dick Rawlings who
+used to play center field on the Fairfield nine."
+
+"And I've got Eddie Johnston, just as I expected!" announced Lil Artha
+who, it will be remembered, had seized upon the leader of the quartette
+by whom he had been stopped on the road with the demand that he ride,
+whether he wanted to do so or not.
+
+"I don't seem to know this cowardly cub," declared Nat, who had lighted
+a match on his own account, and bent low over his prisoner. "He makes
+the worst faces you ever saw, just to keep me from knowing him again.
+Here, stop your throwing your head around that way, or else you'll get
+burned! Hey! what did I tell you? Got a little dose of it then, did you?
+And one of your eyebrows singed right off! Well, you _will_ be a beaut
+for a while now, and I reckon I can put my finger on you any time I
+want."
+
+"You did that apurpose!" shouted the fellow on the ground, glaring at
+the grinning Nat. "You just wanted to mark me, that's what!"
+
+"Oh, rats! Close your trap now and see how you can run," laughed Nat, as
+he took a firm grip on the collar of the other, and started to drag him
+up off the ground, the fellow whimpering all the while as though he
+really expected that he was going to be badly treated.
+
+"Who's your bug, Elmer?" cried Lil Artha.
+
+"I think his name is Sandy Coons; anyhow he's got cross-eyes and that
+ought to mark him, if ever we want to prove that he was here," replied
+the patrol leader, as he assisted the fellow to get up.
+
+"That's O. K., Elmer," declared Lil Artha. "Sandy Coons has got a pair
+of the crookedest eyes ever; and if you look close you'll see he's got a
+notch in his right ear. I remember when he got that, too; a fellow he
+was with pinned his ear to a tree with an arrow he fired, when they were
+playing Buffalo Bill's Wild West, and when Sandy tore loose it left a
+dent. Is it there, Elmer?"
+
+"Sure as you live," laughed the other, as he looked.
+
+"Then we know the whole cahoot of 'em," declared Lil Artha, "And now,
+please hurry up and get 'em on the jump, Elmer, because it's time I was
+hiking out again, you understand."
+
+"What're you going to do with us, fellows?" asked the leader, as they
+were being ranged in line.
+
+"We're going to start you down the road to meet Felix and tell him the
+game's all up," said Toby, who seemed to believe the Fairfield
+competitor must be aware of the scheme by means of which he was to be
+benefited; though Elmer on his part thought better of the rival scout.
+
+"But--our car is here," expostulated one of the prisoners.
+
+"Then come back and get it later on; we don't mean to run away with it.
+But if you take my advice, you'll cut for home right away, because this
+thing has gone to the limit. And anyone trying to hamper Lil Artha any
+further is liable to get himself seriously hurt. Understand that, all?"
+and Elmer allowed his voice to express the indignation that surged
+through his soul.
+
+"Aw, let us loose! You know we've thrown up the sponge, and it's to the
+tall timber for the lot," grumbled the leader.
+
+Nat suddenly made a rapid movement. There was a cry, and then a fellow
+started at a rapid pace along the road. Nat, unable to hold in any
+longer, had given his prisoner the start he promised, which, of course,
+meant a hearty kick.
+
+Elmer let his captive go scot-free, which fact so aroused the
+indignation of Nat that he darted after the fleeing Sandy Coons, and by
+rapid work succeeded in placing his number seven in the place where it
+would do the most good. At least the others judged this from the
+agonized shriek that floated back to their ears.
+
+Lil Artha was quick to see a good thing and show his appreciation. In
+his mind imitation was the sincerest flattery; and accordingly the
+successor in the bully line to Matt Tubbs was heard to loudly declare
+that he would never, never cease to remember the long-legged scout; but
+upon hearing the aggressive Nat making in his direction he, too, faded
+away.
+
+That left only one to be treated, and this the chap whom Toby had been
+riding as he might a horse. This fellow, understanding that he was in
+for a good dose of the same kind of medicine, began struggling again,
+hoping to upset his captor and in some way make off without submitting
+to that humiliating experience.
+
+It was of no use, however. Lil Artha took hold of him, and then told
+Toby to let go. There was some little confusion, and then the fellow
+galloped madly up the road, bellowing as though in pain.
+
+"Did you get him?" asked Toby, eagerly.
+
+"Well, I nearly broke my toe, because you see I'm wearing light walking
+shoes on this hike. And how about you, Toby?" laughed the tall one.
+
+"Dick Rawlings won't play ball for a little while; till he gets over his
+limp, anyway," answered the other.
+
+"Field's clear now, Elmer, ain't it?" asked Lil Artha, turning to the
+patrol leader for further orders.
+
+"Yes, and the sooner you're off again the better, Lil Artha," replied
+Elmer. "You see, that Felix has been coming along all this while, and
+perhaps he may be nearer than we think. How is it with you now; ready to
+put in your best licks on the home stretch?"
+
+"I'm just feeling as fresh as a daisy, Elmer," replied the other. "This
+little business seems to have given me a new appetite. You watch me just
+eat up the miles. Nine of 'em, do you say? Shucks, I'll be in Little
+Falls before two hours!"
+
+"Bully for Lil Artha!" exclaimed Nat, clapping his hands.
+
+"Well, we'll put it out of the power of these fellows to pursue you any
+farther, by taking their spark plug along. Ten to one they haven't got
+an extra plug with them. And, Toby, Nat, we mustn't forget that we've
+got machines a ways back here."
+
+"That's right, Elmer. Do we get a move on us, and go for 'em now?" asked
+Nat.
+
+Lil Artha had already waved his hand at them, and started off along the
+road at a stiff pace, which seemed to emphasize the truth of what he had
+just said about feeling as "fresh as a daisy."
+
+"That's just what we're going to do," replied the other; "so come along
+boys."
+
+"Gee! I hope we happen to run foul of one of them fellers again,"
+laughed Nat.
+
+"Don't be a hog, Nat," admonished Toby. "You had ought to remember that
+now you belong to the scouts you've got to be merciful."
+
+"Ain't I?" protested the pugnacious one. "Didn't I just kick that feller
+with the singed eyebrow, when I might have punched his head? Guess I
+know my duty, Toby Jones!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+VICTORY--SISS! BOOM! HURRAH!
+
+
+ELMER was as good as his word. He knew how to cripple the car, and in
+almost no time he had secured the vital plug without which the machine
+was valueless for following after Lil Artha, and making him any more
+trouble.
+
+Then he and his two chums hurried back along the road, meaning to look
+up their motorcycles; and once mounted upon these they could speedily
+overtake Lil Artha; to form a guard of honor about him while he covered
+the last few miles of his long and adventurous hike, that was to bring
+new glory to the khaki troop of Hickory Ridge.
+
+Nat ran on ahead. They knew full well that it was not any eagerness to
+be the first to discover the marked spot near which the machines had
+been secreted that influenced him to do this, but some other motive,
+possibly not quite so worthy of commendation.
+
+But even Elmer did not say a word. In the first place he did not think
+Nat would be successful in overtaking one of the Fairfield schemers; and
+then again, Elmer was not feeling any too kindly toward fellows who
+could try to put through such a mean plot for defeating the ambitions of
+the leader in the great hike.
+
+"Hold on, there; come back, Nat!" called Toby, presently. "You've gone
+and overrun the place. It's lucky Elmer here took note of this big oak
+tree; or a pretty time we'd have finding our wheels again."
+
+Nat did return, but with a bad grace. He was mumbling something about
+"hard lines when everything goes against a fellow," and all that sort of
+stuff; but no one appeared to pay any attention to his complaint.
+
+They quickly found the three motorcycles, just as they had left them;
+and again Toby started out to lead the way, only to make a mess of it.
+
+"What's wrong this time, Elmer?" he asked, when the patrol leader gave
+him to understand that they would be a long time getting out of the
+woods if they kept on the route he, Toby, had started to follow. "I made
+sure to notice that the wind was on the same side as when you led us out
+before."
+
+"Yes, but since then the wind's taken a sudden shift. You should have
+paid attention to that just when we left the road," remarked the other.
+"A woodsman never goes by what it was a while ago. He knows changes are
+liable to come around most any old time; and that's what happened here.
+Wind whipped around about ten degrees, and is heading from the southwest
+quarter now. That may mean rain before long, boys."
+
+"Let her come if she wants," declared Toby, who was something of a
+philosopher at times. "Can't do any more than soak us through, and at
+this time of year that's nothing. I've fallen into a pond more times
+than I've got fingers on both hands. They just can't drown me, and that
+goes, boys."
+
+"So long as Lil Artha comes in well to the front, and the Hickory Ridge
+scouts win the big hike, what do we care?" Nat spoke up. "Besides, we've
+had a little mite of fun, you know, fellows."
+
+"Fun for the boys, but how about the frogs?" laughed Elmer, as he
+pushed his machine through the low brush, heading for the road again.
+
+"Let the bullfrogs look out for themselves, that's all," declared Nat.
+"Any silly gump who will duck his head about, when a feller's holdin' a
+lighted match close to his nose, just ought to get burnt. Say, think of
+that guy minus one of his eyebrows; and he's got big ones too, at that!
+Won't he be the sight, though!"
+
+So, joking and laughing, they pushed on. Presently the road being
+reached, they proceeded to get a start. Fortunately the incline was
+downhill, if anything, which promised to make it easier for a mount. Had
+the opposite been the case one or more of the boys might have had some
+difficulty in getting started.
+
+Elmer was away first, with a merry splutter of explosive sounds; but he
+quickly shut off most of his power in order to wait for the others. Toby
+came along after two efforts at mounting; but Nat seemed to be having
+one of his old troubles. This time, however, the fault apparently lay in
+Nat, and not in his motor, for they could hear the racket the engine
+kept up.
+
+"Here he comes like a skyrocket!" announced Toby, as the character of
+the sounds from the rear changed; and sure enough they quickly heard Nat
+whooping it up.
+
+"Clear the track, there! Get out of the road everybody, and give me
+room. Hi! My old ice wagon's taken the bitt in her mouth; she's running
+away with me, Elmer! Look out there!"
+
+Luckily Elmer had insisted that each of them light the acetylene gas
+lamps belonging to their motorcycles before attempting to make a start.
+Hence they were able to see Nat bearing down upon them with a rush, and
+get to one side of the road in a hurry.
+
+He went whizzing past amid a rattle and confusion, for, as usual, Nat
+had paid no attention to his muffler.
+
+"Somebody head me off!" came floating back, as the runaway machine went
+whirling along the road leading to Little Falls.
+
+"Good gracious! What can we do?" gasped Toby.
+
+"You stick by Lil Artha!"
+
+Even as he shouted these words Elmer was giving his machine its head,
+and quickly he vanished from the view of the other around a bend.
+
+It was no easy task that now presented itself to the young patrol
+leader. Had it been a runaway horse there might have been some hope of
+the rider controlling it; but with a motorcycle that took what seemed to
+be a fiendish pleasure in doing just the things its owner did not want
+done, the case was a different matter.
+
+Something had become jammed, so that poor Nat, having opened his engine
+up wide on starting, was unable to shut off power. And there he was,
+rushing along at a reckless speed, headed for Little Falls by the most
+direct route.
+
+Somebody shouted out something as Elmer sped along. He guessed it must
+be Lil Artha, who had discreetly sought the side of the road upon seeing
+that fierce light bearing down upon him. But Elmer could not find time
+to reply. Besides, there was Toby, who would be along presently, and in
+a condition to tell the tall scout just what was taking place.
+
+Elmer was keeping a bright lookout ahead. He knew that, given a fair
+field, he could easily overtake the runaway motorcycle; but this thing
+of rushing along in the darkness was no child's play. At any second he
+might bang into some obstacle that would give him a nasty tumble.
+
+Besides, he had to keep watch over the leading machine, so that he might
+not run into Nat; which would be the worst sort of calamity that could
+happen to them both.
+
+At least he was gaining fast now; he could tell that by the glow from
+the other lamp which lighted up the road ahead.
+
+Presently he found himself within speaking distance. He could just
+barely see Nat humped there in his saddle, giving his entire attention
+to keeping his runaway machine in the road.
+
+"Hello, Nat ahoy!" he called aloud, so that the sound of his voice might
+reach the other above the clattering of his "cantankerous" motor, as Nat
+himself was fond of calling his engine, which was now on such a wild
+plunge.
+
+"Hey, that you, Elmer?" came back to him; and the patrol leader imagined
+there was a trace of alarm as well as vexation in the voice.
+
+"Yes, can't you keep over on the left side of the road? I want to come
+closer to you so we can talk," Elmer called.
+
+"All right. Half is good enough for me; so come right along, Elmer."
+
+In another minute they were nearly abreast, each striving to keep to his
+side of the thoroughfare as best he could.
+
+"Steady, now, Nat," said Elmer. "Be careful how you let her yaw this
+way, for I'm only a length behind you; and a mix-up wouldn't be the
+nicest thing going."
+
+"I'm holding her steady, Elmer. Now, tell me how I'm going to get the
+curb on her, won't you?"
+
+So Elmer began by asking questions concerning what seemed to have become
+jammed; and in this way he quickly understood the situation. A few
+suggestions followed, which, upon being put into practice, brought
+forth a loud cheer from the relieved owner of the runaway motorcycle.
+
+"It's all right now, Elmer! That last move did the business for her! She
+minds her head now; see, I can slow down just as I please. But, wow,
+that was a lively dash as long as it lasted. I sure began to think I'd
+bump into Little Falls like a falling comet, and run up against a stone
+wall; when good-by to my neck."
+
+"Well, suppose then we turn around, and see if we can pick up the
+others. Try it first, and see if things work smooth," and Elmer jumped
+from his saddle as he said this, assisting Nat make the test.
+
+Having made sure of this they returned along the road, though at a much
+less rapid pace than they had recently shown in covering it. The light
+from Toby's lamp told them when they were nearing the walking Lil Artha;
+and presently the four Hickory Ridge scouts were together.
+
+"I tell you what," remarked Toby, heaving a sigh, "I'll be awful glad to
+get you safe back home again, Nat Scott. What you haven't tried the last
+few hours ain't worth telling. And now that your old huckleberry of a
+machine has taken to cutting up monkey shines a feller's life ain't safe
+nohow."
+
+Lil Artha seemed to be in the best of humor. Things were, as he himself
+remarked, "breaking all right for a fellow of his size," and he had no
+cause for complaint.
+
+"Just a few little incidents to liven up the last quarter of a pokey
+hike, boys," he observed, as he strode along, with those lengthy legs
+covering a yard at each and every step. "Why, I'll be entering Little
+Falls like a conquering hero, with a guard of honor around me. Shouldn't
+wonder but what we'll run across Mr. Garrabrant there, keeping company
+with the other scout master."
+
+"That's just what you'll do," remarked Elmer over his shoulder as he
+rode slowly along in the van of the procession; "because he went ahead
+with that idea in view, to be on hand to receive the first contestant
+who showed up."
+
+They enlivened the journey with all sorts of conversation and jokes.
+Wearied as Lil Artha must certainly be, after coming all these long
+miles since sunup, his chums sought to make him forget the fact by
+keeping him in high spirits.
+
+Nothing happened to interfere with their plans. Those who were inclined
+to act ugly toward the possible winner were a long way in the rear, and
+only concerned about getting home again with the car that belonged to
+the father of one of the quartette.
+
+It was not a great while after nine o'clock when the lights ahead told
+that they were approaching a town.
+
+"That's Little Falls, brother!" called Elmer, cheerily.
+
+"Well, honest now, I ain't sorry to know it," declared Lil Artha;
+"though, if I had to do it, I reckon I could crawl along a little
+farther, p'raps a dozen or two miles. If anything's won this walk for
+me, fellows, it's just been pluck. You can tell me all you want to about
+athletes and such, but in my opinion that's what counts above condition
+and everything else. As long as you keep up heart you've got a look-in;
+but when the sinking spell comes, good-by."
+
+Ten minutes later they entered among the houses. Immediately some boys
+in khaki who were posted along the road as a sort of vedette corps,
+began to call out to one another, uttering cries like the fox and the
+bear, which doubtless denoted the nature of their patrols.
+
+Presently there was quite a crowd accompanying Lil Artha as he headed
+for the church where the local troop of Boy Scouts had their
+headquarters.
+
+Here there were many lights, and a lot of people assembled. When Lil
+Artha passed through the open doorway a tremendous outburst of applause
+greeted his appearance. He doubtless felt something of the thrill of
+victory that used to come to the Grecian victor in those old days of the
+Marathon races.
+
+Mr. Garrabrant beamed with pleasure when he saw that it was a Hickory
+Ridge boy who had come in first. Heartily did he shake hands with Lil
+Artha and congratulate him on his pluck in making the entire distance
+with hours to spare.
+
+And when a little later on, while waiting to see if Felix came in before
+the storm broke, the scout master listened with the greatest possible
+interest while Elmer related what was known about the evil intentions of
+those four scheming lads from Fairfield; and also laughed when he heard
+how their designs had been signally defeated by the bravery and
+intelligence of Lil Artha's faithful chums.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+"THE FINEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO FAIRFIELD!"
+
+
+AFTER the second in the race, Felix Wagner, had come in, one of the
+first things the boy from Fairfield did was to hunt out Lil Artha, shake
+hands with him heartily, and congratulate him.
+
+"I'd like to have beat you, all right," he said with a whimsical
+grimace; "but I take it no fellow had need of feeling ashamed about
+playing second fiddle to such a giant on a hike as you, Lil Artha. And
+that goes."
+
+Elmer had watched this meeting with eagerness; and he immediately turned
+to Mr. Garrabrant.
+
+"That settles one thing I've been worrying about," he declared,
+emphatically.
+
+"Meaning that this Fairfield lad has had no knowledge of the miserable
+game that some of his misguided friends were engineering in his behalf;
+is that it, Elmer?" remarked the gentleman, understanding what he had in
+mind.
+
+"Yes, sir," came the reply. "You see, from all accounts, in the old days
+this same Felix Wagner was one of the right bowers of Matt Tubbs. And
+somehow I seemed to be making up my mind that if _he_ had a hand in this
+ugly deal, there was a screw loose somewhere in this reformation
+business over there."
+
+"But now?" asked Mr. Garrabrant, smiling.
+
+"It looks good to me, as Lil Artha would say," replied Elmer. "If ever a
+fellow seemed in earnest, Felix was when he said those words just now.
+And I feel positive that when he hears the story of how some of his
+friends tried to make Lil Artha ride, so as to knock him out of the
+race, Felix will be furious."
+
+Which prediction proved to be the case a little later; but we cannot
+afford either the time or space to go into particulars with regard to
+this.
+
+"Now we have another job before us," remarked Mr. Garrabrant, when ten
+o'clock had arrived.
+
+"You mean looking up the cripples--those who are ready to admit that
+their hope of reaching Little Falls within the required time has died
+out; and who will be only too willing to get a lift back home?" Elmer
+suggested.
+
+"Why, yes, some of them must be in a pretty bad way; and as it still
+threatens rain we must look them all up. I have three cars here that can
+be used for the job. Would you care to run ahead, and try to hunt them
+up, Elmer?"
+
+"Yes, on one condition," came the reply.
+
+"Oh, you can consider that it is granted before you ask; but what is its
+nature?" Mr. Garrabrant inquired, laughingly.
+
+"That I ride alone," answered the boy.
+
+"Oh, I see," the scout master went on, nodding his head wisely; "you
+dread having Toby and Nat along with their decrepit wheels to add to
+your troubles."
+
+"Yes," said Elmer, seriously; "because I can make much better time
+alone, rain or not. Besides, I think the boys ought to have a rest; and
+it would really be better if they put up here in Little Falls with some
+Boy Scout friends until to-morrow, when they can come home."
+
+"All right; I shall so advise them; though if they choose to leave their
+motorcycles here until some future day, they can just as well ride back
+in a car."
+
+Both Toby and Nat, however, had friends in the town, and concluded to
+stay over. Their machines had taken on a new life apparently, since
+their association with Elmer and they were much encouraged.
+
+Accordingly, the leader of the Wolf Patrol started out. Fifty miles or
+so does not amount to a great deal when mounted on a good motorcycle;
+and if that threatened storm would only hold off a few hours, Elmer felt
+that he would have little cause for complaint.
+
+As he rode along the thoroughfare he frequently sounded his horn in such
+a way that any stragglers would know it was meant for a signal to show
+themselves. It was to be Elmer's duty to warn them that the cars would
+soon be along, and that they could get back to Hickory Ridge in that way
+if they preferred.
+
+About five miles out he heard a shout, and some one who was standing
+alongside the road waved his hat. It was Matty, the leader of the Beaver
+Patrol.
+
+Elmer immediately jumped off his machine and put the question up to his
+fellow scout. But he really knew what the answer would be before the
+other opened his mouth.
+
+"What, me give up, when I'm within smelling distance of my goal?"
+declared the determined Matty. "Not for Joseph! I'm going on and report
+to the headquarters of the Little Falls troop; and get back home
+to-morrow someway or other. But I'm glad Lil Artha got the prize. He's
+a dandy on a hike, I tell you; and Hickory Ridge is proud of him, sure
+as you're born! So long, Elmer; get word to my folks, if you can; though
+I warned 'em not to look for me to-night."
+
+Then Matty strode off bravely, though Elmer detected a slight limp which
+even his game qualities could not entirely conceal.
+
+A little later on he picked up Red Huggins and Phil Dale, the latter
+having given up, as he was utterly worn out. They had started a fire
+alongside the road and were preparing to pass the remainder of the night
+after the fashion of true scouts. In view of the possibility of rain the
+boys were even then starting to make some sort of shelter from branches
+and such stuff as they could find.
+
+Of course they received the good news with tremendous satisfaction; and
+declared that they would be only too delighted to get a chance of a lift
+back home.
+
+"Hope they'll let me fasten my old wheel behind, somehow?" remarked
+Phil; and Elmer assured him that that had all been arranged for.
+
+So leaving them, with an exchange of cheers, Elmer rode on.
+
+One by one he came across Jack, Ty, George, and the Fairfield fellow,
+Angus McDowd, the latter still in company with young Robbins. And every
+one of them expressed the greatest satisfaction when they heard how Mr.
+Garrabrant did not mean that they should spend the night away from home
+but would speedily be along with a number of cars calculated to carry
+them back to Hickory Ridge.
+
+Even Tom Cropsey was located, he having taken refuge in the branches of
+a tree, because of a farmer's vicious dog that kept barking savagely
+not far away; and Tom happened to be particularly timid about strange
+dogs. His wheel being useless, and himself too cramped for walking, he
+had "camped" after his own fashion.
+
+Thus all were restored to their homes that night save the other
+Fairfield boy who had sprained his ankle and was in bed at the tavern;
+Matty, who declined to be brought back until he had finished his task;
+and Elmer's two companions, Toby and Nat, with their unreliable
+motorcycles.
+
+Of course it was well along into the morning before the last automobile
+reached Hickory Ridge with the balance of the contestants; and as nearly
+everybody had long before gone to bed, the victor was not received with
+any great acclaim; at least the factory whistles were not blown, nor the
+church bells rung. But a few of the faithful scouts, who were bound to
+make a night of it, had waited up at headquarters; and these fellows
+gave three hearty cheers when they saw the long-legged Lil Artha step
+stiffly from the leading car.
+
+When, on the following night, a regular meeting of the troop was held,
+every fellow made sure to be in attendance; for it had been announced
+that the several contestants in the great hike, as well as the five who
+had gone forth on bicycles and motorcycles, intended giving a detailed
+report of what adventures had happened on the way; and it was expected
+that there would be some stories worth listening to.
+
+The indignation of the boys was intense when they heard how those
+Fairfield four had tried to block Lil Artha's game and, by forcing him
+to ride, render his claim to be a contestant under the rules null and
+void.
+
+"But listen, fellows," said Elmer, who presided in place of the scout
+master, called out of town on sudden business; "don't be too quick to
+blame the Boy Scouts of Fairfield for that rascally piece of business.
+Matt Tubbs called me up on the phone this afternoon and wanted me to
+express the indignation of himself and his comrades over the matter. He
+declared that they had not the faintest indication of the affair; and
+that it was engineered entirely by some 'outcasts,' who, having declined
+to subscribe to the twelve cardinal principles of the new movement, were
+doing everything in their power to wreck the troop over there."
+
+"Well, they won't succeed, that's all," declared Lil Artha, confidently;
+"because my father says he knows that the best people of both Fairfield
+and Cramertown are just daft over the change that has taken place among
+the boys there ever since the scouts were organized, and that they mean
+to stand back of the movement through thick and thin. They say the
+organization of the scouts was the finest thing that ever happened to
+Fairfield."
+
+"And, fellows," continued Elmer, "I think that on the strength of this,
+not to speak of Felix saying he would have refused to accept a tainted
+title if he had won after Lil Artha was kidnaped, we ought to give our
+fellow scouts over there a cheer. Yes, and send them a letter
+congratulating them on the new spirit of fairness that has sprung up
+among them."
+
+It was put in the form of a motion, and carried unanimously. So three
+cheers and a tiger were given with a will; and later on the letter was
+written, which Elmer himself promised to deliver to Matt Tubbs, the loan
+of that fine motorcycle still holding good.
+
+And this, then, was the way the great hike went through. Lil Artha, of
+course, was the pride of the troop for his fine work; but the other
+fellows who had done the best they knew how were not forgotten in the
+chronicles of the event, as written in the log book of the secretary.
+
+The only serious accident of the affair was the sprain which Henry Cobb
+had been unfortunate enough to receive, and which was likely to make him
+limp for many weeks. But it had afforded a tremendous amount of fun, and
+at the same time proved that the fact of a boy belonging to the scouts
+need not detract in the least from his manly qualities.
+
+Vacation was now nearly at an end, and presently the scouts would be
+taking up their school duties for the new year. The summer that had
+passed had really been the most delightful one in all their experience;
+and they looked forward hopefully to other good times ahead, when, as
+scouts, they might be given the privilege of learning many of the
+secrets of Nature and of building up sturdy and manly characters under
+the influence of the splendid rules governing the organization.
+
+But there was one grumbler out of the number starting out for Little
+Falls, and this was Nat. He never could get entirely over the cruel fate
+that had allowed those trapped plotters to get off "so easy" and was
+often heard to mutter that if Elmer had not happened to be along there
+might have been a different story to tell. But like a lot of fellows,
+Nat's "bark was more savage than his bite," and perhaps, after all, had
+he been allowed his own sweet way, he might have remembered how he had
+faithfully promised not to harbor the spirit of revenge when he signed
+the roster of the Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts' troop.
+
+
+_THE END._
+
+
+_The next story of this Series (Number Six), which can be found on sale
+everywhere, is called "The Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts' Endurance Test; or,
+How Clear Grit Won the Day."_
+
+
+
+
+ADDENDA
+
+BOY SCOUT NATURE LORE
+
+
+
+
+BOY SCOUT NATURE LORE TO BE FOUND IN THE HICKORY RIDGE BOY SCOUT SERIES.
+
+
+    Wild Animals of the United States }
+    Tracking                          } in Number I.
+
+    THE CAMPFIRES OF THE WOLF PATROL.
+
+
+    Trees and Wild Flowers of the United States in Number II.
+
+    WOODCRAFT, OR HOW A PATROL LEADER MADE GOOD.
+
+
+    Reptiles of the United States in Number III.
+
+    PATHFINDER, OR THE MISSING TENDERFOOT.
+
+
+    Fishes of the United States in Number IV.
+
+    FAST NINE, OR A CHALLENGE FROM FAIRFIELD.
+
+
+    Insects of the United States in Number V.
+
+    GREAT HIKE, OR THE PRIDE OF THE KHAKI TROOP.
+
+
+    Birds of the United States in Number VI.
+
+    ENDURANCE TEST, OR HOW CLEAR GRIT WON THE DAY.
+
+
+
+
+THE INSECTS OF THE UNITED STATES.
+
+
+Insects are the most abundant of the animal kingdom. They are classified
+principally by the nature of their wings. Dr. Sharp, an authority on
+Entomology, recognizes but nine orders:
+
+    1. Aptera.
+    2. Orthoptera.
+    3. Neuroptera.
+    4. Hymenoptera.
+    5. Coleoptera.
+    6. Lepidoptera.
+    7. Diptera.
+    8. Thysanoptera.
+    9. Hemiptera.
+
+Many useful products are obtained from insects. From them we get our
+silk, honey and cochineal, and they help to fertilize our flowers. On
+the other hand, many are detrimental to agriculture and health.
+
+
+
+
+APTERA.
+
+
+These are primitive insects without wings. The Campodea, a small insect,
+belongs to this order. Another example is the "Silverfish," which is
+found in receptacles holding sugar, starch, etc., in and about unclean
+bakeshops and kitchens. They are known principally in houses of the
+Southern States, especially in damp places.
+
+
+
+
+ORTHOPTERA.
+
+
+These are the straight-winged insects. They have four wings, the front
+pair being usually leathery and smaller than the hind pair.
+
+Here belong the Grasshoppers, Katydids and Crickets. Cockroaches,
+Walking-sticks, Leaf insects, Praying Mantis also belong to this order.
+
+
+THE COCKROACH.
+
+Most of the Cockroaches are nocturnal. It is said that their food is
+dead animal matter. The kinds of Cockroaches found in the house are the
+American Cockroach, Croton-bug and the Black Beetle. Apparently they eat
+anything, animal or vegetable, and are great pests in ill-kept houses,
+especially where moisture is plentiful. The name "Croton-bug" is applied
+to the smaller sort, it having made its appearance about the time when
+Croton water was first used in New York City. They show a strong
+distaste to light and are fond of warmth. The eggs are laid in capsules.
+
+
+THE LOCUST.
+
+This family are insects most destructive to crops. The antennas are
+short, the hind legs large and strong, giving them their jumping power.
+The most injurious of these is the migratory locust. During the years
+1874 to 1876 this insect, it is said, did more than $200,000,000 damage
+to crops in four States of the Union. Every country boy knows the
+crackling sound made by these grasshoppers in their flight. Their "song"
+is made by the scraping of the legs against their wings. Locusts swarm
+and are not particular as to the kind of vegetable matter which they
+eat; anything green which they chance upon is devoured. The red-legged
+grasshopper is the one most common in the Eastern States in late summer.
+
+The true or green grasshoppers have long horns, are much softer in body
+and "sing" more than their cousins of the locust family. The "Katydids"
+belong here.
+
+
+CRICKETS.
+
+[Illustration: PRAYING MANTIS.]
+
+Crickets are closely related to the green grasshoppers. They have long
+antennae. The Mole Cricket burrows in the earth, as its name implies,
+digging with its powerful forelegs. The black Field Cricket lives in
+small burrows in fields and pastures. The Crickets are musical and
+together with their cousins of this family swell the insect chorus of
+our summer nights.
+
+A peculiar insect belonging to this family is popularly known as the
+Walking-stick; in motion it does not look unlike a twig moving about.
+Its body is long and slender. In the tropics this family has many forms
+which so closely resemble the leaves, and even flowers of plants and
+trees, as to fool not only the casual but the close observer.
+
+Another peculiar insect is the Praying Mantis; this name has been given
+them because of the position which they take, the legs being held as
+though in prayer. They are found in the Southern States and are regarded
+with superstitious awe by the ignorant.
+
+
+
+
+THE NEUROPTERA.
+
+
+These are the net-veined winged insects; the Dragon flies, Mayflies,
+Caddis-flies belong in this order.
+
+
+THE DOBSON.
+
+The Dobson is one of the most curious insects in this order. It is
+generally known as the hellgrammite, although it has probably more
+popular names than any other insect and some are very peculiar, for
+instance, Conniption-bugs, Goggle-goy, Flip-flaps, Ho Jacks,
+Snake-doctor. It is a large insect with strong-biting mouth, living in
+its larval form in water.
+
+
+THE SNAKE FLIES.
+
+These are found in the Western States and prey vigorously upon other
+insects and render themselves especially important to the farmer of the
+far West because of their ravages upon the Coddling Moth, which is the
+special enemy of apple trees.
+
+[Illustration: WALKING-STICKS.]
+
+
+THE ANT LION.
+
+The Ant Lion digs a little pit in loose sand and buries itself therein
+with the exception of its head. Into this trap fall small insects on
+which it feeds. After the victim is sucked dry the remains are thrown
+out of the pit.
+
+
+THE DRAGONFLIES.
+
+These insects are also known as "Horse-stingers" and "Devil's
+Darning-needles," and many superstitious beliefs are held in regard to
+them, although they are perfectly harmless. Many ignorant people still
+hold them capable of sewing up bad boys' ears. The early part of their
+existence is spent in the water. They prey upon flies, mosquitoes and
+small insects. In the wings of these flies are often beautiful colors.
+They frequent stagnant water. The Kingbird favors them as a diet.
+
+
+THE MAYFLIES.
+
+The Mayflies or Shadflies, like the Dragonflies, spend their infancy
+under water feeding upon vegetables and primitive forms of animal life.
+Their scientific name is Ephemerida, coined from the Greek word meaning
+a day. They were given this name because of their short life. Great
+quantities of the larvae are eaten by fish.
+
+
+CADDIS FLIES.
+
+What observing country boy has not seen the queer-looking Caddis worms
+in the brooks and their curious larva cases. Put them in your aquarium,
+for they are interesting to watch and study. Their wings are more or
+less covered with hair and this gives them a moth-like appearance. They
+frequent the shady margins of streams. The larvae cases are made of
+leaves, bits of sticks, sand, shells, etc., fastened by silk which the
+caddis worm spins. These cases protect them from fishes and preying
+insects.
+
+[Illustration: DRAGON FLIES.]
+
+
+
+
+THE HYMENOPTERA.
+
+
+The Hymenoptera is an order of insects of high rank containing the Bees,
+Ants, Wasps and Gallflies. Dr. Leland O. Howard, Chief of the Division
+of Entomology in the United States Department of Agriculture, says that
+this order "comprises nearly 30,000 described species; but the enormous
+number of undescribed species, particularly of the smaller parasitic
+forms inhabiting tropical regions and other out-of-the-way localities,
+would probably swell this number to more than 300,000. To indicate the
+work still to be done in this order, it is safe to say that a day's
+collecting in Central Park, New York, almost under the windows of the
+great American Museum of Natural History, or in Logan Square,
+Philadelphia, within 200 yards of the Academy of Natural Sciences, would
+result in the capture of a number of species new to science." Most
+remarkable are the insects of this order for their seeming intelligence
+and the wonderful habits and methods in their interesting colony lives.
+
+[Illustration: MODERN BEE-HIVE]
+
+[Illustration: QUEEN BEE]
+
+
+BEES.
+
+Bees are distinguished from Wasps and Ants by their hairy bodies. The
+common hive bee is an insect most important to mankind, and bee-keeping,
+properly conducted, is a profitable occupation. Here is a chance for boy
+scouts to win money and laurels. In early summer the bees "swarm." The
+bee-keeper watches for signs of this and knows that when there is an
+unusual restlessness among them and the workers become less attentive to
+their regular duties, "swarming" may be expected. Suddenly more than
+half the workers, with the queen of the hive, leave the old home and fly
+to a new place where they "swarm." A second or third swarm sometimes
+leave the hive, each with their respective queen. The first, however,
+is always the most important. When hived they climb to the roof and hang
+in a mass for often a day. The wax taken from the old hive is kneaded
+and the foundation of the new honeycomb started. As soon as the workers
+finish cells, the queen lays eggs in them. These hatch into maggot-like
+baby bees which have to be fed and taken care of. The worker must now
+forage for pollen or "beebread" and nectar from flowers. The nectar they
+carry in their "honey-bags" and change it into honey. The inside workers
+feed the youngsters, build the comb and clean house, even ventilating it
+by fanning the air with their wings. In the hives in the swarming are
+drones who do no work. They are permitted to live and feed on the stores
+until this season is over, then they are relentlessly killed by the
+workers. Bees were kept for their product by the Egyptians.
+
+The Honey Bee was imported from Europe and is not a native of this
+country. The Cuckoo Bees are so called because of their habits of living
+in the nests of other bees. They apparently live there in friendly
+relations with the rightful occupants of the hives.
+
+The Carpenter Bees; these insects are so called because of their habit
+of boring into the stems of plants. They line their cells with silky
+membrane and build mud partitions. The larger forms of these bees bore
+into tree trunks and lumber, and even the timber of buildings.
+
+Mason Bees build earthen cells of sand, earth, etc., glued together.
+Another group of these cut pieces from leaves with which to form their
+cells.
+
+[Illustration: SECTION OF CELLS]
+
+[Illustration: STRAW-HIVE]
+
+The Bumble Bees; Western farm boys have invented a method or robbing
+bumble bees' nests. They take a gallon or two-gallon jug partly filled
+with water and place it near the nest. They then beat the nest and
+retire to a distance. The bees swarm out of the nest in their attempt
+to find the guilty disturber. The jug attracts their attention; they fly
+to it and the beating of their wings over the mouth of the jug causes a
+roar which attracts the bees and causes them to fly at the mouth and
+drop into it. The noise of those inside increases the attraction and
+finally all the bees are inside. After all the bees are thus disposed of
+the robbing of the nest is then a safe matter.
+
+
+WASPS.
+
+The wasps' bodies are less hairy than the bees'. Some of the wasps live
+solitary lives and other groups colonize. The former build their nests
+in a burrow or attach them to trees. These nests are supplied by the
+mother wasp with animal food. The social wasp includes the paper-making
+varieties and the hornets. The habits of both are similar. The nest is
+never used more than one season. In India it is said that there is a
+variety that builds a nest reaching a length of several feet. The
+hornets suspend large, round nests often a foot in diameter from tree
+branches.
+
+The Mason Wasps build their nests of mud under outhouses, roofs, on
+rocks and trees. The sting of these insects, especially that of the
+hornet, is severe, but they do not sting unless disturbed; then they
+display great anger and will follow the disturber for a long distance.
+Although they do considerable damage to fruit they are also helpful as
+destroyers of insect life.
+
+[Illustration: NEST OF COMMON WASP SEEN FROM BELOW.]
+
+They capture and store in their cells a great variety of insects,
+spiders, flies and plant-lice. Certain members of this group of insects
+burrow into the earth and conceal their nests by inserting a stone over
+which they scrape earth. When the prey is taken the insect is carried
+into the burrow and the entrance to it is again closed. Dr. S. W.
+Williston, writing of this insect, states that the wasp has been
+observed to "use a stone as a tamping-iron to pack the earth into the
+mouth of the burrow." He feared, he says, to publish this observation
+because he thought he would not be believed. It is also said by
+observers of these wasps that each insect seems to have distinct
+individuality, for instance, some are careless, some are industrious,
+some scrupulously painstaking. One entomologist tells of a method used
+by a wasp in capturing a certain spider: the wasp would entangle itself
+in the spider's web and the latter would dart out from her hiding place;
+the wasp would then easily disengage herself from the web and follow the
+spider to its hiding place. The Cicada often becomes prey of the wasp
+and its song suddenly ceases as it is quickly stung into insensibility.
+If in a struggle the two fall to the ground, the wasp drags the Cicada
+up a tree until she reaches a height from which she can fly downward to
+her storehouse. The colony wasps are the paper-making insects, their
+nests being made from woodpulp and woodfiber secured from old fences and
+unpainted woodwork which they mix with saliva and form into a pulp with
+which they build their nests.
+
+[Illustration: CICADA.]
+
+[Illustration: COLONY NEST OF BLACK ANTS]
+
+[Illustration: FEEDING LARVAE]
+
+[Illustration: CELLS OF BLACK ANTS. ENLARGED.]
+
+
+ANTS.
+
+The third group in this important order are the ants. They always live
+in communities and build nests which are especially devoted to the
+purpose of raising their young. The young are fed from the mouth of
+the worker ants. A remarkable peculiarity of these insects is their
+practice of making slaves. The large red ant often makes raids on other
+ants, carrying off their young to their own nests where they are brought
+up to perform the work of their masters. They also domesticate
+plant-lice, which have on that account been nicknamed "Ant-Cows."
+Instances are related where beetles have been found in ant nests; they
+are fed by the ants and in case of migration are carried away by them to
+their new home. While some of these guests are tolerated because,
+perhaps, the ants cannot rid themselves of them and others are
+parasites, some seem to be of the nature of pets. The black ants build
+mountain-like nests, sometimes reaching three feet in height; in these
+nests sometimes forty or fifty species of ants have been found.
+
+
+GALL FLIES.
+
+All the members of this family produce galls. In the spring the insect
+breaks the vegetable tissue by means of her sting and deposits the eggs.
+When hatched the young seem to exercise a peculiar influence on the
+growing tissue, shaping it into a swelling or gall containing a series
+of chambers. Certain of the galls formed on the oak trees were formerly
+used in the manufacture of ink and tannin.
+
+
+ICHNEUMON FLIES.
+
+These flies attack caterpillars especially and lay their eggs in their
+bodies. The young, when hatched, feed upon the unfortunate victim.
+
+
+THE HORN-TAILS.
+
+The wood-eaters or horn-tails are wood-boring insects living in the
+trunks of trees and stems of plants. They are called "horn-tails"
+because of the spine at the end of the body. They lay their eggs in
+these borings and the young, when hatched, continue to bore their way
+through the pith.
+
+
+THE SAW-FLIES.
+
+The saw-flies saw their way into plant tissue and lay their eggs in the
+openings thus made. Many of these flies are very injurious to vegetation
+because of this habit. The currant-worm, rose-slug and pear-slug are all
+members of this family, and farmers are not on friendly terms with these
+insects.
+
+
+
+
+THE COLEOPTERA.
+
+
+This is the order of insects which includes beetles, glowworms,
+lady-birds, weevils, cock-chafers, etc. Their chief characteristic is
+the hard wing covers. The wings proper are below these. Most of this
+order have strong mandibles. The diet of beetles is much varied, but
+they are all voracious.
+
+The little lady-birds, about whom the nursery rhyme sings, warning them
+to "fly away home," feed upon the scale insects.
+
+The glow-worm derives the first part of its name from its luminosity,
+and the second from its worm-like appearance. To this same family belong
+a number of other luminous beetles, the name "firefly" being usually
+given.
+
+The weevil is a general name for plant-eating beetles, and they not
+infrequently cause great destruction to vegetable matter. Certain
+weevils are interesting because of their habit of rolling up leaves in
+order to construct a shelter for their young. The nut-weevil lays her
+eggs in the young nut while it is still soft and its grub bores its way
+out in the fall. The cotton-boll weevil has caused great injury to the
+cotton crops in the Southern States. It pierces the leaves of the plant
+and lays its eggs. The young feed upon the plant. There are also corn
+weevils and rice weevils, and still others that attack peas and beans.
+
+The cock-chafers belong to a large group of dark-colored beetles known
+as June bugs. They frequently enter light rooms at night, making a loud
+buzzing noise. The insect comes out of the ground in the spring and is
+very destructive to the foliage of fruit and other trees. Its grubs live
+under ground and feed on roots. The chief enemies of the grub are moles
+and birds; of the beetles, bats and birds.
+
+
+
+
+LEPIDOPTERA.
+
+
+The order of Lepidoptera includes the butterflies and moths. Their wings
+and body are covered with scales, frequently bright-colored. There are
+several stages in the life history of these insects just as there are in
+the life history of other insects, but these stages are so pronounced
+and the changes so remarkable in this order that it is well here for us
+to consider the different steps which nature takes in transforming the
+repulsive caterpillar into the beautiful butterfly or moth. The first
+stage is the egg, from which is hatched the caterpillar. The
+caterpillar, after living its life, spins its cocoon, is transformed
+into the chrysalis. The chrysalis in turn eventually becomes the
+butterfly.
+
+The milkweed butterflies are large-sized butterflies; the upper surface
+of the wings is bright and reddish bordered with black, and the whole
+wing is veined heavily with black. The wings are spotted with white; the
+caterpillar is bright yellow with black bands. This insect often appears
+in large numbers in New Jersey late in the autumn. This particular one
+of the milkweed butterflies is called "The Monarch"; a smaller one of
+this genus is called "The Queen."
+
+[Illustration: BUTTERFLIES.]
+
+The California long-winged butterfly. The fore wings are brownish-black
+blotched with yellow; the hind wings are a dingy orange.
+
+The Dircenna. The fore wings of this butterfly are grayish-brown with
+transparent spots; the hind wings are more yellowish in color.
+
+The Cliff Fritillary. The upper side of this butterfly is bright
+tawny-brown spotted with black; the hind wings have a black border
+spotted with the same color as the wings. The under side of the fore
+wings is orange. The caterpillar feeds upon the passion flower of the
+Southern states. It is found from southern Virginia westward to Arizona
+and California.
+
+The Regal Fritillary. The upper side of the fore wings is a bright
+brown, spotted and blotched with cream color and black; the upper side
+of the hind wings is black with cream-colored spots. The caterpillar is
+large, nearly two inches long; black with stripes and bands of
+reddish-orange. There are six rows of spines. The caterpillar feeds on
+violets and does not appear in the daytime. This is a beautiful
+butterfly and is found from Maine to Nebraska, frequenting the borders
+of woodlands.
+
+The Diana. Both wings are a dark brown with wide border of dark orange
+spotted with brown spots. It is found in the Virginias, Carolinas,
+Georgia, Tennessee and Kentucky.
+
+The Silver-bordered Fritillary. This is a small butterfly ranging over
+most of the northern part of the United States. The fore wings on the
+under side are spotted at the margin with silver spots.
+
+The Baltimore. Upper side black bordered with a row of red spots
+followed by three rows of yellow spots on the fore wings and two rows on
+the hind wings. It is found in colonies in swamps, in the northern
+parts of the United States and Canada.
+
+The Question Sign. This butterfly is easily determined by its large
+size; the wings are peculiarly shaped; it is bright brown on the upper
+side, spotted but edged with darker brown and pale blue. This is a
+common butterfly of the Middle States and is often found in the early
+spring.
+
+The Red Admiral. This is a common butterfly found throughout North
+America. It derives its name from the red on its fore wings and the red
+border on its hind wings.
+
+The Thistle Butterfly. Wherever thistles grow may be found "The Painted
+Lady," and Dr. V. J. Holland in his Butterfly Books says, "This is
+undoubtedly the most widely distributed of well-known butterflies. It is
+found in almost all regions of the earth and in many tropical lands in
+both hemispheres." The food plants of the caterpillar are thistles.
+
+The Buckeye. On both the upper and lower sides of the fore and hind
+wings are eye-like spots. It is a common butterfly in the South, but is
+occasionally found as far North as New England. These butterflies will
+fight other passing butterflies.
+
+The Painted Purple Butterfly is easily distinguished because of its
+broad white bands across both wings.
+
+The Blue Butterflies, the Copper Butterflies and the Hair-streaked
+Butterflies are small insects, many of which are characterized by the
+bright blue of the upper side of the wings; in other forms the copper
+color prevails. Hair-streaked Butterflies often have small tails on
+their horned wings.
+
+The Sulphur Butterflies and Whites are medium-sized or small
+butterflies, white or yellow in color, having dark edgings. The common
+white butterfly is easily classified by its pure-white color of the
+under-side white wings.
+
+The Cabbage Butterfly is a common insect familiar to all. Much good
+sauerkraut material is spoiled by its ravages.
+
+Orange Tipped Butterflies. This is a large species of pretty
+butterflies.
+
+The Swallow-tail Butterflies are generally large butterflies with the
+hind wings tailed.
+
+The Ajax is one of the most beautiful of the butterflies. Its wings are
+streaked with brown and white, with red and blue spots near the tail on
+the hind wings.
+
+The Tiger Swallow Tail seems to be fond of the woodlands of
+Pennsylvania, Virginia, Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. The common
+Eastern swallow-tail is bright yellow and black, and found all over the
+Atlantic States.
+
+The Wood Nymphs are butterflies of moderate size with eye-like spots on
+their wings, the wings being tawny brown or gray.
+
+We have endeavored to give our boy readers a brief description of some
+of the most beautiful and some of the most common butterflies of the
+United States. There are thousands more.
+
+
+MOTHS.
+
+The moths are popularly distinguished from butterflies by the belief
+that they fly at night; there are, however, numerous exceptions to this
+distinction. The antennae of butterflies are blunt; in moths they vary
+in form, being rarely shaped like those of the butterfly. Moths are more
+numerous than butterflies, and vary as to size and color. Some moths
+have been known to reach a size of six or seven inches in width and
+attain the most brilliant coloring of all insects.
+
+[Illustration: MOTHS.]
+
+Hawk Moth. This is a large, dull-colored, powerful moth. The
+caterpillars are smooth and striped, horned at the rear end. The Death's
+Head Moth belongs to the same family, as do also the Oleander Hawk
+Moth and the Humming-bird Hawk Moth. The last mentioned is often
+mistaken for a humming bird. Caterpillars of this family are destructive
+to potato, tomato and tobacco plants. The moths of this family are known
+as the Sphinx Moths. The markings on the body of the Death's Head Moth
+resemble a skull and crossbone--hence its name. The body is covered with
+hair. The fore wings are brown, the hind wings yellow, banded with
+black. It makes a squeaking noise and is often found in beehives where
+it is attracted by the honey.
+
+The Egger Moths get their name from the peculiar egg-shell-like surface
+of their cocoons.
+
+The Lima Moths are among the largest and most beautiful of our moths.
+The hind wings have a tail-like appendage. It is pale green in color
+with a purple band along the front of the fore wings.
+
+
+
+
+THE ORDER DIPTERA.
+
+
+This order includes all the true flies or insects having but two wings.
+There is probably no other order of insects that are more injurious to
+the health of human beings. The housefly, because of its habits, is a
+virulent pest in the spreading of disease and it has been discovered
+that certain mosquitoes carry the germs of malarial and yellow fevers.
+
+
+MOSQUITOES.
+
+Up to the year 1900 little had been known about these insects. Since
+then it has been discovered that one genus is responsible for the
+transfer of malarial fever and another variety is the sole means of the
+spreading of yellow fever. Mosquitoes are found in any locality where
+stagnant standing water allows them the opportunity to breed. Their
+eggs are laid in a flat mass on the surface of the water, and each of
+these masses contains from 200 to 400 eggs. The young mosquitoes issue
+from the under side of the eggs, coming to the surface frequently to
+breathe, which they do by means of a long tube at the end of the body
+which is thrust up above the surface of the water. In many localities
+boy scouts have been interested in exterminating mosquitoes, the most
+successful methods being either the abolition of their breeding places,
+the flooding of surfaces of stagnant water with kerosene, or the
+introduction of fish into fishless ponds. In a mosquito crusade every
+receptacle for standing water must be found and either destroyed or
+treated with kerosene.
+
+
+MIDGES.
+
+Midges are small or minute flies; swarms of them are commonly seen in
+damp localities in the summer.
+
+
+FLIES.
+
+Horseflies are unusually abundant in the neighborhood of ponds and
+streams.
+
+The Robber Flies, or bee-killers, are the hawks of the insect world,
+preying upon their victims on the wing. In flying an insect is likely to
+become the victim to their sharp little dagger, which they carry in
+their beak. It is said that they will frequent a favorite position near
+a beehive and make frequent trips back and forth, and hundreds of empty
+bodies of bees are found beneath this perch.
+
+The Dancefly is so called because of the up-and-down movement which they
+make in their swarms.
+
+The Housefly. These insects are highly injurious to human beings because
+of their agency in spreading germs of such diseases as typhoid fever and
+Asiatic cholera. It has been discovered recently that germs of
+infantile paralysis are conveyed by the housefly.
+
+
+
+
+THYSANOPTERA.
+
+
+To this order belong very small insects known as "thrips." They are
+found in large numbers in flowers and in the heads of grain,
+chrysanthemum, hydrangea, orange-blossom, cabbage leaf, cauliflower,
+squash, turnips and other plants.
+
+
+
+
+HEMIPTERA
+
+
+includes plant-lice, scale insects and bugs proper. One entomologist
+says: "If anything were to exterminate the destroyers of hemiptera, we,
+ourselves, would probably be starved in the course of a few months," so
+harmful are they to vegetation. One of the best-known insects of this
+order is the cicada or harvestfly, popularly but wrongly called the
+"locust," the term "locust" belonging rightfully to the long-horned
+grasshoppers. The body of the cicada is large with a blunt head. At the
+end of July and early in August its song may be heard in the treetops.
+
+The queer-shaped treehoppers also belong to this order. When they are
+resting upon a twig, it is difficult, except upon close examination, to
+distinguish them from a thorn or a natural protuberance of the wood.
+
+The Spittle Insects. After hatching from the egg the young insects live
+in little frothy masses like spittle on the stems of plants and grasses.
+
+Scale Insects. Many of the members of this family are very injurious to
+fruit trees and other trees. They feed upon the sap.
+
+The Oyster-shell Bark Louse is found particularly upon apple and pear
+trees.
+
+[Illustration: SCALE INSECTS.]
+
+Plant Lice. These insects prey upon cultivated plants. Huxley computed
+that the uninterrupted breeding of ten generations of plant lice from
+the single insect would produce a bulk equal to the population of the
+Chinese Empire, 500,000,000 of human beings. We have already spoken of
+the relations between ants and plant lice; they are often called "Ant
+Cows" because of the ant's habit of milking them for the juices which
+they exhume.
+
+
+THE TRUE BUGS.
+
+The "Water Boatmen" may be found swimming on the surface of water. They
+often go below the surface, carrying with them a bubble of air which is
+held by the hairs of their body. They hibernate in the mud at the bottom
+of the water. The eggs of these insects are made into cakes and are
+eaten by the Indians.
+
+Another family of water bugs are properly called the "back swimmers"
+because of their habit of swimming on their backs. They prey upon other
+water insects and even fish. They can sting with their beak.
+
+
+TOAD BUGS.
+
+They have a short, wide body, protruding eyes and toad-like color. They
+are found in damp places under the banks of ponds and streams.
+
+The Water Striders are the long-legged insects which run over the
+surface of the water with such speed that it is difficult to catch them.
+
+The Cannibal Bugs, the Pirate Bugs, are preying insects which feed upon
+other insects whose blood they suck. A species of this insect was
+especially abundant in the Eastern States in 1898. Their bites and
+blood-sucking habits gave cause to the "kissing-bug" scare to which the
+newspapers gave great publicity.
+
+
+THE AMBUSH BUGS
+
+is the name which Professor Comstock has given to insects frequenting
+yellow flowers, with which its color agrees and hides it from other
+insects visiting the flowers.
+
+
+THE SQUASH BUG
+
+is the enemy of vegetables of the pumpkin family and has a distinctly
+disagreeable odor.
+
+
+THE STINK BUGS
+
+are small flat bugs which, like the Squash Bug, have a bad odor. One of
+this family is still called, in Georgia, "The Abe Lincoln" bug, and in
+Texas, "The Third Party" bug.
+
+
+THE CINCH BUGS.
+
+This is a bug that makes a specialty of corn and grasses as a diet.
+
+
+
+
+INDEX
+
+
+                     PAGE
+
+    Abe Lincoln Bugs, 175
+
+    Ajax Butterflies, 168
+
+    Ambush Bugs, 175
+
+    Ants, 154, 160, 162
+
+    Ant Lion, 152
+
+    Aptera, 147
+
+
+    Back Swimmers, 174
+
+    Baltimore Butterfly, 166
+
+    Bee Killers, 171
+
+    Bees, 154-158
+      Bumble, 156
+      Carpenter, 156
+      Cuckoo, 156
+      Honey, 156
+      Mason, 156
+
+    Beetle, Black, 148
+
+    Blue Butterflies, 167
+
+    Buckeye, 167
+
+    Bugs, 174
+      Abe Lincoln, 175
+      Ambush, 175
+      Cannibal, 174
+      Cinch, 175
+      June, 164
+      Kissing, 175
+      Pirate, 174
+      Squash, 175
+      Stink, 175
+      Third Party, 175
+      Toad, 174
+
+    Bumblebees, 156
+
+    Butterflies, 164
+      Ajax, 168
+      Blue, 167
+      Cabbage, 168
+      California Long-winged, 166
+      Copper, 167
+      Hair-streaked, 164
+      Milkweed, 164
+      Orange-tipped, 168
+      Painted Purple, 167
+      Sulphur, 167
+      Swallow-tail, 168
+      Thistle, 167
+      White, 167
+
+
+    Cabbage Butterflies, 168
+
+    Caddis Flies, 150, 152
+
+    California Long-winged Butterflies, 166
+
+    Campodea, 147
+
+    Cannibal Bugs, 174
+
+    Carpenter Bees, 156
+
+    Cicada, 160, 172
+
+    Cinch Bugs, 175
+
+    Cliff Fritillary, 166
+
+    Cockchafers, 163
+
+    Cockroaches, 148
+
+    Coddling Moth, 150
+
+    Coleoptera, 147, 163
+
+    Conniption Bugs, 150
+
+    Copper Butterflies, 167
+
+    Corn Weevils, 164
+
+    Cotton-boll Weevils, 163
+
+    Crickets, 148, 149
+
+    Cricket Field, 149
+      Mole, 149
+
+    Croton Bugs, 148
+
+    Cuckoo Bees, 156
+
+    Currant Worms, 163
+
+
+    Dance Flies, 171
+
+    Death's Head Moths, 168
+
+    Devil's Darning-needles, 152
+
+    Diana, 166
+
+    Diptera, 147, 170
+
+    Dircenna, 166
+
+    Dobson, 150
+
+    Dragon Flies, 150, 152, 153
+
+
+    Egger Moths, 168
+
+    Ephemerida, 152
+
+
+    Field Cricket, 149
+
+    Fire-flies, 163
+
+    Flies, Caddis, 150, 152
+      Dance, 171
+      Dragon, 150, 152, 153
+      Fire, 163
+      Gall, 154, 162
+      Harvest, 172
+      Horse, 171
+      House, 171
+      Ichneumon, 162
+      May, 150, 152
+      Robber, 171
+      Saw, 163
+      Shad, 152
+      Snake, 150
+
+    Flip-flaps, 150
+
+    Fritillary, Cliff, 166
+      Regal, 166
+      Silver-bordered, 166
+
+
+    Gall Flies, 154, 162
+
+    Glow Worms, 163
+
+    Goggle-goy, 150
+
+    Grasshoppers, 148
+      Red-legged, 149
+
+
+    Hair-streaked Butterflies, 164
+
+    Harvest Flies, 172
+
+    Hawk Moth, 168
+
+    Hellgrammite, 150
+
+    Hemiptera, 147, 172
+
+    Ho-Jack, 150
+
+    Honey Bee, 156
+
+    Horn Tails, 162
+
+    Hornet, 158
+
+    Horse Flies, 171
+
+    Horse Stingers, 152
+
+    House Flies, 171
+
+    Hymenoptera, 147, 154
+
+
+    Ichneumon Flies, 162
+
+
+    June Bugs, 164
+
+
+    Katydids, 148
+
+    Kissing Bugs, 175
+
+
+    Lady Birds, 163
+
+    Leaf Insects, 148
+
+    Lepidoptera, 147, 164
+
+    Lice, Plant, 174
+
+    Locusts, 148
+
+    Louse, Oyster Shell Bark, 172
+
+    Luna Moth, 170
+
+
+    Mason Bees, 156
+      Wasps, 158
+
+    May Flies, 150, 152
+
+    Midges, 171
+
+    Milkweed Butterflies, 164
+
+    Mole Cricket, 149
+
+    Monarch Butterflies, 164
+
+    Mosquitoes, 170
+
+    Moths, 168-170
+      Coddling, 150
+      Death's Head, 168
+      Egger, 168
+      Hawk, 168
+      Luna, 170
+      Sphinx, 170
+
+
+    Neuroptera, 147, 150
+
+    Nut Weevils, 163
+
+
+    Orthoptera, 147, 148
+
+    Oyster Shell Bark Louse, 172
+
+
+    Painted Purple Butterflies, 167
+
+    Pear Slugs, 163
+
+    Pirate Bugs, 174
+
+    Plant Lice, 174
+
+    Praying Mantis, 148, 149, 150
+
+
+    Queen Butterflies, 164
+
+    Question Sign Butterflies, 167
+
+
+    Red Admiral Butterflies, 167
+
+    Red-legged Grasshoppers, 149
+
+    Regal Fritillary, 166
+
+    Rice Weevils, 164
+
+    Robber Flies, 171
+
+    Rose-slugs, 163
+
+
+    Saw Flies, 163
+
+    Scale Insects, 171, 173
+
+    Shad Flies, 152
+
+    Silver-bordered Fritillary, 166
+
+    Sulphur Butterflies, 167
+
+    Silverfish, 147
+
+    Slugs, Pear, 163
+
+    Slugs, Rose, 163
+
+    Snake-doctor, 150
+
+    Snake Flies, 150
+
+    Sphinx Moth, 170
+
+    Spittle Insects, 172
+
+    Squash Bugs, 175
+
+    Stink Bugs, 175
+
+    Swallow-tail Butterflies, 168
+      Tiger, 168
+
+
+    Third Party Bugs, 175
+
+    Thistle Butterflies, 167
+
+    Thysanoptera, 147, 171
+
+    Tiger Swallow-tail, 168
+
+    Toad Bugs, 174
+
+    Treehoppers, 172
+
+
+    Walking Sticks, 148, 150, 151
+
+    Wasps, 154, 158, 159
+      Mason, 158
+
+    Water Boatmen, 174
+      Striders, 174
+
+    Weevils, 163
+      Corn, 163
+      Cotton Boll, 163
+      Nut, 163
+      Rice, 164
+
+    White Butterflies, 167
+
+
+
+
+The Campfire and Trail Series
+
+
+    1. IN CAMP ON THE BIG SUNFLOWER.
+    2. THE RIVALS OF THE TRAIL.
+    3. THE STRANGE CABIN ON CATAMOUNT ISLAND.
+    4. LOST IN THE GREAT DISMAL SWAMP.
+    5. WITH TRAPPER JIM IN THE NORTH WOODS.
+    6. CAUGHT IN A FOREST FIRE.
+    7. CHUMS OF THE CAMPFIRE.
+    8. AFLOAT ON THE FLOOD.
+
+By LAWRENCE J. LESLIE.
+
+A series of wholesome stories for boys told in an interesting way and
+appealing to their love of the open.
+
+    _Each, 12mo._         _Cloth._         _40 cents per volume_
+
+    THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
+    201 EAST 12th STREET    ::   ::       NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+THE "HOW-TO-DO-IT" BOOKS
+
+BY J. S. ZERBE
+
+
+CARPENTRY FOR BOYS
+
+A book which treats, in a most practical and fascinating manner all
+subjects pertaining to the "King of Trades"; showing the care and use of
+tools; drawing; designing, and the laying out of work; the principles
+involved in the building of various kinds of structures, and the
+rudiments of architecture. It contains over two hundred and fifty
+illustrations made especially for this work, and includes also a
+complete glossary of the technical terms used in the art. The most
+comprehensive volume on this subject ever published for boys.
+
+
+ELECTRICITY FOR BOYS
+
+The author has adopted the unique plan of setting forth the fundamental
+principles in each phase of the science, and practically applying the
+work in the successive stages. It shows how the knowledge has been
+developed, and the reasons for the various phenomena, without using
+technical words so as to bring it within the compass of every boy. It
+has a complete glossary of terms, and is illustrated with two hundred
+original drawings.
+
+
+PRACTICAL MECHANICS FOR BOYS
+
+This book takes the beginner through a comprehensive series of practical
+shop work, in which the uses of tools, and the structure and handling of
+shop machinery are set forth; how they are utilized to perform the work,
+and the manner in which all dimensional work is carried out. Every
+subject is illustrated, and model building explained. It contains a
+glossary which comprises a new system of cross references, a feature
+that will prove a welcome departure in explaining subjects. Fully
+illustrated.
+
+    _12mo, cloth._     _Price 60 cents per volume_
+
+    THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
+    201 EAST 12TH STREET    NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+The Wonder Island Boys
+
+BY ROGER T. FINLAY
+
+
+A new series of books, each complete in itself, relating the remarkable
+experiences of two boys and a man, who are cast upon an island in the
+South Seas with absolutely nothing but the clothing they wore. By the
+exercise of their ingenuity they succeed in fashioning clothing, tools
+and weapons and not only do they train nature's forces to work for them
+but they subdue and finally civilize neighboring savage tribes. The
+books contain two thousand items of interest that every boy ought to
+know.
+
+    THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS
+        The Castaways
+
+    THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS
+        Exploring the Island
+
+    THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS
+        The Mysteries of the Caverns
+
+    THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS
+        The Tribesmen
+
+    THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS
+        The Capture and Pursuit
+
+    THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS
+        The Conquest of the Savages
+
+    THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS
+        Adventures on Strange Islands
+
+    THE WONDER ISLAND BOYS
+        Treasures of the Islands
+
+    _Large 12mo, cloth._    _Many illustrations._
+    _60 cents per vol., postpaid._
+
+PUBLISHED BY
+
+    THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
+    201 EAST 12TH STREET    NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+THE BOY GLOBE TROTTERS
+
+By ELBERT FISHER
+
+  _12mo, Cloth._    _Many Illustrations._    _60c. per Volume_
+
+
+This is a series of four books relating the adventures of two boys, who
+make a trip around the world, working their way as they go. They meet
+with various peoples having strange habits and customs, and their
+adventures form a medium for the introduction of much instructive matter
+relative to the character and industries of the cities and countries
+through which they pass. A description is given of the native sports of
+boys in each of the foreign countries through which they travel. The
+books are illustrated by decorative head and end pieces for each
+chapter, there being 36 original drawings in each book, all by the
+author, and four striking halftones.
+
+=1. From New York to the Golden Gate=, takes in many of the principal
+points between New York and California, and contains a highly
+entertaining narrative of the boys' experiences overland and not a
+little useful information.
+
+=2. From San Francisco to Japan=, relates the experiences of the two
+boys at the Panama Exposition, and subsequently their journeyings to
+Hawaii, Samoa and Japan. The greater portion of their time is spent at
+sea, and a large amount of interesting information appears throughout
+the text.
+
+=3. From Tokio to Bombay.= This book covers their interesting
+experiences in Japan, followed by sea voyages to the Philippines,
+Hong-kong and finally to India. Their experiences with the natives cover
+a field seldom touched upon in juvenile publications, as it relates to
+the great Hyderabad region of South India.
+
+=4. From India to the War Zone=, describes their trip toward the Persian
+Gulf. They go by way of the River Euphrates and pass the supposed site
+of the Garden of Eden, and manage to connect themselves with a caravan
+through the Great Syrian Desert. After traversing the Holy Land, where
+they visit the Dead Sea, they arrive at the Mediterranean port of Joppa,
+and their experiences thereafter within the war zone are fully
+described.
+
+    THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
+    201 EAST 12th STREET    NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+Mrs. Meade's Books for Girls
+
+Primrose Edition
+
+Printed on fine quality book paper. Separate cover designs in color.
+
+    Daddy's Girl.
+    A Girl from America.
+    Sue, a Little Heroine.
+    The School Queens.
+    Wild Kitty.
+    A Sweet Girl Graduate.
+    A World of Girls.
+    Polly--A New-Fashioned Girl.
+
+    _Each, 12mo._    _Cloth._    _40 cents per Volume_
+
+Mrs. Meade's girls' books never lose their popularity.
+
+    THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
+    201 EAST 12th STREET
+    NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+_ECONOMICAL COOKING_
+
+_Primrose Edition_
+
+_Planned for Two or More Persons_
+
+By
+
+MISS WINIFRED S. GIBBS
+
+Dietitian and Teacher of Cooking of the New York Association for
+Improving the Condition of the Poor
+
+_Printed on Fine Quality Book Paper._ _Cover Design in Colors_
+
+
+Many Cook Books have been published, from time to time, to meet various
+requirements, or to elucidate certain theories, but very few have been
+written to meet the needs of the large proportion of our population who
+are acutely affected by the constantly increasing cost of food products.
+Notwithstanding that by its valuable suggestions this book helps to
+reduce the expense of supplying the table, the recipes are so planned
+that the economies effected thereby are not offset by any lessening in
+the attractiveness, variety or palatability of the dishes.
+
+Of equal importance are the sections of this work which deal with food
+values, the treatment of infants and invalids and the proper service of
+various dishes.
+
+The recipes are planned for two persons, but may readily be adapted for
+a larger number. The book is replete with illustrations and tables of
+food compositions--the latter taken from the latest Government
+statistics.
+
+  _Cloth Binding_    _Illustrated_     _40c. per volume, postpaid_
+
+    THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
+    201 EAST 12th STREET        NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+CUT-OUT AND PAINT BOOKS
+
+
+[Illustration: SCISSORS BOOK
+
+_Dolls of All Nations_]
+
+An original line of art studies printed in full rich colors on high
+grade paper. This series introduces many novel features of interest, and
+as the subject matters have been selected with unusual care, the books
+make a strong appeal not only to the little ones but even to those of
+riper years.
+
+    =Post Cards=               _Painting Book_
+    =Dolls of all Nations=     _Scissors Book_
+    =Our Army=                 _Scissors Book_
+    =Children's Pets=            _Puzzle Book_
+
+    _Size 8-1/4 x 10-1/4 inches_
+    Price 15c. per copy
+
+    THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
+    201 EAST 12th STREET        NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+Obvious punctuation errors were corrected. Archaic spelling was retained
+in words such as "kidnaped" and "pease."
+
+First advertising page, "Chenoweth" changed to "Chenowith" to match
+actual book usage (Elmer Chenowith, a lad from)
+
+Page 29, "me" changed to "we" (what we might do)
+
+Page 30, "every" changed to "very" (very morning when)
+
+Page 78, "cherry" changed to "cheery" (a cheery word)
+
+Page 78, "completly" changed to "completely" (he was completely)
+
+Page 110, "undertsand" changed to "Understand" ("I understand," came
+the)
+
+Page 127, "comfusion" changed to "confusion" (was some little confusion)
+
+Page 140, "spent" changed to "spend" (should spend the night)
+
+Page 142, "thing" changed to "think" (I think that on)
+
+Page 159, word "a" added to text (tells of a method)
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GREAT HIKE***
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