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diff --git a/42155.txt b/42155.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 4f960e4..0000000 --- a/42155.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,6511 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Tom Slade on the River, by Percy K. Fitzhugh - -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: Tom Slade on the River - -Author: Percy K. Fitzhugh - -Illustrator: Walter S. Rogers - -Release Date: February 22, 2013 [EBook #42155] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK TOM SLADE ON THE RIVER *** - - - - -Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Brenda Lewis and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -book was produced from scanned images of public domain -material from the Google Print project.) - - - - - - - - - - TOM SLADE - ON THE RIVER - - - BY - PERCY K. FITZHUGH - - - Author of - "TOM SLADE, BOY SCOUT OF THE MOVING PICTURES," - "TOM SLADE AT TEMPLE CAMP" ETC. - - - ILLUSTRATED BY - WALTER S. ROGERS - - - PUBLISHED WITH THE APPROVAL OF - THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA - - - GROSSET & DUNLAP - PUBLISHERS :: NEW YORK - - - Made in the United States of America - Copyright, 1917, by - GROSSET & DUNLAP - - - - - TABLE OF CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - I. The First Arrival 1 - II. Tom Surprises the Camp 17 - III. Roy's Campfire Yarn 25 - IV. The Old Trail 42 - V. Adventure of the Rescue Party 53 - VI. The Mountain Shelter 63 - VII. "Under Which King?" 80 - VIII. Jeffrey Waring 87 - IX. A New Kind of First Aid 107 - X. The Birthday of the Elk Patrol 113 - XI. Garry's Story and Harry Stanton's 127 - XII. Pee-wee Triumphant 138 - XIII. At the Stanton's 148 - XIV. First Bridgeboro B.S.A. Becomes a Full Troop 164 - XV. Cruising in the "Honor Scout" 170 - XVI. The Invisible Badge 180 - XVII. Lost! 192 - XVIII. The Tragic Adventure of the Freckled Scout 201 - XIX. "So Long--See You Later!" 222 - - - - - TOM SLADE - ON THE RIVER - - - - - CHAPTER I - THE FIRST ARRIVAL - - -"But suppose they shouldn't come." - -"Son, when I wuz out in Colorady, in a place we called Devil's Pass, I -gut a grizzly backed up agin' a ledge one day 'n' heving ony one bullet -'twas a case uv me or him, as yer might say. My pardner, Simon Gurthy, -who likewise didn't hev no bullets, 'count uv bein' stripped b' the -Injins, he says, 'S'posin' ye don't fetch him.' 'N' I says, 'S'posin' I -do.'" - -Jeb Rushmore, with methodical accuracy, spat at a sapling near by. - -"And did you?" asked his listener. - -Jeb spat again with leisurely deliberation. "'N' I did," said he. - -"You always hit, don't you, Jeb?" - -"Purty near." - -The boy edged along the log on which they were sitting and looked up -admiringly into the wrinkled, weatherbeaten face. A smile which did not -altogether penetrate through the drooping gray mustache was visible -enough in the twinkling eyes and drew the wrinkles about them like sun -rays. - -"They'll come," said he. - -The boy was satisfied for he had absolute confidence that his companion -could not make a mistake. - -"But suppose you _hadn't_ hit him--I mean fetched him?" - -"Son, wot yer _got_ to do, yer do. When I told General Custer onct that -we'd get picked off like cherries offen a tree if we tried rushin' a pack -uv Sioux that was in ambush, he says, 'Jeb, mebbe it cain't be done, I -ain't sayin', but jest the same, we _got_ ter do it.' Some on us got -dropped, but we done it." - -"Did General Custer call you by your first name?" - -"Same's you do." - -This was too much for the little fellow. "Gee, it must have been great to -have General Custer call you by your first name." - -"Wal, now, I ben thinkin' 'twas purty fine this winter hevin' _yew_ call -me by my fust name, 'n' keep me comp'ny here. We've got ter be close -pards, me an' you, hain't we, son?" - -"Gee, I'm almost sorry they're coming--kind of." - -They were certainly coming--"in chunks," as Roy Blakeley would have said, -and before night the camp would be a veritable beehive. All summer troops -would be coming and going, but just now the opening rush was at hand, and -the exodus from eastern towns and cities, following the closing of -schools, would go far to fill the camp even to its generous capacity -before this Saturday's sun had set. - -The Bridgeboro Troop, from the home town of the camp's generous founder, -Mr. John Temple, would arrive sometime in the afternoon "with bells on" -according to the post card which little Raymond Hollister had brought up -from the post office the day before. - -They were cruising up the Hudson to Catskill Landing in their cabin -launch, the _Good Turn_, and would hike it up through Leeds to camp. The -card was postmarked Poughkeepsie, and read: - - Desert Island of Poughkeepsie, - Longitude 23, Latitude 40-11. - - "Put in here for gasoline and ice-cream soda. Natives friendly. Heavy - gales. Raining in sheets and pillow-cases. Mutiny on board. Pee-wee - Harris, N. G. Mariner, put in irons for stealing peanuts from galley. - Boarded by pirates below Peekskill. Coming north with bells on. Reach - camp Saturday late. All's well with a yo-heave-ho, my lads." - -"That sounds like Roy Blakeley," Raymond had said to his companion. - -"Does sound kinder like his nonsense," the camp manager had answered. - -All through the long winter months Raymond had lived at the big camp with -no other companion than Jeb Rushmore. They had made their headquarters in -Jeb's cabin, the other cabins and the big pavilion being shut tight. -Raymond had often thought how like the pictures of Valley Forge this -vacant clearing in the woods looked in its covering of snow, and -sometimes when Jeb was busy writing letters (it was a terrible job for -Jeb to write letters) the little fellow had been lonesome, but he had -gained in weight, he had slept like a bear, he had ceased entirely to -cough, and he ate--there is no way to describe how he ate! - -In short, a great fight had been fought out in the lonely camp that -winter, and little Raymond Hollister had won it. He could trudge into the -village and back without minding it now and he could raise the big flag -with one hand. Just the coming summer to top off with and he would be -well. - -Raymond lived down the Hudson a ways and he had come to Temple Camp with -his troop the previous summer. His patrol leader, Garry Everson, had won -the Silver Cross, which, according to the rule of the Camp, entitled him -and his companions to remain three extra weeks, and when Mr. John Temple -had heard of Raymond's ill health from the Bridgeboro boys on their -return from camp, he had called his stenographer and sent a couple of -home-runs over the plate in the form of two letters, one to Raymond's -grandmother telling her that she had guessed wrong when she had "guessed -that Ray would have to go to an orphan asylum when he came back," and the -other enclosing a check to Jeb Rushmore and telling him that Raymond -would stay with him for the winter and to please see to it that he had -everything he needed. - -That was in the previous autumn. Jeb had gotten out his bespattered, -pyramid-shaped ink bottle and his atrocious pen and laboriously scrawled -his signature on the back of the check and had it cashed in Leeds. He had -kept the little roll of bills carefully in his pocket all winter, buying -such things for Raymond as were needed, and as the roll grew thinner -Raymond had grown stouter, until now, in the spring, he weighed -ninety-one pounds and the roll was all gone except the elastic band. - -It seemed a pity that just at the opening of the new season he should -have to think of going home and perhaps to an orphan asylum, but if he -had entertained any wild hope that some fortunate circumstance might -prolong his stay into the open season it had been dissipated when word -had come that the Temples had gone to South America. Either John Temple -had forgotten about the boy up in the lonely camp or else he felt that he -had done as much for him as could be expected. Raymond might still remain -for two weeks of the new season as any scout might do, but then he would -be at the end of his rope. For the rule of Temple Camp was that any scout -or troop of scouts might spend two weeks at the camp free of all cost. If -a scout won an honor medal it entitled his whole troop to additional -time, the time dependent on the nature of the award. No scout might -remain at camp longer than two weeks except in accordance with this -provision, but permission might be granted on the recommendation of one -of the trustees for a scout to _board_ at camp for a longer time if there -were good reason. - -One day, however, a registered letter had come for Jeb. It contained -fifty dollars and a slip of paper bearing only the words: _For Raymond -Hollister to stay until September first_. - -"So he remembered 'baout yer arter all," Jeb had said, as pleased as -Raymond himself. "I kinder knowed he would. If _he_ ain't a trusty (Jeb -always said _trusty_ when he meant _trustee_) 'n' got rights, gol, I -dunno who has. They wuz jest goin' on th'boat, I reckon, when it popped -inter his head like a dose uv buckshot 'n' he sent it right from -th'wharf.----' N' I dun't hev ter get out my ink bottle 'n' my old -double-barrelled pen ter _in_dorse, neither." - -There they were--two twenties and a ten; to Raymond they seemed like a -fortune as he watched Jeb fold them up and slip them into his home-made -buckskin wallet. - -All this had happened before this auspicious Saturday, but the dispelling -of Raymond's fears had given rise to new apprehensions. - -"Even if they come," said he, "maybe Garry won't be with them--maybe they -won't stop for him." Garry Everson was all that was left of the little -troop he had striven to keep together the previous summer and the -Bridgeboro troop had promised to stop for him and bring him along. - -"An' then agin, mebbe they will," laughed Jeb. - -"Who do you think will be the first to get here, Jeb?" - -"Mebbe them lads from South New Jersey, mebbe the Pennsylvany -youngsters," said Jeb, consulting his list from the home-made buckskin -wallet. The trustees kept these lists in the neatest and most approved -manner, but Jeb had a system of record keeping all his own. "Let's see, -naouw, thar's thet troop with the red-headed boy from Merryland--'member -'em, don't ye? They'll be comin' all week, more'n like. Seems ony like -yist'day, thet that ole hill over thar wuz covered with snow--'member how -me an' you watched it? We had a rough winter of it, didn't we. Here, -lemme feel yer muscle agin now. Gee-williger! Gittin' ter be a reg'lar -Samson, ain't ye?" - -"Now that it's time for them to come," said Raymond, slowly, "I'm almost -sorry--kind of. It was dandy being alone here with you." - -Jeb slapped him on the shoulder and smiled again that smile that drew the -wrinkles like sun rays around his twinkling eyes, and went about his work -of preparation. Perhaps he, too, rough old scout that he was, felt that -it had been "dandy" having little Raymond alone with him through those -long, cold winter months. - -All day long Raymond kept his gaze across Black Lake, for he knew that -the Bridgeboro boys, hiking it from the Hudson, would come that way; but -the hours of the afternoon passed and there were no arrivals. The hills -surrounding the camp began to darken in the twilight, save for the -crimson tinge upon their summits from the dying sun; the dark waters of -the lake grew more sombre in the twilight and the still solemnity of -evening, which was nowhere more gloomy and impressive than at this -lakeside camp in the hills, fell upon the scene and cast its spell upon -the lonely boy as it always did. But no one came. - -Jeb Rushmore strolled down to where Raymond sat on the rough bench -outside the provision cabin, facing the lake. - -"Still watchin'? If yew say so, I'll light a lantern and we'll tow a -couple uv skiffs across and wait on 'tother side." - -"I wasn't thinking about them just now, Jeb; I was looking at those -birds." - -High up, through the fading twilight, a bird sped above the lake, toward -the south. Its course was straight as an arrow. Above it a larger bird -hovered and circled but the smaller bird went straight upon its way, as -if bent upon some important mission. - -Then, suddenly, the larger bird swooped and there was only the one object -left in the dim vast sky where, a moment before, there had been two. - -"Get me my rifle," said Jeb. - -As Raymond hurried back with it, he could see the wings of the big bird -flapping in the fury of its murderous work. What was going on up there he -could only picture in his mind's eye, but the thought of that smaller -bird hurrying on its harmless errand--homeward to its nest, perhaps--and -waylaid and murdered up there in the lonely half darkness, troubled him -and his hand trembled perceptibly as he handed the weapon to Jeb. - -"You always hit 'em--fetch 'em--don't you?" he asked, anxiously. - -"Purty near." - -The sharp report rang out and echoed from the surrounding hills. Even -before it died away there lay at Raymond's feet a hawk, quite dead, while -through the dim light in a pitiably futile effort to fly, the smaller -bird, a vivid speck of white in the fading twilight, fluttered to the -ground. - -It proved to be a white pigeon, its feathers ruffled and stained with -blood and several of the stiffer feathers of the tail were gone entirely. -One wing drooped as the bird stumbled weakly about and an area of its -neck was bare where the feathers had been torn away. It seemed odd to -Raymond that the poor stricken thing should resume its clumsy strut, -poking its head this way and that, even in its weakness, and after such a -cruel experience. - -But what he noticed particularly was a metal ring around the bird's leg -from which hung a little transparent tube, like a large medical capsule, -with something inside it. - -"Look, Jeb," said he. "What's that?" - -Jeb lifted the bird carefully, folding the drooping wing into place, and -removed the little tube. - -"You fetched him anyway, didn't you, Jeb?" - -"'Cause I _had_ ter--see?" - -"We won't have to kill it, will we, Jeb?" - -"Reckon not. He don't seem to be sufferin' much uv any. Jes' shook up, as -the feller says. Lucky he fell amongst friends. Let's see wot he's -brought us--he's one of them carriers, son." - -Raymond said nothing, but watched eagerly as Jeb, leisurely and without -any excitement, opened the tiny receptacle and unrolled a piece of paper. -The boy knew well enough what carrier pigeons were and he was eager to -know the purport of that little roll of script. But even in his -excitement there lingered in his mind the picture of that faithful little -messenger, intent upon its errand, struck down by the ruthless bandit of -the air. He was glad the hawk was dead. - -"Let's hear wot he's got ter say fer himself, son. You jes' read it." - -The paper was thin and about the size of a dollar bill; it had been -folded lengthwise and then rolled up. It read: - - "Come right away. Governor hurt. Serious. Can't leave. Will try to get - to nearest village but am afraid to leave now. He fell and is bleeding - bad. Think there's something else the matter, too. Spotty died or would - send. - - Jeff." - -Raymond gazed for a moment at Jeb, then down at the dead hawk, then at -the pigeon which Jeb still held, stroking it gently. - -"It'll never be delivered now, son, 'cause nobuddy 'cept this here little -feller knows whar he come frum nor whar he wuz goin'--do they, Pidge?" - -"But somebody's dying," said Raymond. - -"Sure enough, but we don't know who 'tis nor _whar_ he is--nor whar his -friends is neither. An' this here messenger here won't tell us--he's got -his own troubles. That thar hawk done more mischief than he thought for." - -For a few moments there was silence and Raymond gazed up into the -trackless, darkening sky through which this urgent call for help had been -borne. Where had it come from? For whom was it intended? Then he looked -down at the limp body of the bird whose cruel, bloody work had snatched -the last faint hope of succor from someone who lay dying. - -"I--I'm glad you kil--fetched him, anyway----" said he. - -The thought of those two unknown persons, the stricken one and his -frightened companion, waiting all in vain for the help which that -faithful messenger of the air should summon, and of that steadfast little -emissary, on whom so much depended, fallen here into strange hands, -sobered and yet agitated the boy, and he was silent in the utter -helplessness of doing anything. - -"Naow, if yer could ony tell whar yer wuz goin' or whar yer wuz comin' -frum, Pidge, we'd be much obleeged," said Jeb; "but you wouldn't, would -yer," he added, stroking the bird, "'n' I ain't much uv a hand at pickin' -trails in th'air, bein' as I growed up on th'hard ground." - -"Nobody can follow trails in the air," said Raymond by way of comforting -Jeb. "Gee, nobody could do that. But it's terrible, isn't it?" - -He looked up into the sky again as if he hoped it might still show some -sign of path or trail, and as he did so a loud bark, a sort of harsh -_Haa-Haa_, came through the growing darkness from across the lake, and -reverberated in swelling chorus from the frowning heights roundabout. -Then there was a long, plaintive bellow which died away as softly and as -gradually as the day itself dies, and this again was followed, as it -seemed, by the happy music of applauding hands, as if in acknowledgment -of the long echoed refrain. - -"Oh, they're here! They're here!" cried Raymond. "That was the Silver Fox -call--and the Elks--and Garry's with them--he made that Beaver call to -let me know----" - -Just at that moment the dense brush across the lake parted and a boy, -bareheaded and wearing a grey flannel shirt, emerged on the shore. - -"Oh, Tom! It's Tom Slade!" cried Raymond, forgetting all else in his -ecstasy. "Hello, Tom, you big--you big----" But he couldn't think of any -epithet to fit the occasion. - - - - - CHAPTER II - TOM SURPRISES THE CAMP - - -"Believe _me_, it was good to get our feet on terra-cotta--I mean terra -firma. I don't want any more life on the ocean wave for at least two -weeks. I'm sorry we didn't christen that boat the _Sardine Box_. _Good -Turn_--you can't even turn around in it!" - -"You shouldn't look a gift horse in the mouth," someone laughed. - -"You can look a gift boat in the cabin, can't you," continued Roy. "We -were crowded in the cabin, not a soul would dare to move. That boat is -all right for three scouts like last year, but for three patrols--go-o-d -night! There wasn't even room to flop a rice cake over--we had to eat -them browned on one side--there was a wrong and a right to them. Never -again! What we want is a sump-tu-ous yacht like that one moored at -Catskill Landing!" - -"Wal, ye did hev quite a crowd aboard, sure enough," laughed Jeb, who -always enjoyed Roy's nonsense. - -"Sure, pick out the one you want and I'll drown the rest," said Roy; -"except Pee-wee, we're going to keep him till he gets his eyes open." - -Pee-wee Harris, Silver Fox and troop mascot, splashed the oar from his -seat in an adjoining boat, giving Roy a gratuitous bath. - -"Did you have any adventures?" Raymond managed to ask. - -"Oceans of them--I mean rivers. We got three points out of our course and -went twenty miles up a tributary." - -"That's some word," someone called. - -"That's a peach of a word, comes from the Greek word _Bute_, meaning -beautiful, and the Irish word _Terry_. It was all on account of Pee-wee's -ignorance of geography. He thought the Hudson rose in Roseville, -Pennsylvania." - -"What!" shouted Pee-wee. - -"I'll leave it to our beloved scoutmaster." - -"Our beloved scoutmaster," who was rowing one of the skiffs, only smiled. - -"I know more about geography than you do," shouted the irrepressible -Pee-wee; "_he_ thought Newburgh was below Peekskill," he added, -contemptuously. - -"_He_ thought Sandy Hook was a Scotchman," retorted Roy. "Well, what's -the news, Jeb, anyway?" - -"Yer didn't give us no chance ter tell yer," drawled Jeb, as they drew -the boats up on shore. "Mebbe yer think yer wuz the fust arrivals, but -yer wuzn't." - -It was good to hear Roy's familiar nonsense; Raymond, who was quiet and -easily amused, saw with joy that the ancient hostilities between Roy and -Pee-wee were still in full swing; and for all Roy's dubious picture of an -overcrowded boat (and so it must have been) they had found it possible to -stop down the river for Garry Everson and bring him along. - -"Last of the Mohicans," said Roy, as he dragged Garry forward; "all -that's left of the famous Edgevale troop--left over from last summer. The -only original has-been. Them wuz the happy days." - -There was Tom Slade, too, quiet and stolid as he always was and with no -more sign of the scout regalia than he had shown when he was a hoodlum -down in Barrel Alley. His gray flannel shirt and last year's khaki -trousers were in odd contrast to the new outfits which the other members -of the Bridgeboro Troop wore. But then Tom was in odd contrast with -everything and everybody anyway. - -Two troops which had come up by the train had joined them at Catskill -Landing so the new arrivals descended like an all-conquering host upon -the quiet monotony of the big camp. - -"And I'm going to stay till September," said Raymond, clinging to Garry -and talking to both Garry and Roy. "Mr. Temple sent the money. Do you -remember how I couldn't raise the flag last summer?" - -"You were about as tough as a Welsbach gas mantel last summer," laughed -Roy. - -"Well, now I can raise it with one hand and I can hike to Leeds and back. -But listen--_listen_; we've got a mystery--it just happened----" - -"Give it to Tom," laughed Roy. "He's the fellow for mysteries." - -But in another minute he had abandoned his gay tone as the little company -stood gazing down upon the dead hawk, while Jeb held a lantern, and -listened to Raymond's breathless account of what had happened. - -It had a sobering effect upon them all, and as Mr. Ellsworth, the -Bridgeboro Troop's scoutmaster, held that pathetic note and read it in -the lantern light, with the scouts clustering about him, he shook his -head ruefully. - -The note was passed about among the boys, who fingered it curiously. - -"It's a stalking blank, isn't it," said Tom, as he handed it to Westy -Martin, of the Silver Foxes, who wore the stalking badge. "The printed -part has been torn off so's to get it into that little holder. See?" he -added, rubbing his finger along the edge, "it came off a pad--a stalking -pad--one of----" and he named the sporting goods concern which made them. -"It's the same kind you and I used at Salmon River." - -The announcement, made in Tom's usual stolid, half-interested way, fell -like a bombshell among them. - -"Oh, can we find them? Can we find them?" cried Raymond. - -"I'm afraid that doesn't do us much good," said Mr. Ellsworth. "We -already knew that the message was sent from some isolated place or help -would have been procurable. That being the case, I don't see how the -sender happened to have a pigeon handy." - -"He had more than one, don't you see?" said Tom, quietly, "but the other -died--Spotty. It must have been sent by some one who's stalking and a -fellow who's that much interested in birds would be just the kind of a -fellow that might have carrier pigeons--it's good sport." - -"Yes, but where is he--or they? There's two of them, anyway," said Doc -Carson. - -"That's for us to find out," said Tom. "I'm not going to sit down here -and eat my supper with someone dying." He kicked the body of the hawk -slightly as if to express his disgust that this insignificant creature -could cause such trouble and baffle even scouts. "We don't know much -about it but we'll have to use what little we do know. I know that when -people try out carrier pigeons they always get a high ground, and I know -that up on that hill over there--in the woods--there were chalk marks on -the trees last summer. Maybe someone was stalking there then. Anyway, I'm -going to get to the top of that hill and see if I can find anyone up -there. I want Doc to go with me. Anybody else can go that wants to. If -there's anybody there we'll wigwag or [1]smudge it to you in the -morning." - -For a moment there was silence. It was exactly like Tom to blurt out his -plans with a kind of stolid bluntness, and if he had contemplated a trip -to the moon he would have announced it in the same dull way. He seldom -asked advice and as seldom asked authority. He was a kind of law unto -himself. If anyone knew how to take Tom it was Roy Blakeley, but Roy -often threw up his hands in despair and said he gave it up--Tom was a -puzzle. He stood there among them now, his face about as expressionless -as an Indian's--coarse gray flannel shirt open halfway down to his waist, -a strap by way of a belt, and his shock of thick hair down on his -forehead. Why he had eschewed the scout regalia while the others came -resplendent in their new outfits was a mystery. What advantage over a -belt the thin strap had, no one knew. - -"Oh, I'll go with you! I'll go with you!" shouted the irrepressible -Pee-wee. "I'll----" - -"You'll just sit down and have some supper," laughed Mr. Ellsworth. - -It is to be feared that the scoutmaster had small hope of anything coming -from Tom's proposed expedition, but he was not the one to discourage his -scouts nor obtrude his authority. So the little party was made up (for -whatever slight prospect of success it might afford) of Tom, Doc Carson, -Raven and First Aid Scout, Connie Bennet of Tom's patrol, and Garry -Everson who, though not a member of the troop, was asked because of his -proficiency in signalling. Roy, who would naturally have gone, was asked -by Mr. Ellsworth to remain at camp to help him get the troop's baggage -distributed in the several cabins that had been reserved for them. - -So the four scouts, having taken a hasty bite of supper, set out in the -darkness on their all but hopeless errand. Tom carried a lantern; across -Doc Carson's back was slung the folding stretcher; Connie Bennet carried -the bandages and first-aid case, and all wore belt axes, for the hill -which they meant to climb was covered with a dense thicket and even in -the lower land between it and the camp there was no sign of path or trail -after the first mile or so. - - - - - CHAPTER III - ROY'S CAMPFIRE YARN - - -"That's what you get for being small," sighed Pee-wee to Raymond -Hollister, as they strolled about together while waiting for supper. -"When you say you want to go with them or tell them about an idea you -have, they just laugh at you, or don't pay any attention. It just goes in -one ear and out the other--because there's nothing to stop it, as Roy -says. Gee, you have to laugh at that feller. He makes me awful mad -sometimes--when he gets to jollying--but you have to laugh at him." - -"Do you know what he told me last summer?" said Raymond; "he was telling -me about the echoes and he said if I called Merry Christmas good and hard -it would answer Happy New Year!" - -"That's just like him," said Pee-wee, "you have to look out for him. When -I first joined his patrol he told me a lot of stuff. He said if a feller -had a malicious look it was a sign he belonged to the militia. He'll be -jollying you and me all the time we're here--you see if he isn't. He -calls me a scoutlet. And it'll be the same with you, only worse, because -you're even smaller than I am. What do you say we stick together?" - -"I'll do it," said Raymond, "but I like Roy," he added. "I like him -better than any of your patrol--I like him better than Tom Slade--a good -deal." - -"Tom isn't so bad," said Pee-wee, "but he's kind of queer." - -"He doesn't look like a scout at all--not this year," said Raymond. - -"He's thinking mostly about his patrol," said Pee-wee, "he's nutty about -his patrol. He needs one more member. Roy and two or three others--Westy, -he's pretty near as bad--they made a big rag doll with a punkin for a -head and brought it to scout meeting as a new member for Tom's patrol. -Coming up the river there was a scarecrow in a field and Roy said, -'There's your new member for you, Tom.' Oh, gee, but we did have some fun -cruising up. Sometimes I got mad when they kidded me, but most of the -time I had to laugh--especially when Roy gave an imitation of a dying -radiator--gee, that feller's the limit!" - -Raymond enjoyed these tidbits of gossip about the Bridgeboro Troop, the -members of which were all more or less heroes to him. - -"I like Garry best of all," he suddenly announced. - -"Everybody likes him," said Pee-wee. - -"He's just as smart as any scout in your troop," Raymond added, with the -faintest note of challenge in his tone. - -The welcome sound of the supper horn brought their talk to an end. It was -a merry company that gathered about one of the three long boards (the -other two were as yet unused) and to the scouts who were visiting Temple -Camp for the first time this late evening meal, served by lantern light -under the sombre trees with the still, black lake hard by and the -frowning hills encompassing them, was most delightful. - -There were few among them (least of all Jeb and the scoutmaster) who -believed that anything would be accomplished by Tom's expedition but even -a hopeless enterprise seemed more scoutish than doing nothing and Mr. -Ellsworth was certainly not the one to deny his scouts any adventure even -though it offered nothing more than a forlorn hope. - -After supper some one suggested campfire and soon the cheerful, crackling -blaze which seems to typify the very spirit of scouting was luring the -boys back from pavilion and cabin and they lolled on the ground about it -as it grew in volume and glittered in the black water. - -"What d'you say we tell riddles?" suggested Pee-wee. - -"All right," said Roy, who was poking the fire. "Riddle number one, How -much is twice?" - -"Do you stir your coffee with your left hand?" shouted Pee-wee. - -"No, with a spoon," said Roy; "no sooner said than stung!" - -"Tell a story, Roy," some one called, and half dozen others, who had -already fallen under Roy's spell, chimed in, "Sure, go ahead--story, -story!" - -"Well," said Roy, drawing his knees up and clasping his hands about them. -"Once there was a scout--anybody got a harmonica for some soft music? No? -Well, once there was a scout and he was tracking. He came to a stone wall -and in climbing over it he fell." - -"Scouts don't fall," shouted the irrepressible Pee-wee. - -"Who's telling this?" said Roy. "As he was climbing over the stone wall -he fell. He fell on his face--and hurt his feelings. He was -self-conscious--I mean sub-conscious--I mean unconscious. He shouted for -help." - -"When he was unconscious?" ventured Raymond. - -"Sure. But no help came. The sun was slowly sinking. The scout was a -fiend on first-aid. He opened his case and got out a bottle of camphor. -He smelled it. He opened his eyes slowly and came to----" - -"You make me sick!" shouted Pee-wee. - -"There was a big scratch on his knee," Roy continued. "There was a hole -in his stocking--about as big as a seventy-five cent piece. He looked -about but could not find the piece of stocking the size of a seventy-five -cent piece that had come out of the hole. Where was it? The hole was -there--the whole hole; but where was the part of the stocking that had -been in the hole? He looked about." - -"Topple him over backwards, will you!" called Pee-wee, in a disgusted -appeal to Roy's nearest neighbor. - -"He looked about some more. Then he sat up. Then he sat down. He was a -scout--he was resourceful. He happened to remember that once he had eaten -a doughnut. The doughnut had a hole in it. The hole disappeared. He said -to himself----" - -But he was not allowed to go further, for somebody inverted him according -to Pee-wee's suggestion, and when the general laugh had subsided a boy -who had said very little spoke up, half laughing but evidently in earnest -and greatly interested in Roy. - -"While we were rowing across the lake," he said, "you made some remark -about your motor-boat being overcrowded on the trip up and I got an idea -from some things that were said that two or three of you came up here -alone last year. It struck me that you might have had some interesting -experiences from the way you spoke. I wanted to go with your friends off -to that hill, but I didn't just like to ask----" - -"That's the trouble with him," a smaller boy beside him, who was -evidently his friend, piped up. "He doesn't like to butt in--gee, you'd -never think he was a hero from the way he acts--or the way he talks -either." - -The older boy took the general laugh good-naturedly. "I was just -wondering," he said, "if you wouldn't tell us something about your trip." - -"_He's_ had a lot of adventures, too," piped up the smaller boy, "and -saved people's lives--and things--and won plaudits----" - -"Won _what_?" someone queried. - -"Plaudits," he repeated; "they are things like--like--well, applause, -kind of. But he don't know very much about girls, though." - -"And what is _your_ name?" asked Mr. Ellsworth, amid the general -laughter. - -"Gordon Lord--and his is Harry Arnold--he can swim two miles and back and -he can--he can--he can make raisin pudding," he concluded, lamely. "And -he's got a tattoo mark on his arm." - -"Delaware?" Roy queried, smiling across the blaze at Arnold. - -"No, New Jersey--Oakwood, New Jersey--First Oakwood Troop--Hawk Patrol, -we are. I guess we're a little bit ashamed of our patrol name just now." - -There was silence for a minute as all thought of the tragic message which -had fallen into the camp. - -"You should worry about the name," said Roy. - -"I don't suppose there's anything we can do," said Mr. Ellsworth, voicing -the thought which held all silent, "but sit here and wait, and if we're -sensible we won't hope for too much. Come, Roy, let our new friends hear -about you boys coming up in the _Good Turn_." - -"It isn't that big cruiser down at Catskill Landing, is it?" Arnold -inquired. "We saw that as we got off the train." - -"No, that's the kind of a yacht boys have in twenty-five cent stories," -said Roy; "I saw that one; it's a pippin, isn't it? Guess it belongs to a -millionaire, hey? No, ours is just a little cabin launch--poor, but -honest, tangoes along at about six miles an hour and isn't ashamed. Do -you want the full story?" - -"If there aren't any stockings and stone-walls in it," someone suggested. - -"All right, here goes," said Roy, settling, himself into his favorite -posture before the fire, with his hands clasped about his drawn-up knees -and the bright blaze lighting up his face. - -"You see, it was this way. Pee-wee Harris is the what'd you say his name -is--Lord? Pee-wee Harris over there is the Gordon Lord of our troop. And -Tom Slade is our famous detective--Sherlock Nobody Holmes. - -"Well, Tom and Pee-wee and I started ahead of the others last summer to -hike it up here. Pee-wee got very tired (here he dodged a missile from -Pee-wee) and so we were all glad when we got a little above Nyack and -things began to happen. They happened in large chunks. - -"On the way up Pee-wee captured a pet bird that belonged to a little girl -(oh, he's a regular gallant little lad, he is); he got the bird down out -of a tree for her and to show how happy she was she began to cry." - -"Gee, they're awful funny, ain't they?" commented Gordon Lord. - -"Well, we beat it along till we hit the Hudson, then we started north. -The shadows of night were falling." - -"You read that in a book," interrupted Pee-wee. - -Little Raymond was greatly amused. So was Mr. Ellsworth who poked up the -fire and resumed his seat on the old bench beside Jeb Rushmore. - -"Team work," someone suggested, slyly, indicating Gordon and Pee-wee. - -"The kindergarten class will please be quiet," said Roy. "I repeat, the -shadows of night were tumbling. It began to rain. And it rained, and it -rained--and it rained. - -"Suddenly, we saw this boat--we thought it was a shanty at first--in the -middle of a big marsh. So we plowed our way through the muck and crawled -into it. Pity the poor sailors on a night like that! - -"Well, believe me, it was too sweet for anything in that old cabin. -Pee-wee wasn't homesick any more (here Roy dodged again) and we settled -down for the night. The rain came down in sheets and pillowcases and -things and the cruel wind played havoc--I mean it blew--and shook the old -boat just as if she'd been in the water. But what cared we--yo, ho, my -lads--we cared naught! - -"Well, in the morning along came an old codger with a badge and said he -was a sheriff. He was looking for an escaped convict and we didn't suit. -He told us the boat was owned by an old grouch in Nyack and said if we -didn't want to be arrested for trespassing and destroying property we'd -better beat it. He told us some more about the old grouch, and I guess -Pee-wee and I thought the best thing to do was to hike it right along for -Haverstraw and not wait for trouble. We had chopped up a couple of old -stanchions for firewood--worth about two Canadian dimes, they were, but -our friend said old What's-his-name would be only too glad to call that -stealing and send us to jail. Honest, that old hulk was a _sight_. You -wouldn't have thought anybody would want to admit that he owned such a -ramshackle old pile of junk and that's why we made so free with it. - -"Well, zip goes the fillum! Here's where Tom comes on the scene. He said -that if that was the kind of a gink Old Crusty was we'd have to go and -see him and tell him what we'd done. He just blurted it out in that sober -way of his and Pee-wee was scared out of his----" - -This time Pee-wee landed a wad of uprooted grass in Roy's face. - -"Pee-wee, as I said, was--with us (dodging again). The sheriff must have -thought Tom was crazy. He gave us a--some kind of a scope--what d'you -call it--when they read your fortune?" - -"Horoscope?" suggested Arnold, smiling. - -"Correct--I thank you. He told us that we'd be in jail by night. You -ought to have seen Pee-wee stare. I told him _he_ ought not to kick--he'd -been shouting for adventures and here was a good one. So we trotted back -to Nyack behind Tom and strode boldly up to Old Crusty's office -and--here's where the film changes--" - -"Go ahead," said Arnold. "You've got me started now." - -"Well, who do you think Old Crusty was?" - -"Not the escaped convict!" - -"Not on your life! He turned out to be the father of the little girl -whose pet bird Pee-wee had captured the day before." - -"The plot grows thinner," said someone. - -"Well, he had all the signs of an old grouch, hair ruffled up, spectacles -half-way down his nose--but he fell for Pee-wee, you can bet. - -"When he found out who we were (the girl must have told him about us, I -suppose) he got kind of interested and when Pee-wee started to explain -things he couldn't keep from laughing. Well, in the end he said the only -way we could square ourselves was to take the boat away; he said it -belonged to his son who was dead, and that he didn't want it and we were -welcome to it and he'd send us a couple of men to help us launch it. He -seemed to feel pretty bad when he mentioned his son and we were so -surprised and excited at getting the boat that we just stood there -gaping. Gee, how can you thank a man when he gives you a cabin launch?" - -Arnold shook his head. - -"Well, we spent a couple of days and eight dollars and fifty-two cents -fixing the boat up and then, sure enough, along came two men and Mr. -Stanton's chauffeur to jack the boat over and launch her for us. The girl -came along, too, in their auto, and oh, wasn't she tickled! Brought us a -lot of eats and a flag she'd made, and stayed to wish us--what do you -call it?" - -"Bon voyage?" - -"Correct--I thank you. Understand, I'm only giving you the facts. We had -more fun those three days and that night launching the boat than you -could shake a stick at. Well, when we got her in the water I noticed the -girl had gone off a little way and kept staring at it. Gee, the boat did -look pretty nice when she got in the water. I thought maybe she was kind -of thinking about her brother, you know, and it put it into my head to -ask one of the men how he died. She didn't come near us while we talked, -but stood off there by herself staring at the launch. You see, it was the -first time she'd seen it in the water since he was lost, and she was -almost crying--I could tell that. - -"Well, this is what the man told me. They said this Harry Stanton and -another fellow named Benty Willis were out in the launch on a stormy -night. There was a skiff belonging to the launch, and people thought they -must have been in that, fishing. Anyway, the next morning, they found the -skiff broken and swamped to her gunwale and right near it the body of the -other fellow. The launch was riding on her anchor same as the night -before. The men said Mr. Stanton was so broken up that he had the boat -hauled ashore and a flood carried her up on the marsh where she was going -to pieces when we found her. He would never look at her again. They said -Harry Stanton could swim and that made some people think that maybe they -were run down by one of the big night boats on the Hudson and that Harry -was injured--killed that way, maybe. - -"Anyway, when the girl got in the auto and said good-bye to us I could -see she'd been crying all right, and she said we must be careful and not -run at night on account of the big liners." - -"Hmph," said Arnold, thoughtfully. - -"Gee, I'll never forget that night, with her sitting in the auto ready to -start home and the boat rocking in the water and waiting for us. I can't -stand seeing a girl cry, can you? I guess we all felt kind of sober when -we said good-bye and she told us to be careful. Tom told her we'd try to -do a _real_ good turn some day to pay her back, because we really owed it -to her, you know, and there was something in the way he said it--you know -how Tom blurts things out--that made me think he had an idea up his -sleeve. - -"Well, it was about an hour later, while we were sitting on the cabin -roof, that Tom sprung it on us. We were going to start up river in the -morning; we were just loafing--gee, it was nice in the moonlight!--when -he said it would be a great thing for us to find Harry Stanton! Go-o-d -ni-i-ght! I was kind of sore at him because I didn't like to hear him -joking, sort of, about a fellow that was dead, especially after what the -fellow's father and sister had done for us, but he came right back at me -by pointing to the board we had the oil stove on. What do you think he -did? He showed us the letters N Y M P H under the fresh paint and said -that board was part of the launch's old skiff and wanted to know how it -got back to the launch. What do you know about that? You see, we had run -short of paint and it was thin on that board because we'd mixed gasoline -with it. We ought to have mixed it with cod liver oil, hey? - -"So there you are," concluded Roy; "Pee-wee and I just stared like a -couple of gumps. Those fellows had been out in the skiff and they -couldn't have used it with that side plank ripped off. And how did it get -back to the launch?" - -"Sounds as if the man might have been right about the skiff being smashed -by a big boat," said Arnold. "Maybe Harry Stanton was injured and clung -to that board. But why should he have pulled it aboard the launch? And -what I can't understand is that nobody should have noticed it except you -fellows. Was it in the launch all the time?" - -"Yup--right under one of the lockers. Pee-wee and I had hauled it out to -make a shelf for the oil stove." - -"But how do you suppose it was no one had noticed it till you fellows got -busy with the boat?" - -"A scout is observant," said Roy, laughingly. - -"Hmph--it's mighty interesting, anyway," mused Arnold. He drummed on a -log with his fingers, and for a few moments no one spoke. - -"Some mystery, hey?" said Roy, adding a log to the fire. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - THE OLD TRAIL - - -Several things more or less firmly fixed in his mind had impelled Tom -Slade to challenge that wooded hill the dense summit of which was visible -by day from Temple Camp. - -He knew that high land is always selected for despatching carrier -pigeons; a certain book on stalking which he had read contained a chapter -on this fascinating and often useful sport and he knew that in a general -sort of way there was a connection between carrier pigeons and stalking; -one suggested the other--to him, at least. He knew for a certainty that -the message had been written on the unprinted part of a stalking blank -and he knew also that on the slope of the hill he had seen chalk marks on -the trees the previous summer. Tom seldom forgot anything. - -All these facts, whether significant or not, were indelibly impressed -upon his serious mind, and to him they seemed to bear relation to each -other. He believed that the pigeon had been flying homeward, to some town -or city not far distant, where the sender perhaps lived and he believed -that the pigeon's use in this emergency had been the happy thought of -some person who had taken the bird to the hill only to use for sport. He -had no doubt that somewhere in the wilderness of these Catskill hills was -a camp where the victim of accident lay, but the weak point was that he -was seeking a needle in a haystack. - -"I wish we'd brought along the fog horn from the boat," he said, as they -made their way across the open country below the hill; "we could have -made a lot of noise with it up there; you can hear a long way in the -woods, and it might have helped us to find the place." - -"If the place is up there," said Doc Carson. - -"There's a trail," said Tom, "that runs about halfway up but it peters -out at a brook and you can't find any from there on." - -"If we could find the trees where you saw the marks last summer," said -Connie Bennet, "we might get next to some clue there." - -"I can usually find a place where I've been before," said Tom. - -"What's the matter with following the brook when we get to it?" said -Garry. "If there's anyone camping there they'd have to be near water." - -"Good idea," said Doc. - -"That settles one thing I was trying to dope out," said Tom. "Why should -people come as far as that just to stalk?" - -"Maybe they're scouts, camping." - -"They'd have smudged up the whole sky with signals," said Tom. - -"Maybe it's someone up there hunting." - -"Only it isn't the season," laughed Garry. "No sooner said than stung, as -Roy would say. Gee, I wish he was along!" - -"Same here," said Doc. - -"They're probably there fishing," said Tom. "The stalking business is a -side issue, most likely." - -"That's what the little brook whispers to us," said Doc. - -They all laughed except Tom. He was not much on laughing, though Roy -could usually reach him. - -The woods began abruptly at the foot of the hill and they skirted its -edge for a little way holding their lantern to the ground so as to find -the trail. But no sign of path revealed itself. Twice they fancied they -could see, or _sense_, as Jeb would have said, an opening into the dense -woods and the faintest suggestion of a trail but it petered out in both -cases--or perhaps it was imaginary. - -"Let's try what Jeb calls lassooing it," said Garry. - -He retreated through the open field to a lone tree which stood gaunt and -spectral in the night like a sentinel on guard before that vast woodland -army. Climbing up the tree, he called to Tom: - -"Walk along the edge now and hold your lantern low." - -Tom skirted the wood's edge, swinging his light this way and that as -Garry called to him. The idea of trying to discover the trail by taking a -distant and elevated view was a good one, but the tree was either too -near or too far or the light was too dim, and the four scouts knew not -what to do next. - -"Climb up a little higher," called Doc. "They say that when you're up in -an aeroplane you can see all sorts of paths that people below never knew -about. I read that in an aviation magazine." - -"_The Fly-paper_, hey?" ventured Connie. "Look out for rotten branches, -Garry." - -Garry wriggled his way up among the small branches, as far as he dared, -while Tom moved about at the wood's edge holding the lantern here and -there. - -"Nothing doing," said Garry, coming down. - -"We're up against it, for a fact," said Doc. - -"That's just what we're not," retorted Connie. "It seems we're nowhere -near it." - -"Gee-whillager!" cried Garry as he scrambled down the tree trunk. "Sling -me over the peroxide, will you!" - -"What's the matter?" asked Doc, interested at once. - -"I've got a scratch. What Pee-wee would call an artificial abrasion." - -"Superficial?" laughed Doc, pouring peroxide on a pretty deep scratch on -Garry's wrist. - -"See there?" said Garry. "Feel. It's sticking out from the trunk." - -As Tom held his lantern a small, rusty projection of iron was visible on -the trunk of the tree about five feet from the ground. - -"Is it a nail?" asked Connie. - -"Well-what-do-you-know-about-that?" said Garry. "It's what's left of a -hook; the tree has grown out all around it, don't you see?" - -It was indeed the rusty remnant of what had once been a hook but the -growing trunk had encased all except the end of it and the screws and -plate that fastened it were hidden somewhere within the tree. - -"That tree has grown about an inch and a half thicker all the way around -since the hook was fastened to it," said Doc. - -"It's an elm, isn't it?" Garry said. - -Tom thought a minute. "Elms, oaks," he mused, "that means about ten or -twelve years ago." - -"There are only two reasons why people put hooks into trees," said -Connie, after a moment's silence; "for hammocks and to fasten horses to. -Nix on the hammocks here," he added. - -"What I was thinking about," said Tom, "is that if somebody used to tie a -horse here it must have been so's they could go into the woods. The trail -goes as far up as the brook. Maybe they used to tie their horses here and -go fishing. There ought to be a trail from this tree to where the trail -begins in the woods." - -"Probably there was--twelve years ago," said Doc, dryly. - -"The ground where a trail was is never just the same as where one -wasn't," said Tom, with a clumsy phraseology that was characteristic of -him. "It leaves a scar--like. When they started the Panama Canal they -found a trail that was used in the Fifteenth Century--an aviator found -it." - -"Well, then," said Garry, cheerfully, "I'll aviate to the top of this -tree again and take a squint straight down." - -"Shut your eyes and keep them shut," Tom called up to him; "keep them -shut till I tell you." - -"Wait till Tom says peek-a-boo!" called Connie. - -Tom gathered some twigs that were none too dry, and pouring a little -kerosene over them, kindled a small fire about six feet from the tree. - -"Can you see down here all right?" - -"Not with my eyes shut," Garry answered. - -"Well, open them," said Tom, "and see if the leaves keep you from -seeing." - -"What he means," called Doc, "is, have you an unobstructed view?" - -There was always this tendency to make fun of Tom's soberness. - -"Wait till I look in my pocket," called Garry. "Sure, I've got one." - -"Shut your eyes again and keep them shut," commanded Tom. - -"I have did it," came from above. - -With a couple of sticks which he manipulated like Chinese chopsticks, Tom -moved the fire a little to a spot which seemed to suit him better, then -retreated with his lantern to the wood's edge. - -"Now," he called; "quick, what do you see? Quick!" he shouted. "You can't -do it at all unless you do it quick!" - -"To your left!" shouted Garry. "Down that way--farther--farther still--go -on--more. Hurry up! Just a--there you are!" - -The boys ran to the spot where Tom stood and a few swings of the lantern -showed an unmistakable something--certainly not a path--hardly a -trail--but a way of lesser resistance, as one might say, into the dense -wood interior. - -"Come on!" said Tom. "I hope the kerosene holds out--I dumped out a lot -of it." - -Instinctively, they fell back for him to lead the way and scarcely a tree -but he paused to consider whether he should pass to the left or the right -of it. - -"What did you see?" Connie asked of Garry. - -"I couldn't tell you," said Garry, still amazed at his own experience, "I -don't know as I saw anything; I suppose I sensed it, as Jeb would say. It -was kind of like a little dirty green line from the tree and it kept -fading away the longer I had my eyes open. It wasn't exactly a line, -either," he corrected; "it was--oh, I don't know what it was." - -"It was a ghost," said Tom. - -"That's a good name for it," conceded Garry. - -"It's the right name for it," said Tom, with that blunt outspokenness -which had a savor of reprimand but which the boys usually took in good -part. - -"That's just about what I'd say it was," Garry agreed. - -"That's what you ought to say it was," said Tom, "because that's what it -was." - -Doc winked at Garry, and Connie smiled. - -"We get you, Steven," he said to Tom. - -"Even before there were any flying machines, scouts in Africa knew about -trail ghosts," Tom said. "They're all over, only you can't see -them--except in special ways--like this. You can only see them for about -twenty seconds when you open your eyes. If I'd have told you to look -cross-eyed you could have seen it better." - -"Wouldn't that have been a sight for mother's boy!" said Garry. "Swinging -on a thin branch on the top of a tree and looking cross-eyed at a ghost! -I'd have had that Cheshire cat in _Alice in Wonderland_ beaten a mile." - -"Captain Crawford who died," said Tom, "picked up a lot of them. The -higher up you are the better. In an aeroplane you needn't even shut your -eyes." - -"Well, truth is stranger than friction, as Roy says," said Connie; "this -trail we're on now is no ghost, anyway--hey, Tomasso?" - -Tom did not answer. - -"I got a splinter in my finger, too," said Garry. - -"Must have been scratching your head," said Connie. - -"That's what I get from seein' things," said Garry. - -"We'll string the life out of Pee-wee, hey?" said Doc. "Tell him we saw a -ghost----" - -"We did," Tom insisted. - -"You mean Garry did," said Doc. "Of course, we have to take his word for -it." - -"Buffalo Bill saw them, too," said Tom, plodding on. - -"Not Bill Cody!" ejaculated Doc, winking at Garry. - -"Yes," said Tom. - -"Is it _possible_?" said Doc, "Where'd you read that--in the -_Fly-paper_?" - -"There's a trail ghost a hundred miles long out in Utah that nobody on -the ground ever saw. Curtis followed it in his biplane," said Tom. - -"Fancy that!" said Doc. - -Tom plodded on ahead of them, in his usual stolid manner. "I don't say -you can always do it," he said; "it's kind of--something--there's a long -word--sike----" - -"Psychological?" said Doc. "We get you, Tomasso." - - - - - CHAPTER V - ADVENTURE OF THE RESCUE PARTY - - -"I bet there are real ghosts in here," said Garry, as they climbed the -slope which became more difficult as they went along. - -"Regular ones, hey?" said Doc. - -"Sure, the good old-fashioned kind." - -"No peek-a-boo ghosts," said Garry. - -"Well, you can knock ghosts all you want to," said Connie, "but I always -found them white." - -"Slap him on the wrist, will you!" called Doc. "Believe _me_, this is -some impenetrable wilderness!" - -"How?" - -"Impenetrable wilderness--reduced to a common denominator, thick woods." - -Withal their bantering talk, it seemed indeed as if the woods might be -haunted, for with almost every step they took some crackling or rustling -sound could be heard, emphasized by the stillness. Now and again they -paused to listen to a light patter growing fainter and fainter, or a -sudden noise as of some startled denizen of the wood seeking a new -shelter. Ghostly shadows flitted here and there in the moonlight; and the -night breeze, soughing among the tree tops, wafted to the boys a -murmuring as of some living thing whose elusive tones now and again -counterfeited the human voice in seeming pain or fear. - -The voices of the boys sounded crystal clear in the solemn stillness. -Once they paused, trying to locate an owl which seemed to be shrieking -its complaint at this intrusion of its domain. Again they stopped to -listen to the distant sound of falling water. - -"That's the brook, I guess," said Tom. - -Their approach to it seemed to sober the others, realizing as they did -that effort and resourcefulness were now imperative, and mindful, too, -though scarcely hopeful, that these might bring them face to face with a -tragic scene. - -"Pretty tough, being up here all alone with somebody dying," said Doc. - -"You said something," answered Garry. - -They were entering an area of underbrush, where the trail ceased or was -completely obscured, so that there wasn't even a ghost of it, as Doc -remarked. But the sound of the water guided them now and they worked -their way through such a dense maze of jungle as they had never expected -to encounter outside the tropics. - -Tom, going ahead, tore the tangled growth away, or parted it enough to -squeeze through, the others following and carrying the stretcher and -first-aid case with greatest difficulty. - -"How long is this surging thoroughfare, I wonder," asked Garry. - -"Don't know," said Tom. "I don't seem to have my bearings at all." - -After a little while they emerged, scratched and dishevelled, at the -brook which tumbled over its pebbly bed in its devious path downward. - -"We're pretty high up, do you know that?" Doc observed. - -"I don't see as there's much use hunting for marked trees," Tom said. "I -must have come another way before. I don't know where we're at. What -d'you say we all shout together?" - -This they did and the sound of their upraised voices reverberated in the -dense woods and shocked the still night, but no answering sound could be -heard save only the rippling of the brook. - -"We stand about as much chance as a snowball in a blast furnace," said -Garry. - -"The thing to do," said Tom, ignoring him, "is to follow this brook, -somebody on each side, and look for a trail. If there's anybody here -they'll be upstream; it's too steep from here down. And one thing -sure--they'd have to have water. Lucky the moon's out, but I wish we had -two lanterns." - -"We'll be lucky if the oil in this one lasts," Doc put in. - -Following the stream was difficult enough, but it was easier than the -forest they had just come through and they picked their way along its -edge, Tom and Garry on one bank and Doc and Connie on the other. - -"I don't believe anyone's been in this place in a thousand years; that's -the way it looks to me," said Doc. - -"I'd say at least three thousand," said Garry. - -Tom paid no attention. He had paused and was holding his lantern over the -stream. - -"Those four stones are in a pretty straight line," he said. "Would you -say that was a ford?" - -"Looks more like a Buick to me," said Garry, but he added, "They _are_ in -a pretty straight line. I guess it's a flivver, all right." - -"Look on that side," said Tom, to the others. "Do you see anything over -there?" - -He was looking carefully along the edge; of the water when Doc called -suddenly, - -"Come over here with your light, quick!" - -Tom and Garry crossed, stepping from stone to stone, and presently all -four were kneeling and examining in the lantern light one of those -commonplace things which sometimes send a thrill over the discoverer--a -human footprint. There upon that lonesome mountain, surrounded by the all -but impenetrable forest, was that simple, half-obliterated but -unmistakable token of a human presence. Tom thought he knew now how -Robinson Crusoe felt when he found the footprint in the sand. - -The exposed roots of a tree formed ridges in the hard bank, where -footprints seemed quite impossible of detection, and it was in vain that -the boys sought for others. Yet here was this one, and so plain as to -show the criss-cross markings of a new sole. - -"It's from a rubber boot," said Garry. - -"There ought to be _some_ signs of others even if they're not as clear as -this one," said Tom. "Maybe whoever was wearing that boot slipped off one -of those stones and got it wet. That's why it printed, probably. Anyway, -somebody crossed here and they were going up that way, that's sure." - -They stood staring at the footprint, thoroughly sobered by its discovery. -They had penetrated into this rugged mountain in the hope of finding some -one, but the remoteness and wildness of the place had grown upon them and -the whole chaotic scene seemed so ill-associated with the presence of a -human being that now that they had actually found this silent token it -almost shocked them. - -"Maybe the wind was wrong before," said Tom. "What d'you say we call -again--all together? There don't seem to be any path leading anywhere." - -They formed their hands into megaphones, calling loud and long, but there -was no answer save a long drawn out echo. - -"Again," said Tom, "and louder." - -Once more their voices rose in such stentorian chorus that it left them -breathless and Connie's head was throbbing as from a blow. - -"Hark!" said Doc. "Shhh." - -From somewhere far off came a sound, thin and spent with the distance, -which died away and seemed to mingle with the voice of the breeze; then -absolute silence. - -"Did you hear that?" - -"Nothing but a tree-toad," said Garry. - -They waited a minute to give the answering call a rest, if indeed it came -from human lips, then raised their voices once again in a long _Helloo_. - -"Hear it?" whispered Connie. "It's over there to the east. That's no -tree-toad." - -Whatever the sound was, the distance was far too great for the sense of -any call to be understood. The voice was impersonal, vague, having scarce -more substance than a dream, but it thrilled the four boys and made them -feel as if the living spirit of that footprint at their feet was calling -to them out of the darkness. - -"Even still I think it must be near the stream though it sounds way off -there," Tom pointed; "we might head straight for the sound or we might -follow the stream up. It may go in that direction up a ways." - -They decided to trust to the brook's guidance and to the probability of -its verging in the direction of the sound. It wound its way through -intertwined and over-arching thickets where they were forced to use their -belt-axes to chop their way through. Now and again they called as they -made their difficult way, challenged almost at every step by -obstructions. But they heard no answering voice. - -After a while the path became less difficult; the very stream seemed to -breathe easier as it flowed through a comparatively open stretch, and the -four boys, torn and panting, plodded along, grateful for the relief. - -"What's that?" said Garry. "Look, do you see a streak of white way -ahead--just between those trees?" - -"Yes," panted Connie. "It's a tent, I guess--thank goodness." - -"Let's call again," said Tom. - -There was no answer and they plodded on, stooping under low-hanging or -broken branches, stepping cautiously over wet stones and picking their -way over great masses of jagged rock. Never before had they beheld a -scene of such wild confusion and desolation. - -"Wait a minute," said Tom, turning back where he stood upon a great rock -and holding his lantern above a crevice. "I thought I saw something white -down there." - -They gathered about him and looked down into a fissure at a sight which -unnerved them all, scouts though they were. For there, wedged between the -two converging walls of rock and plainly visible in the moonlight was a -skeleton, the few brown stringing remnants depending from it -unrecognizable as clothing. - -Tom reached down and touched it with his belt-axe, and it collapsed and -fell rattling into the bed of the cleft. He held his lantern low for a -moment and gazed down into the crevice. - -"This is some spooky place, believe _me_," shivered Connie. "Who do you -suppose it was?" - -A little farther on they came upon something which apparently explained -the presence of the skeleton. As they neared the spot where they had seen -what they thought to be a tent among the trees, they stopped aghast at -seeing among the branches of several elms that most pathetic and complete -of all wrecks, the tattered, twisted remnants of a great aeroplane. A few -silken shreds were blowing about the broken frame and beating against the -network of disordered wires and splintered wood. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - THE MOUNTAIN SHELTER - - -For a few moments they stared at the wreck and said nothing. - -"Maybe it was Kinney," suggested Doc, at last. "Do you remember about -Kinney?" - -"Come on," urged Tom. - -Half reluctantly the others followed him, glancing back now and again -till the tattered mass became a shadowy speck and faded away in the -darkness. - -"He started from somewhere above Albany," said Doc, "and he was never -heard of again. I often heard my father speak about it and I read about -it in that aviation book that Roy loaned me." - -"He's going to loan it to me when he gets it back from you," said Connie; -"he says you're a good bookkeeper." - -"Put away your little hammer," laughed Garry. - -"Some people in Poughkeepsie thought they heard the humming of the engine -at night," said Doc, "and that's what made people think he had got past -that point--but that's all they ever knew. Some thought he must have gone -down in the river." - -"How long ago was it?" Garry asked. - -Tom plodded on silently. It was well known of Tom that he could not think -of two things at once. - -"Five or six years, I think," said Doc. - -"That would be too long a time for the wreck, seeing the condition it's -in," said Garry, "but anything less than that would be too short a time -for the skeleton." - -"Do you mean they were lost here at different times?" Connie asked. - -"Looks that way to me." - -"If there are buzzards up here a skeleton might look like that in a month -or so," Connie suggested. - -"There aren't any buzzards around here." - -"Sure there are," said Doc. "Look at Buzzard's Bay--it's named for 'em." - -"It's named for a man who had it wished on him," said Garry. "You might -as well say that Pike's Peak was named after the pikers that go there." - -"How long do you suppose that aeroplane's been there?" - -"Five or six years, maybe," Doc said. "The frame'll be as good as that -for ten years more. There's nothing more to rot." - -"Well," said Garry, "it looks to my keen scout eye as if that wreck had -been there for about six months and the skeleton for about six years." - -"Maybe if you had tried shutting your keen scout eye and opening it in a -hurry---- Hey, Tomasso?" teased Doc. - -"Maybe they got here at the same time but the man lived for a while," Tom -condescended to reply. - -"You've got it just the wrong way round, my fraptious boy," said Doc. -"The skeleton's been here longer, if anything." - -"Did you see that hickory stick there--all worm-eaten?" Tom asked. "It -had some carving on it. None of these trees are hickory trees." - -"I saw it but I didn't notice the carving," said Doc, surprised. - -"Didn't you notice there weren't any hickory trees anywhere around -there?" Tom asked. - -"No, I didn't--I'm a punk scout--I must be blind," said Doc. - -"You're good on first-aid," said Tom, indifferently. - -"How'd you know it was hickory?" Connie asked. - -"Because I can tell hickory," said Tom, bluntly, "and it's being all -worm-eaten proved it--kind of. That's the trouble with hickory." - -They always had to make the best of Tom's answers. - -"I don't know where he got the hickory stick," he said, as he pushed -along through the underbrush, "but he didn't get it anywhere around here, -that's sure." - -"And he probably didn't sit down that same day and carve things on it, -either," suggested Garry; "Tom, you're a wonder." - -"He might have lived up here for two or three years after he fell," said -Doc reflectively. "Gee, it starts you thinking, don't it?" - -Connie shook his head. "It's a mystery, all right," said he. - -The thought of the solitary man, disabled crippled, perhaps, living there -on that lonely mountain after the terrible accident which had brought him -there lent a new gruesomeness to their discoveries. And who but Tom Slade -would have been able to keep an open mind and to see so clearly by the -aid of trifling signs as to separate the two apparent catastrophes and -see them as independent occurrences? - -"Tomasso, you're the real scout," said Doc. "The rest of us are only -imitations." - -Tom said nothing. He was used to this kind of talk and was about as proof -against such praise as a battleship is against a popgun. And just now he -was thinking of other things. Yet if he could have looked into the future -and seen there the extraordinary explanation of his discovery and known -the strange adventures it would lead to, he might have paused, even on -that all but hopeless errand of rescue, and looked again at those -pathetic remains. But those things were to be reserved for another -summer. - -"Is there anything we can do? What do you suggest, Tom?" Garry asked, -dropping his half flippant manner. - -"I say, let's shout again," said Tom. "We must be nearly a mile farther -on by now, and the brook's getting around to the east, too." - -"Good and loud," said Connie. - -"All together--now!" - -Again their voices woke the mountain echoes. A sudden rustling of the -underbrush told of some frightened wood creature. The brook rippled -softly as before. There was no other sound, and they waited. Then, from -somewhere far off came the faint answering of a human voice. It would -never have been distinguishable save in that deathlike stillness and even -there it sounded as if it might have come from another world. It seemed -to be uttering the letter L in a kind of doleful monotony. - -They paused a moment in a kind of awe, even after it had ceased. - -"It's calling _help_," said Garry. - -"I can go there now," said Tom. "The brook probably winds around that -way, but we can cut across and get there quicker. We'll chop our way -through here. Let him rest his lungs now--I can go right for a ways. I -got to admit I was wrong." - -In the dim light of the lantern Garry looked at Tom as he stood there, -his heavy, stolid face scratched by the brambly thicket, his coarse shirt -torn, his thick shock of hair down over his forehead--no more elated by -triumph than he would have been discouraged by defeat, and as the -brighter, more vivacious and attractive boy looked at him he was seized -with a little twinge of remorse that he had made game of Tom's clumsy -speech and sober ways. - -"Got to admit you were wrong _how_--for goodness' sake?" he said, almost -angrily. "Didn't you bring us here? Didn't you bring us all the way from -Temple Camp to where we could hear that voice calling for help? Didn't -you?" - -"I said I could find the trees that had the stalking marks last summer," -said Tom, "and I got to admit I was wrong, 'cause I couldn't." - -"Who was it that wouldn't sit down and eat supper while somebody was -dying?" demanded Doc. "There's a whole lot of good scouts, believe _me_, -but there's only one Tom Slade!" - -It was always the way--they made fun of him and lauded him by turns. - -"There's a kind of trail here," said Tom, unmoved, "but it hasn't been -used for a long time--see those spider webs across it? Lend me your axe, -will you, mine is all dulled." - -A hand-to-hand combat with more tangled underbrush, which they tore and -chopped away, brought them to comparatively open land which must have -been very high for they were surprised to see, far below, several -twinkling specks of light which they thought to be at Temple Camp. It was -the first open view they had had. - -They called again, and again the voice answered, clearly audible now, -crying, "Help help!" and something more which the boys could not -understand. They called, telling the speaker not to come in search of -them, that they would come to him, and to answer them for guidance when -they called. - -They plunged into more thicket, tearing it aside with a will, sometimes -going astray, then pausing to listen for the guiding voice, and pushing -on again through the labyrinth. - -After a little they fell into a path and then could hear the brook -rushing over stones not far distant, and knew that it must verge to the -east as Tom had said and that the path did lead to it. It would have been -a long journey following the stream. - -Soon a greater intercourse of speech was possible and they called -cheerily that they were scouts and for the waiter to cheer up for they -would soon be with him. - -Presently, along the path they could hear the sound of footsteps. Tom, -who was leading the way, raised his lantern and just beyond the radius of -its flickering light they could see a dark figure hurrying toward them; -then a face, greatly distraught in the moonlight, and Tom stopped, -bewildered. As the stranger grasped his arm he held the light close to -the haggard, wild-eyed face. - -"Hello," he said, "I--I guess I know you. Let go--what's the matter? -Weren't you at Temple Camp last summer?" - -The stranger, a young fellow of perhaps eighteen, shook his head. - -"With one of the troops from----?" - -"No," said the young man. - -"Hmn," said Tom, still holding the lantern up; "I thought----Don't you -fellows remember him?" - -Connie shook his head; Garry also. - -"Never saw him in my life," said Doc. - -"Hmn," said Tom. "Maybe I----just for a minute I thought----I guess you -fellows are right." - -The stranger was dressed in the regulation camping outfit--the kind of -costume usually seen on dummies in the windows of sporting goods stores -in the spring, with a spick and span tent in the background, a model -lunch basket near by and a canoe crowded in. His nobby outfit was very -much the worse for wear, however, and he looked about as fresh as the -immaculate Phoebe Snow would look after a _real_ railroad journey. - -"Maybe I can be rescued now," he said imploringly, clinging to Tom. "I -saw the lights way down there. There was only one till tonight and -tonight I counted seven--little bits of ones. I tried to get to them, but -I got lost. You can't go to them. It looks as if you can, but you can't. -They're just as far away, no matter how far you go--they get farther and -farther. Nobody can ever get away from here. Are you afraid of dead -people?" - -"No," said Doc. "We're scouts. Is----" - -"If a person looks very different, then he's dead, isn't he?" - -"Come on," said Doc. "We'll see." - -"We'll never get off this hill; I've tried every way----" - -"Oh, yes, we will," spoke up Garry, putting his arm over the boy's -shoulder and urging him along. - -They could see that he was hardly rational, and Garry, better than any of -the others, knew how to handle him. - -"It's terrible without a light," he said; "I spilled all the oil--I'm -glad you've got a light." - -"What's your name?" Garry asked. - -"Jeffrey Waring--come on, I'll show you the place." He shuddered as he -spoke. - -Once more Tom held his lantern up to the white, distracted face. - -"_He_ was never at camp," laughed Doc. - -"Hmn," said Tom, apparently but half convinced. - -A few steps brought them to a little clearing where stood a rough shack. -Outside it, fastened against a tree, was a vegetable crate with bars -nailed across it--the silent evidence of departed pets. Several fishing -rods lay against a tree. Close by was a makeshift fireplace. On a rough -bunk inside the shack lay a man, no longer young, with iron gray hair. -His eyes were open and staring and one seemed larger than the other. Doc -felt his pulse and found that he was living. - -"He fell on the rocks and hurt his arm--I think it's broken," said -Jeffrey. "It bled and I bandaged it." - -Doc raised the bandaged arm and it fell heavily. Removing the bandage -carefully he saw that the cut itself was not dangerous, but from -first-aid studies he thought the man was suffering from an apoplectic -stroke or something of that nature. He wondered if the injury to the arm -had not been incidental to the man's seizure and sudden fall. People -sometimes lingered in an unconscious condition for days, he knew. It was -hardly a case for first-aid, but it was certainly a case for skill and -resource, for whatever happened the patient, dead or living, would have -to be taken away from this mountain camp. - -With Garry's help, he raised the victim into a recumbent posture, piling -everything available under the head while Connie hurried back and forth -to the brook, bringing wet applications for the head and neck. - -There was no sign of returning consciousness and the question was how to -get the patient away down to Temple Camp where medical aid might be had, -and where any contingency might be best handled. - -The four boys, greatly hampered in their discussion by Jeffrey, whose -long vigil had brought him to the verge of collapse, decided that it -would be quite useless to signal for help, since it would mean another -expedition with most of the difficulties of their own, even if attempted -after daybreak. - -So they decided to wait for dawn, which happily would come soon, and with -the first sign of it to send a smudge signal that they were coming and to -have a doctor at camp. They believed that in the daylight they could -carry the patient back over the same path which they had so laboriously -opened and though delay was irksome this plan seemed the only feasible -one to follow. - -Despite their weariness none could sleep, so they kindled a little fire -and sat about it chatting while they counted time, impatiently waiting -for the first streak of daylight. - -It was then that they learned from the overwrought boy something of his -history, but they got it piecemeal and had to patch together as best they -could his rather disjointed talk. - -"Is he your father?" Doc asked. - -"No, he's my uncle," said Jeffrey. "He isn't a real governor; I only call -him that. He's eccentric--know what that is? If we hadn't come trout -fishing it would have been all right. I could have sent my pigeons from -the boat--I've got a regular coop there--it cost thirty dollars." - -"But you like the stalking, don't you?" Connie asked. - -"Yes, but I can't be quiet enough--I can't sneak up to them. You have to -be quiet and stealthy when you stalk." - -They made out that Mr. Waring was something of a sportsman and was -wealthy and eccentric. - -"We live in a big house in Vale Centre," Jeffrey told them, "and we have -fountains and I have twenty-seven pigeons and two dogs--and I can have -anything I want except an automobile. I can't have an automobile because -I'm nervous." - -"You don't mean you live near Edgevale Village, down the Hudson?" Garry -asked in surprise. "I live about two miles from the Centre myself." - -"We live in a house that cost thousands and thousands of dollars, but I -like our boat best. If there's a war we're going to give it to the -government, but if there isn't any war it's going to be mine some day." - -It appeared that Jeffrey and his uncle lived alone, save for the -servants, and had cruised up the Hudson to Catskill Landing in their boat -for the trout fishing of which the old gentleman was fond. How the pair -had happened to penetrate to this isolated spot was not quite clear, but -the boys gathered that it had been a favorite haunt of Mr. Waring's -youthful days. - -"He told me he'd bring me and show me," said Jeffrey, "and that we'd stay -here and catch fish and I could send my pigeons back to James--he's our -chauffeur--and I'd get better so's I could remember things better. Do you -think you get better living in the woods?" - -"Surest thing you know," said Garry. - -The picture of the kindly old gentleman, bringing his none too robust -nephew to this lonely spot, which lingered in his memory perhaps as the -scene of woodland sports of his own boyhood, touched the four boys and -seemed to bring them in closer sympathy with the figure that lay prone -and motionless within the little shack. - -"I can have anything I want," Jeffrey told them again. "Spotty cost fifty -dollars, but he died. That's because I was sick and my brain didn't work -good. My other carrier cost thirty dollars and I sent him to James to -tell him the governor was hurt." - -The scouts told him the fate of the pigeon and of how they had received -the message. - -"But we'll never get away from here," Jeffrey said hopelessly. "We'll -never find our way back." - -With the first light of dawn Garry increased the dying blaze and sent the -smudge signal. Piling damp leaves on the fire he caused a straight thin -column of thick smoke to rise high into the air and by inverting the -deserted pigeon coop over this, and removing and replacing it as the -Morse code required, he imprinted against the vast gray dawn the words - - COMING HAVE DOCTOR - -They knew well enough that some one in the camp would keep sleepless -vigil, watching for just such a message. Three times the words were -spelled out in smoke to make sure that they would be caught and -understood. - -To Jeffrey, whose only resource had been his pet pigeon and who had been -unnerved by his inability to find his way from the hill, the sending of -this message and the quiet orderly preparations for departure which -followed were the cause of gaping amazement. He clung to Garry, as the -others got his uncle onto the stretcher, and walked along at his side, -plying him with excited questions. Sometimes it was necessary for him to -take a corner while one of the scouts went ahead to open a way and then -his panic was pitiable. - -It did not seem at all peculiar to the others that he should single out -Garry and cling to him, for everybody fell for Garry almost at first -sight. What they did notice was that he appeared to shun Tom, who, -indeed, was entitled to all his gratitude and was the hero of the -occasion if anyone was. - -But then he was a queer boy anyway, and thoroughly shaken up by his -experience. - -As for Garry, the sudden hit which he had apparently made quite amused -him. - -"You should worry," he said, laughingly to Tom. - -And Tom shrugged his shoulders and smiled. - - - - - CHAPTER VII - "UNDER WHICH KING?" - - -"And, oh it was great the way you sent that signal. Gee, a smudge message -is no cinch--I always said so. You can talk about your wireless and your -wigwagging and semaphoring and fire signalling and all, but you got to -admit smudging is hardest of all--gee, you got to admit that!" - -"It's easy as pie," said one of the group, making an imposing smudge upon -Gordon Lord's round face by way of proof. - -"Because," continued Gordon, calmly wiping his cheek, "because you can't -shut it off so sudden." - -"Something like you, hey, kiddo?" smiled his tall friend, Arnold, who -stood near him. - -"It's hard to read," Gordon went on, undaunted, "but it's even harder to -send. Of course, even if it had mistakes, _he_ could read it," he added, -indicating Harry Arnold, "because he can do pretty nearly anything. But -you sure are a peach of a scout--gee, I got to admit that." - -Having thus delivered his verdict, he gave a tug to his stocking which -had a way of slipping down, as one might say, whenever his back was -turned. - -"A scout's got to be magmanigous," he concluded, as he tugged up the -other stocking. - -"Well, I thank you for the compliment," laughed Garry Everson, -"undeserved though it be. I think the skill is always on the receiving -end but we won't quarrel about it," he added, turning to Arnold. - -Little Raymond Hollister clung to Garry as if he feared the crowd might -kidnap him, his face beaming with pride at all this praise showered upon -his hero. - -"When we were a patrol last year," he ventured, "he received them as well -as sent them. Anybody that was here last summer can tell you how he saved -a fellow's life, too." - -"Yes, but it was one of our troop that bandaged him," piped up Pee-wee -Harris of the Silver Foxes; "it was Doc Carson." - -"You'll lose your reputation," someone laughed at Arnold, "if you don't -look out." - -"Sure, watch your rep when the Bridgeboro Sprouts get started," said Roy -Blakeley. "I guess we better put them to bed now, hadn't we?" he asked, -winking at Jeb Rushmore. "The trouble with this blamed camp is, there are -too many heroes." - -"There isn't anybody here can beat Harry being a hero!" Gordon bristled, -in prompt defense of his friend. - -"Sure there is," said Roy. - -"Who?" Gordon demanded. - -"Do you know Fat Burns?" - -"No." - -"Well, put some on the fire and see," said Roy. - -Gordon ignored the laugh at his expense. "Even girls say so," he said, -"Gee, I hope a girl knows a hero when she sees one." - -Little Raymond, still keeping close to Garry, laughed silently, but he -did not venture again into the arena. - -"I reckon the real hero o' this here business ain't said nuthin'? and -ain't hed nuthin' said fur him, this far," drawled Jeb. - -"Right you are!" said Doc Carson. "Tomasso Slade." - -"Thou never spakest a truer word," said Roy. - -Tom stood among them, his hair still frowzled, his faded gray shirt torn, -his belt drawn much tighter than necessary, and a disfiguring scratch -across his rather lowering countenance. He did not look at all like the -scouts on the cover of _Boy's Life_. - -"I don't see as anybody's a hero in particular," he said, disconcerted at -being brought into the limelight. "I don't see's you can be a hero just -climbing up a hill. That's all we did. That girl in the munition factory -that stayed at her telephone when the shells were flying around--she was -what I call a hero." - -"She was a shero, Tomasso," corrected Roy. - -"I think Hobson was a hero, too," Tom added soberly. "I'm satisfied to be -at the head of my patrol and be a first class scout----" - -"And to have the gold cross," someone interrupted, referring to his -winning of this coveted medal the previous summer. - -"Well, of course, I'm glad I've got that, too," Tom said. "Maybe if we -get into a war with Germany we'll have a chance to be heroes, for -sure--like the English scouts. I ain't neutral, anyway. I ain't neutral -any more since last Tuesday." - -It was exactly like Tom to announce his repudiation of neutrality in this -sudden fashion and in face of his scoutmaster's admonition that all the -troop should honor the President's express wish. It was also exactly like -him to begin on one subject and to end with some blunt announcement on -another. His mention of "last Tuesday" referred to the torpedoing of a -ship by a German submarine. - -"All right, Tom," said Mr. Ellsworth, who understood him perfectly, "but -we mustn't shout about it, you know, because we're not in the war--" - -"Torpedoing's kind of like hitting below the belt," said Tom, "but that -ain't what I wanted to say. I didn't say anything about that fellow till -they took his uncle away----" - -"You mean Jeffrey here?" - -"Yes--because it didn't seem right--sort of. But now he's here alone with -us, I suppose he'll join one of the troops and I'd like to have him join -my patrol because I need one more member and I think he'll be good on -stalking and I want a stalking badge in my patrol. Maybe he could come -back and live in Bridgeboro somewhere if his uncle should----" - -"Surely, Tom," said Mr. Ellsworth, quick to prevent him from finishing -his sentence. - -"I don't mean I want it just as a reward--'cause I don't think I did -anything special. But I got just one more member to get and----" - -There was a slight movement in the group and Jeffrey Waring brushed past -the others and grasped Garry's arm. - -"I want to be in _his_ club," said he, looking almost imploringly at Mr. -Ellsworth. "I want to join _his_ class; he can send a message even better -than a pigeon can take it, and it's _sure_ to get there. He can do it -just with smoke. I want to join _his_ class." - -He was greatly excited, as he always became when he talked and Garry -winking significantly at the Bridgeboro Troop's scoutmaster, strolled -away with Jeffrey clinging to him and Raymond following. - -Tom Slade stood motionless, stolid, and said not a word. Then, in a -moment, Roy Blakeley went over and stood beside him, resting his arm on -Tom's shoulder. - -Once, a couple of years before, when Tom was a hoodlum and John Temple -was an old grouch, the capitalist had strode down through a field where -Tom was trespassing, shouting threats and imprecations at the waif, whose -first impulse was to run. Turning to do so, he had found Roy Blakeley, -scout, standing by him, and had felt Roy's arm on his shoulder. And Tom -Slade, hoodlum, did not run. Goodness, it seems like ancient history now, -with Tom head of a patrol and "Old Man" Temple founder and trustee of the -big Temple Camp! - -But Mr. Ellsworth and Doc Carson and Westy and others of the Ravens and -Silver Foxes, remembered, and they noticed how Roy Blakeley stepped -forward now and put his arm over Tom's shoulder, just as he had then. - -"_You_ should worry, Tomasso," they heard him say in an undertone. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - JEFFREY WARING - - -The scene just described was in the Pow-wow Circle, as they called the -open space where the camp fire burned by night at Temple Camp. After a -difficult descent of the hill the boys had been met at the wood's edge by -Jeb with more scouts, a couple of visiting scoutmasters and a physician -from the not far distant village. To Jeffrey, whose poor efforts had been -so futile and bewildering, this orderly sequel to Garry's smudge signal -was nothing less than a miracle, and he gazed at the party from camp as -if they had dropped from the clouds. - -Despite their burden and the special caution which had been necessary in -picking their way down, the descent had been easier than the laborious -journey in the dark the night before, but it was long past noontime when -they emerged at the edge of the woods. - -Perhaps it was natural that Jeffrey, not knowing of that battle with the -thicket and the darkness should have seen the signalling as the most -astonishing feat, and since Doc had assumed responsibility for his -injured uncle and in a way superintended the descent, perhaps it was -natural too that the first-aid boy, who received a flattering comment -from the real doctor, should come second to Garry in his estimation. -Whatever his peculiarities, he certainly did not stint his hero-worship. -But Tom he disregarded altogether. - -"Do you know why that is?" said Gordon Lord, of the First Oakwood, N. J., -Troop, talking the thing over with Honorable Pee-wee Harris, of -Bridgeboro. "Do you know why that is?" - -Pee-wee couldn't guess, but he hazarded the observation that Jeffrey was -a kind of a _nut_. - -"It's because Tom Slade doesn't wear any uniform," said Gordon. "It's the -uniform that gets people--specially girls. Gee, they all fall for the -uniform--everybody does. You wouldn't catch _me_ going without it." - -"I don't know why Tom doesn't wear one," said Pee-wee. "But even if he -did I don't think girls would notice him much--he isn't that kind. He's -kind of clumsy, like. He worked after school all winter and he must have -got a lot of money saved up, but when Roy asked him if he wasn't going to -get a suit and things, he said he wasn't going to bother--he was more -comfortable that way. We all got new outfits this year. Mr. Ellsworth -says Tom's a kind of a law inside himself--or something like that." - -It troubled Gordon that a boy who could do the things Tom had done should -eschew the khaki regalia, the hanging jack knife, the belt axe and the -scarf, and he spoke to Roy about it. - -"Search me, kiddo," said Roy. "He ought to have forty-'leven dollars and -some trading stamps saved up. He's a thrifty soul and he sold the _Friday -Evening Pest_ all winter. It's got me guessing. Maybe he's sending it to -Belgium--he's come out strong for the Allies now. He's a sketch." - -The doctor had shaken his head when he looked at Mr. Waring, and said -that his life was hanging on a thread, and that the thread was pretty -sure to break. They took him to the little hospital in the village and -from there telegraphed to his home. - -On the doctor's suggestion, seconded by Jeb and the scoutmasters, the boy -was kept at camp awaiting developments, and it was well toward evening of -that first Sunday while they were waiting for supper, that the tension -and suspense relaxed somewhat in this general talk which had ended in -Jeffrey's impulsive and rather surprising act. - -To the great delight of Raymond the strange boy was allowed to bunk in -the little cabin with himself and Garry, where he spent practically the -whole of the next day watching Garry unpack his luggage and reading the -Scout Handbook, turning more than once to the chapter about signalling, -which he seemed to regard as a sort of sleight-of-hand. - -He made an aimless tour about the camp, pausing here and there before -tent or cabin and chatting with the scouts who received him kindly -enough, listening to his rather rambling talk and affecting an interest -in the wealth and especially the boat, of which he was never weary of -boasting. He seemed fascinated with this view of real camp life. What the -boys really thought of him it would be hard to say, but they were for the -most part indulgent and if there were a few who yielded to the temptation -to jolly him, they were promptly discouraged by the others. - -For Garry, however, there was less patience and Jeffrey more than once -felt moved to defend his hero against the plainer sort of abuse. The -sarcastic references to his chosen friend he did not quite appreciate. - -Garry, indeed, was paying dearly (especially at the hands of the -Bridgeboro Troop) for his act of walking away with Jeffrey to the -humiliation and disappointment of Tom Slade. - -"Well," said one scout, who was raising the patrol pennant outside his -cabin as Jeffrey came along, "how do you think you like it?" - -"Can you signal?" Jeffrey asked, as if that were really the important -subject. - -"I'm not so worse at it," the scout replied, "but I'm not much good as a -kidnapper." - -Jeffrey did not catch the sense of this. He looked at the boy for a -moment and then strolled on, pausing in front of the Silver Fox's cabin, -where Roy Blakeley, Pee-wee Harris, and others of that notoriously -flippant patrol were building a couple of balsam beds outside, for the -overflow. - -"Good-morning glory," said Roy. - -"How do you do drop--that's the way you should answer him," said Pee-wee; -"come right back at him--don't let him get away with it." - -Jeffrey stared. "That's a good thick one," he said, referring to a branch -Roy was about to use. - -"Sure, it was brought up on oatmeal," said Roy. "Stand from under!" - -Jeffrey hastened to get out of the way. - -"How long is it?" said he. - -"'Bout as long as a short circuit," said Roy. - -"What?" - -"I said it's a beautiful afternoon this morning," said Roy. "Well, you -got wished onto the large Edgevale Patrol, hey? Three members. _Some_ -patrol!" - -"Whose cabin is that next one?" Jeffrey asked irrelevantly. - -"That? That's Mr. Rushmore's cabin. He has charge of the grounds--all of -'em, even the coffee grounds." - -"What?" said Jeffrey. - -"And the next cabin," said Roy, "belongs to the Elks--Tom Slade." - -"I don't like him so much," said Jeffrey. - -"You don't, hey? Well, you might have got into a _regular_ patrol," said -Roy, busy with his work. "It was up to you." - -Not having been of the party which rescued Jeffrey, and hence not having -had the same opportunity to observe him, Roy was not as patient with him -as some of the others. - -"What's the matter with you?" he demanded, wheeling about and becoming -serious. "Don't you know who you've got to thank for getting you out of -your scrape? Don't you know who saved you from starving up there? What's -the matter with you, anyway? I know fellows who'd be glad of the chance -to get into the Elk Patrol. They've got the gold cross in that patrol, -let me tell you--and _sixteen merit badges_! And _you_, like a big chump, -pass it up, and run after that pair that isn't any patrol at all! Let me -tell you something, my fraptious boy, in case you should ever get to be a -scout----" - -"I _am_ a scout," said Jeffrey, and doubtless he thought he was. - -"There's a little old book with a red cover you've got to take a squint -into before you're a B. S., let me tell you. And it's got some good dope -about making sacrifices and being generous and you can't be a good scout -walking away with somebody else's prize--you can't! You tell your patrol -leader, or whatever you call him, to look in that little old Handbook and -see if he finds anything there that'll give him the right to put one over -on the fellow that found you and brought you here; and the fellow that -saved his own life, too! Hand me that other branch, Pee-wee." - -Jeffrey could only stare. - -"Is that cross solid gold?" he finally asked, weakly. - -"Sure--14 carrots--a couple of turnips and a few potatoes. Stand out of -the way, will you?" - -Jeffrey made way for Westy Martin, who was tugging a balsam branch to -Roy. Then he moved away together. - -Outside the Elks' cabin was Dory Bronson, spearing papers, for the Elks -were a tidy lot and took great pride in their surroundings. - -"Is that a game?" Jeffrey asked. - -"Hello, Sister Anne," said Dory. "What's going to be the name of your -patrol?" - -"Do we have to have a name?" asked Jeffrey. - -"You sure do. I was thinking 'magpie' would be a good one. They usually -get everything in sight." - -Jeffrey was not good at repartee; he did not understand these boys and he -could not cope with them. Much less did he understand the wholesome -spirit of rivalry and of loyalty which now made Garry an -outsider--ostracized for what the whole camp regarded as a piece of -selfishness and unfairness. His winking at Mr. Ellsworth as he walked -away with his new recruit was taken as a deliberate attempt to flaunt his -triumph. - -Some said he had changed since the previous summer. There were a few who -said it was natural, perhaps, that he should have taken the strange boy -under his wing so promptly, seeing that their homes were not far apart. -But everyone agreed that by all the rules of the game Jeffrey should have -gone with Tom. - -"We asked Garry to go up the hill with us that night," said Connie -Bennet, "even though he isn't in our troop, just because we liked him." - -"And we stopped at Edgevale and brought him along in the _Good Turn_," -said Will Bronson, "even though we were crowded already. And now he puts -one over on us like that! _He's_ a fine scout!" - -"Only you have to say it quick to keep from choking!" added Roy, who had -stopped before the Elks cabin. - -"He sure got away with it," added Connie. "He's got this Jeffrey, or -whatever his name is, eating out of his hand." - -"You should worry," said Roy, as he strolled on. - -The next day two men arrived in an automobile, bringing with them the -news that Jeffrey's benefactor was dead. It cast a shadow over the camp -even among the many who had not seen the injured man. The boy himself was -greatly distressed, wringing his hands like a child, and clinging to -Garry. - -One of these gentlemen was Mr. Waring's executor, the other a friend, and -since both of them lived in Poughkeepsie, which was the nearest city to -Edgevale, neither knew much about Mr. Waring's home life. They agreed -with Mr. Ellsworth that it would be in all ways best for this unfortunate -nephew, who seemed to be Mr. Waring's only survivor, to remain where he -was, and accept the hospitality of the camp until his uncle's affairs -could be settled. - -"Can I stay with Garry and Raymond and be in their club and take them out -in my boat?" Jeffrey asked, excitedly; "it's mine now, isn't it?" - -"I suppose you boys will have to settle that among yourselves," said the -executor; "but I don't know about the boat," he added. "Undoubtedly it -will be yours, but you mustn't try to run it by yourself. It would be all -right to use it if these gentlemen (turning to Mr. Ellsworth and one of -the camp trustees) will take charge of it." - -"Garry understands marine engines," Raymond ventured timidly to the -visitors, whom the boys had just been showing about the camp. - -"Gee, is he after the boat, too?" sneered Connie. - -"No, he isn't after the boat!" Raymond flared back; "and he's got a -uniform and that's more than _your_ patrol leader has!" he added -irrelevantly. - -Garry quieted Raymond and the others laughed. No one had any resentment -against _him_, nor much against Jeffrey, for whom they made full -allowance, but Garry was ignored, and this was the unhappy sequel of his -friendship with the Bridgeboro boys and of the expedition which he had -made with three of them up the wooded hill. - -It was not the policy of Jeb Rushmore nor of the scoutmasters and -trustees to seek to adjust differences between the scouts and so the -golden days (which were all too fleeting for quarrels and bad-feeling) -were clouded by this estrangement. - -At last, one day, Harry Arnold took it upon himself to go to Garry's -cabin and talk with him. He, at least, had not altogether shunned Garry -and he felt free to approach him. He found him teaching Jeffrey to carve -designs on a willow stick by artistic removal of the bark. Raymond was -making birchbark ornaments. - -"Hello," said Garry; "want to join the kindergarten class?" - -"Hello, Jeff, old scout!" said Arnold, slapping him on the shoulder. -"Hello, Raymond, how's the giant of the Hudson Highlands? I thought I'd -drop around and see if you were still alive--you stay by yourselves so -much." - -"We're not exactly what you'd call popular," said Garry, smiling a -little. "How's the birthday celebration coming on?" - -"Swell. I understand Slade's own patrol is going to give him one of those -bugles that's advertised in _Scouting_--so he can blow himself, Blakeley -says--with a fancy cord and tassels and the names of all his patrol -engraved on it. Too bad he hasn't got a full patrol. Just one more name -and----" - -"What's the camp going to give him?" interrupted Garry. - -"The camp is going to give him a wireless set." - -"Gee!" - -"It's a peach, too! Did you hear what Jeb's going to give him? An elk's -head--gee, you ought to see the antlers on it. He wrote to some ranch or -other away out in Montana to send it. He shot the elk himself. Roosevelt -told him it was one of the finest he ever saw." - -"He ought to know," said Garry. - -"There's where you said something! It'll be appropriate, hey--Elk Patrol. -And, let's see, the Bridgeboro Troop's going to give him a high grade -searchlight for tracking. Jeb nearly fell off his grocery box when he -heard that! He thinks you ought to go blindfold when you're tracking. -Then there's a lot of crazy stuff--that fellow Blakeley hasn't had any -sleep the last week thinking up fool things. He's going to give Tom a -cat's collar to use for a belt." - -"That's a good one," laughed Raymond. - -"And--oh, I don't know what all. Pee-wee Harris is going to give him -_Boy's Life_ for a year----" - -"Next Saturday, isn't it?" asked Garry, indifferently. - -"Yes--Elks will be two years old. Blakeley was telling me their whole -history. You don't mind if I sit down on these bricks, do you. It's kind -of damp on the ground. Do all your own cooking here?" - -"Yes, most of it. Make yourself at home." - -"Make yourself homely, as Blakeley would say," laughed Arnold, changing -his seat. - -"Suppose you fellows go and get some more willow," said Garry. "Go ahead -with what you were saying," he added, as Raymond and Jeffrey obediently -started off toward the lake. "I was afraid you might say something that I -wouldn't want Jeff to hear. I have to be awful careful with him." - -"Queer duck, isn't he!" - -"Not when you know how to handle him. My father was a doctor and I've -often heard him tell about people like that. I think he's got what they -call amnesia or something like that. I've a kind of a hunch that his--er, -this Mr. Waring took him up there in that woods so's he could just live -quiet and natural like and maybe get better. I've often heard my father -talk about the woods being a medicine for the mind. Don't you remember -there was some old duffer of a king who was cured that way--in some -forest or other? I guess Jeff's a whole lot better than he was when he -first came up here in the woods. From little things he says sometimes, I -guess he was pretty bad at first. Ever take a flyer at carving birchbark? -Look here, what Jeff and the kid have done. They're fiends at it." - -Arnold looked at Garry curiously. - -"I want to talk to you about this Tom Slade--this patrol business." - -"I thought you did." - -"Of course, I'm kind of an outsider--it's none of my business--except -that I happened to be the one to get your smudge signal. But, of course, -I've heard all about you and the Bridgeboro fellows last year--what good -friends you were and all, and how Tom Slade went up through that fire to -your shack up there, and it seems a blamed shame that you're not good -friends now. We're all here such a short time anyway----" - -"Next Monday for us," said Garry, ruefully. - -"That's just what I was thinking. The birthday dinner, then Sunday and -then----" - -"There'll be others here to take our places though," finished Garry. - -"And I was wondering," continued Arnold, "if we couldn't kind of -straighten things up before that. You know, ever since that first night -I've sort of hung out with the Bridgeboro fellows. Gordon and I are here -on our own hook and he sort of stands in with Pee-wee--and, oh, I don't -know, Tom and Blakeley sort of got me. That first night when you fellows -were up the hill Blakeley spieled off a lot of stuff at campfire. He told -us all about their trip up in the motor-boat last year and about the -fellow that used to own it--how he lost his life. Funny though, how that -part of the rowboat got back to the launch, wasn't it? I guess Tom's -notion doesn't amount to much, though. Anyway, that's what 'our beloved -scoutmaster' as Roy calls him, seems to think." - -"Mr. Ellsworth?" - -"Yes. He says Tom's got a little vein of the dime novel in him--'Back -From Death' or the 'Mystery of the Busted Dory' as Roy says. He calls Tom -Sherlock Nobody Holmes." - -"I guess nobody understands Tom Slade very well," said Garry. - -"I suppose maybe that's just the reason the troop makes such a lot of -him. If you played--if somebody played a mean trick on--on--Doc Carson, -for instance, the fellows wouldn't be so sore about it. But when you put -one over on Tom you hit them all." - -"Do you think I play mean tricks?" queried Garry, beginning to carve a -willow stick. - -"I didn't say that. But you can see Tom is a favorite and anybody with -two squinters in his head, surely any scout, can see why. He came out of -the slums and he's poor and in some ways he's different from these -fellows. They're all rich fellows and pretty well educated--you know what -I mean. They made him a scout, and they're always on the watch for fear -he'll see some difference. They're proud of him because he's made good -and they're going to see to it that the scouts make good. They want him -to have all that's coming to him just because he hasn't got some things -that they've got--you understand, don't you?" - -"I think I come pretty near knowing what it is to be poor," said Garry, -whittling. - -"Well, these fellows here have been pretty decent to you, too, first and -last, haven't they?" - -"Do you think I don't know that?" - -"Do you know what I think?" said Arnold, after a pause. - -"What?" - -"Every fellow has some kind of a bug. Pee-wee's bug is good turns. Doc -Carson's bug is first-aid--honest, I believe that fellow'd give you a -black eye just for the fun of putting a bandage on it----" - -Garry laughed. - -"_I'm_ Gordon's bug. Tom's bug is that poor fellow that's been dead two -years--and they kid the life out of him about it." - -"Do they?" - -"Sure; and your bug is----" - -"Break it to me gently." - -"Your bug is Raymond Hollister." - -"He's getting to be a strong, healthy bug, don't you think?" - -"I think that's just the reason you copped this new fellow, Jeffrey. You -wanted to please Raymond. And you let them both think that you're a -patrol----" - -Garry smiled. - -"I think maybe the fact that Jeffrey lives near you----" - -"It isn't so near." - -"Well, anyway, I think maybe that has something to do with it. But I'm -going to pass you some straight talk, Everson, and I don't want you to -get mad. You know, Slade is crazy about his patrol and by all the rules -of the game this fellow belongs with him. He's nutty about his patrol, -whereas you haven't really any patrol at all." - -"Do you think I don't know that?" - -"Well, then, why not let Tom have him?" - -"Jeffrey isn't a slave." - -"I know, but he'll do anything you tell him is best for him." - -"Well, I think it's best for him to stay right here where he is." - -Arnold rose angrily. Garry went on whittling. - -"These fellows are beginning to see you in your true light, I'm afraid," -said Arnold. "I thought maybe they were mistaken but I guess they're not. -They're saying now that you did Tom Slade out of the Silver Cross last -year." - -"Does Tom say that?" - -"The rest of them do. Well, I don't see as I can do much good staying -here and talking. What I came to ask you was if you didn't think it would -be a bully idea to turn Jeffrey over to the Elks on Saturday--as a -birthday present to the patrol." Arnold waited a moment hoping Garry -would make some reply. "Tom found him--he plowed up through that -mess--Jeb calls it nature tied in a knot--it was his idea and it was his -job--and it's about all he could be expected to do." - -"He may have more to do." - -"What do you mean?" - -"Oh, nothing in particular." - -"Well," concluded Arnold, "it's just a case of rendering unto Caesar the -things that are Caesar's. What do you say?" - -"What do you mean?" - -"Will you fix it up with Jeffrey Waring to join the Elks?" - -"No, I won't," said Garry. - -Arnold looked steadily at him for a moment, then turned on his heel and -strode away. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - A NEW KIND OF FIRST AID - - -Garry sat outside the little makeshift shack which he and Jeffrey and -Raymond occupied, and whittled as Arnold strode along the beaten path -toward the main body of camp. He was still whittling when Raymond and -Jeff returned from the shore, their arms laden with willow branches. - -"Kiddo," he said to Raymond, "suppose you get me that other shirt of -yours and I'll sew up that tear. I've got to fix my own, too. We're not -very strong on clothes, are we?" - -"I'll buy us all clothes," put in Jeffrey. "When I get my own scout suit -I'll get new ones for you and Raymond--I'll have thousands of dollars." - -"All right," laughed Garry. "You put some water boiling now, while -Raymond peels the potatoes, so we can have grub. Then come over here and -talk to me while I do the family mending." - -Raymond busied himself with preparations for supper and Jeffrey sat down -on the ground close to Garry. - -"I'm glad we're here by ourselves, aren't you?" he said, "and I'm going -to give you two thousand dollars for letting me be in your class." - -"Class?" - -"I mean, patrol." - -"Now you see if you can't remember that word _patrol_ so I don't have to -remind you. And what was the other thing--just think." - -"About money?" asked Jeffrey, doubtfully. - -"Right. Try to remember never to promise people money--especially -scouts--because they don't like it. Now hand me that other spool of -thread." - -"But it's fine to be rich, isn't it?" - -"It's better to be a scout. Any headache today, Jeff?" - -"No." - -"Well, now see if you can remember how many willow canes you've carved -altogether." - -"Eleven." - -"Right. You're going to get the memory badge pretty soon." - -"Do they have a memory badge?" - -"Now, tell me what you and I and Raymond did the day before -yesterday--just before grub." - -"Played mumbly-peg." - -"And who won?" - -"You did--but I'm not going to give you a hundred dollars like I said." - -"Wasn't it a thousand?" - -"No, it was a hundred--you can't fool me." - -"Which was it, kiddo?" Garry called to Raymond. - -"A hundred," said Raymond. - -"All right. Now see if you can remember the first time you ever saw Tom -Slade." - -"That night on the hill." - -"Sure?" - -"Yes." - -"And what's going to be the name of our--class?" - -"Patrol," corrected Jeff. - -"Oh yes, patrol." - -"The Tigers." - -"I tell you what--you're getting to have a crackerjack memory. - -"Now turn your face around there so I can see it by the light of the -fire. Put some more twigs on, kidlet, it's beginning to get dark. I want -to be able to see if you're just joshing me. This is an important matter. -When I was up at commissary shack for salt and things I was noticing the -things on the bulletin board." - -"I saw that about the Elks birthday party," interrupted Jeffrey. - -"Well, did you see that one about the new rowboat being in the lake and -asking everybody to vote on a name for it?" - -"No." - -"Well, now----" - -"Will we go to that dinner party?" Jeffrey interrupted. - -"I'm not so sure about that," said Garry, "but anyway, we'll each of us -vote a name for the new boat and I'll drop them in the ballot box up at -camp in the morning. What do you say?" - -"I vote 'Buster'!" called Raymond, who was poking up the fire. - -"I vote 'Queen'!" said Jeffrey, excitedly. - -"Well, those are two punk names! 'Queen' isn't so bad, but 'Buster' -suggests busting, and a boat that would bust--go-o-dnight!" - -Jeffrey stared at Garry. His face was right in the glare of the fire and -though his look was of that vacant character which all the boys had -noticed, it seemed less pronounced than it had been when he came to -Temple Camp. Perhaps the quiet, even life in the solitude under these -sheltering trees, with the tranquil lake hard by, was really showing its -effect, as Mr. Waring had evidently hoped that it would do; perhaps the -wholesome companionship of these other boys was already beginning to -tell; it was a new kind of First-Aid at all events, and one quite outside -of Doc Carson's sphere. Or it may have been that Jeffrey was just -startled into a livelier interest, as he had often been lately, at -something that was said. - -"Now," said Garry, "I'm going to tell you my vote. And if there's a -prize, I think I'll win it. I vote to name the new dory--_Nymph_." - -Jeffrey's eyes were fixed on Garry with an intense wondering stare and -Garry, looking quizzically at him, said, "Isn't that a peach of a name?" - -"It's--it's--somebody else thought of it--it----" Jeffrey's utterance -fizzled out in another stare. - -"And speaking of boats, how about it, Jeff, do you think you could walk -as far as Catskill Landing--seven full grown miles?" - -"Sure I can! Didn't I----" - -"Well, then, by jingoes, if tomorrow's clear, we'll take that long -promised hike--just you and me----" - -"Not Raymond?" - -"Nope--just you and me; and we'll have a squint at that wonderful boat of -yours, hey? And then I'll show you the Bridgeboro Troop's boat, even if -we have to trespass, and I'll tell you all about it." - -Jeffrey grew excited at once. - -"Are you--are you sure you won't change your mind?" he demanded. - -"Surest thing you know." - -"Those fellows don't take any interest in my boat," Jeffrey said. - -"Well, I do," said Garry, "what was the name of that game? I can't seem -to remember it." - -"Mumbly-peg," said Jeffrey, contemptuously. - -"Well, there's no use getting excited about it," laughed Garry. - - - - - CHAPTER X - THE BIRTHDAY OF THE ELK PATROL - - -"Maybe I'm not much of a cook, but I'll make things hot for _you_ if you -don't get away from here!" - -Roy Blakeley, from the cooking lean-to, despatched an eggplant (which had -not stood the physical test, as he said) straight at the scampering form -of Pee-wee Harris, who had raided the sacred precincts of the larder for -raisins and was now departing with scurrilous comments on his patrol -leader. And the eggplant, faithful to its trust, landed plunk upon -Pee-wee's round, curly head. - -"Plant that and raise some scrambled eggs," Roy called after him. - -Roy was assisting the camp cooks, for it was the second anniversary of -the forming of the Elk Patrol, and there were to be "doings." - -"If that kid had got a hair-cut when he ought to have, he'd have _felt_ -that eggplant. That head of his is a regular shock absorber." - -"How long is a hair-cut, anyway?" queried Roy, sitting on the table and -stirring a bowl of batter. - -"Never you mind them riddles," said the chief cook. "You git that batter -ready--pour some more milk in from that pitcher." - -"Then I'll have a batter and a pitcher both, hey?" said Roy. "Pretty soon -I'll have a whole baseball team. But honest, this is what I mean. A boy -gets a hair-cut. Is it a hair-cut the next day? It is a hair-cut the day -after? When does it stop being a hair-cut? And here's another thing----" - -"Never you mind," laughed the cook. "You git that stirred and then I'll -let you make some raisin cakes--seein' as you say you can." - -While Roy was busying himself in the cooking lean-to other scouts were -forming the three mess-boards into one long table. - -At five o'clock, an hour earlier than usual, the camp bugle sounded and -patrols and troops, in formation, marched from their tents and cabins to -the long board which was heaped with such a varied and bountiful repast -as Temple Camp had never before seen. It was a pleasant scene as the boys -came with their patrol pennants waving, and took their allotted places at -the long rustic table under the trees. - -Jeb Rushmore sat at the head of the table, one of the two visiting -trustees on either hand. The scoutmasters sat each with his troop, and -behind each patrol leader his staff bearing the patrol pennant was stuck -in the ground so that one could easily distinguish the different patrols. -Scouts who were visiting camp singly or in teams or small parties, like -Harry Arnold and his friend, were seated toward the foot of the board. -The three patrols of the well-organized Bridgeboro Troop, the Ravens, -Silver Foxes and Elks, sat toward the head of the table on either side, -close to the trustees. On the plate of each member of the Elk Patrol was -a strip of ribbon bearing the words neatly printed by hand "Many Happy -Returns." - -"I've got two here stuck together," said Connie Bennet. - -"That's because you think you're twice as good a scout as anyone else," -piped up Roy. "You should worry." - -The Elks were pinning these on amid much merriment when Garry Everson and -his two companions came up the hill and took their seats near Harry -Arnold, toward the foot of the table. Whatever show of coldness and -resentment this odd trio (and particularly its leader) had borne lately, -there was none visible now, save in a certain restraint on both sides and -a lack of easy converse between Garry and those near him. Jeffrey seemed -sober and half frightened, but little Raymond's face was wreathed in -smiles. Jeb Rushmore waved pleasantly to them from the distant end of the -long board and they acknowledged his salute. - -Then the camp master drew himself together and lifted his long, lanky -form to his feet. - -"I dunno's I'm much on speechifyin'," he said, "'n' baout all I'm -cal'latin' ter do is jes' ter set ye on the trail 'n' let ye folly it. -Onct thar come out west a gent from that thar Smithson Institution in -Wash'n'ton, 'n' hearin't I wuz used ter killin' grizzlies he sez, 'Pard, -you're the man I want ter talk to 'baout grizzlies.' He wuz one o' them -zoologist fellers. 'All I know 'baout grizzlies,' sez I, 'I can tell ye -in two words--_Don't miss!_ I leave it t'the other feller ter write -'baout 'em.' 'An' it's the same here likewise--ez the feller sez. I leave -it to the others t'do th'talkin'--'cause if I try t'do it myself I'll -sure miss. 'An' I reckon as Mr. Ellsworth is the proper one. I never -stood behind nobuddy when anythin' wuz goin' on--Gen'l Custer cud tell ye -that--but I reckon I'll have ter make fer shelter naow 'n' leave him on -the firin' line." - -He sprawled into his seat amid a very tempest of applause and cheering. - -"Good old Jeb!" they called. - -"Hurrah for Jeb Rushmore!" - -"Bully for you, Jeb!" - -He was forced to stand up three times in acknowledgement. Then Mr. -Ellsworth, scoutmaster of the First Bridgeboro Troop, arose. - -"It seems," said he, "that Mr. Rushmore has, as usual, hit the mark----" - -"There's where you said something!" - -"He uses no rifle nowadays, but scouts by the dozen fall for him. -(Cheers) He may run for shelter, but he will never find any shelter from -the love and the applause and the homage which every visitor at Temple -Camp, young and old, has for him! (Great shouting.) He is a whole scout -handbook in himself. I ask every scout at this board to stand and give -three cheers for Jeb Rushmore!" - -The boys were on their feet before the words were out of his mouth, and -the lusty echo swept back from the hills across the lake as if nature -herself would pay her homage to the man who knew and loved her so well. - -"And while we are standing let us give three cheers for the man who -discovered Jeb Rushmore and brought him from Arizona--by the ears. -(Laughter.) You all know whom I mean--John Temple, the founder of Temple -Camp!" - -When the shouting had subsided, Mr. Ellsworth continued, "Scouts, we are -not joining in this celebration to make a hero of any of our number. -There is but one hero at Temple Camp. He sits at the head of the table. -(Applause.) And if it were not for one fact I think I should have vetoed -this merrymaking and the Bridgeboro Troop would have had its celebration -by itself and not have obtruded its family joys upon others. - -"We are here, scouts, to celebrate the second anniversary of the Elk -Patrol of which Tom Slade is the leader--and organizer. It is not because -Tom is a scout, but because he is a _scout-maker_, that we wish to honor -him, and his all but completed patrol. And that is what I want every -scout here to know and to take back with you to the several parts of the -country from which you come. It is not enough to be a scout--one must be -a _scout-maker_. He must reach out to the right and to the left--into the -highways and byways--and muster his recruits. That is the only way that -our great army--or rather, our great brotherhood--can grow. Do you get -me?" - -"We get you," they answered, laughing at his use of the slang which he -was so ready to learn from them. - -"Tom Slade holds the gold cross for an act of great bravery here last -summer. He holds seven merit badges and is about to win two more. On the -first night of his arrival here this summer, he had the spunk and the -courage and persistence to choose a little party and lead them----" - -Cheer upon cheer drowned his words. Tom himself sat, stolid as usual, but -smiling in embarrassment as scout after scout, clustering about him, -slapped him on the shoulder. A few noticed that Garry smiled and -applauded, but kept to his seat. - -"Hurrah for Tom Slade!" they called again and again. - -Mr. Ellsworth with difficulty continued, "And to lead them up into that -wilderness over yonder, because he could not sit down, tired and travel -worn as he was, while some one lay dying. - -"Just a minute, scouts--listen and I will be through. These things are -all to his credit--to the credit of his patrol, of his troop, of the -whole scout family, here in this beloved land of ours. But when I think -of Tom Slade--as I often do," he added, smiling, oh, so pleasantly, at -Tom; "I think not only of how he raised himself out of dirt and mischief -to this noble level where you see him, but of how he went back into the -byways and found these boys who now form his splendid patrol. _I_ tried -to get Connie Bennet and failed. (Laughter.) _I_ made a stab for the -celebrated Bronson twins--nothing doing. They were too busy ringing other -people's doorbells. (Laughter.) I made a grandstand play for others, but -was turned down hard. Why? Because it takes a boy to recruit a boy. So -all of you scouts pack that little fact down in the corner of your duffel -bags and take it home with you. If every scout secured a scout, where -there are ten thousand now there would be twenty thousand, and where -there are five hundred thousand, there would be a million! I ask every -scout here to stand up and as he gives three cheers for Tom Slade, -scout-maker, to resolve that he will make at least one scout before he -comes here another summer. And now three cheers for the Elk Patrol on its -second birthday, and three cheers for Tom Slade, and three cheers for the -eighth scout--whoever and wherever he may be--who before another summer -shall make the Elk Patrol complete as well as honored!" - -Back across the still bosom of Black Lake, again and again, the cheers -reverberated, drowning the closing words of Mr. Ellsworth's speech. -Pee-wee Harris, standing on the seat, waved his scarf and shouted himself -hoarse. Roy, with the announcement megaphone, called, "Oh, you Tomasso!" -Raymond Hollister clapped his hands. - -"Spooch, spooch--speak a spooch!" called Roy. - -Tom, with his face scarlet, shook his head as Mr. Ellsworth looked at him -and the scoutmaster held up a staying hand in sympathy with his -embarrassment. "He says he'd rather eat," he said. - -"Three cheers for the eats!" shouted Roy, irrepressibly. - -"The eats" after being uproariously cheered, were forthwith assailed -until there was nothing left of them, and all agreed that the meal beat -the regulation Temple Camp Sunday dinner twenty ways. And that was saying -a good deal. - -"And now," said Mr. Ellsworth, "since this celebration originated in the -fertile brain of the renowned leader of the Silver Foxes----" - -"Wait, give them a chance to cheer me," interrupted Roy. - -"I think it is my duty to put the balance of our program into his able -hands." - -"Excuse me while I blush," said Roy. - -"There are, I believe, a few remembrances and these it shall be his -pleasure to bring forward. I present to you," he added, smiling, "the -most silvery fox of them all, Roy Blakeley." - -"Why pick on me?" said Roy. "I thought I was going to be the buttered -toast master, but it seems I'm to be the souvenir slinger. I should -worry. I go where duty calls, and I wouldn't run after any -job--especially if it's a good runner. - -"Scouts and sprouts," he continued, with a sly glance at Pee-wee; "now -you're supposed to say, 'Hear, hear!'" - -"Hear, hear!" they called, laughingly. - -"I thank you. There are several things for the Honorable Tomasso Slade, -otherwise known as Thomas the Silent, or Sherlock Nobody Holmes of -Bridgeboro, N. G. Tomasso Slade is a home-made scout--I mean a -_self_-made scout--and he's made so as he can't smile." (He was beginning -to smile however.) "The first present is from his boyhood's friend, Roy -Blakeley (that's me) and it is intended to make him laugh." - -He handed across the table a turkey feather with a bow of ribbon tied -about it. "And this," he added, lifting the huge elk's head to the board -and smiling at Tom's surprise, "is from Mr. Rushmore; its history, by Mr. -Rushmore himself, is writ, wrot, wrote--on that piece of paper tied to -the horns." - -Tom lifted the panel with the noble head and magnificent antlers and as -the boys crowded about him he could only look toward Jeb with his eyes -swimming. - -"That's all right, Tommy," smiled Jeb, as pleased as Tom himself. - -The cat's collar belt was handed over amid much laughter, and various -other small tokens, some humorous and all of a kind easily made or -procurable in the woodland community. The wireless set almost knocked Tom -off his feet, and when it was followed by the bugle with the Elk patrol -names engraved upon it, he was overwhelmed. - - Thomas Slade - William Bronson - Theodore Bronson - Connover Bennet - George O'Connor - Charles O'Connor - Wade Van Ester - -He blinked as he gazed at the highly polished metal, at the names which -had meant labor and long effort for him, and which bespoke his success. -His hand almost shook as he fumbled the silken tassel of the beautiful -instrument, and the familiar names upon it seemed like fifty names -wrought into an intricate design. - -"That's all right, Tom," said Mr. Ellsworth, smiling and placing a -reassuring hand on his shoulder. "They understand." - -But it was Roy who came to his rescue, as he had done more than once -before, and saved him further embarrassment. - -"Blow it, Tomasso," said he. "Maybe you can blow up your other recruit if -you blow loud enough." - -"Sure, maybe it'll be like the shot heard round the world," said Pee-wee. - -"Or like the music of old Ichabod Crane, which they say is still heard in -Sleepy Hollow," said Mr. Ellsworth. "Perhaps it will be heard months -hence." - -"Blow for him, anyway," said Roy. "He'll come some day, you can bet, and -we'll all wish it at the same time, while you're blowing, Tom. Go ahead!" - -Tom raised the bugle to his lips laughing, and as he blew lustily the -echo of its attenuated final note was borne back with the freshening -night breeze, like a faint answer from the encompassing hills. - -"He is here," said an impassive voice. - -They all stood staring, the scouts still at their places and those -clustered about Tom, and saw Garry Everson standing in his place in the -characteristic attitude which was familiar to them all, one hand on his -hip, the other in his pocket. - -As they stared at him, Jeffrey Waring, gulping nervously, rose from his -seat and stood beside him for a second. Then, at Garry's nod, he moved -around to Tom's side. - -"Tell him your name," said Garry, smiling, "They'll want it for the -bugle, you know." - -"My name is Harry Stanton," he said, hesitatingly, but seriously. - -"And you fellows," said Garry quietly, "had better take him home to his -mother and father before you make any other plans. I'm not going to do -_your_ work for you. I've done my part. It's for you to take him back. -May I look at that bugle?" - -But Tom did not hand him the bugle. He stood rooted to where he stood, -staring like an idiot. - -Some one stooped and picked up the bugle which had fallen to the ground. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - GARRY'S STORY AND HARRY STANTON'S - - -It was around the glowing camp fire on that memorable night that the -wondering boys heard Garry Everson's simple, unboastful tale of the new -kind of first-aid which had helped him to solve the mystery of Jeffrey -Waring and put Tom Slade in the way of realizing his fondest dream--that -of returning Harry Stanton to his young sister and his home. - -"If we looked like beans, I'd say you were trying to string us," observed -Roy, as he sat in his familiar posture near the fire, his knees drawn up -and his hands clasped about them. "It beats anything _I_ ever heard. Our -beloved scoutmaster will have to go away, way back and sit down." - -Mr. Ellsworth, still half incredulous, shook his head. "The pity of it -is," said he, "that there's no merit badge for this kind of first-aid. -There can be no doubt of the truth of this thing, I suppose?" he added. - -Garry laughed good-naturedly. "I wish I could be as sure of his having -the boat for his own--now that he's somebody else. It's one peacherino." - -"And you suspected that first night, you say?" - -"Well, no--not exactly. You fellows have got to remember that my father -was an alienist, if you know what that is, and I've heard him tell about -just such troubles as Harry's. So I don't deserve much credit. Only I had -to be very careful. You can see yourselves it wasn't a case for bandages -and splints and things." - -"It would be pretty hard to give you too much credit," Doc Carson said. - -"The first thing I noticed," Garry went on, "was the way Tom stared when -he first saw him that night up in the woods. He was sure he'd seen him -before. I didn't think much about that though till afterwards when other -little things set me thinking and then I remembered about it and I began -to put two and two together. When Jeffrey told me where he belonged I -remembered about the old gentleman in Vale Centre who came home one time -with a young fellow he called his nephew and how all the people in the -village wondered who the nephew was. They didn't live near enough for me -to know much about them and I don't know as I ever saw Jeffrey until that -night up on the mountain. - -"Well, it was while we were bringing Mr. Waring down through the woods on -the stretcher that Tom said something about the Stantons--he just -mentioned the name sort of off-hand, and I noticed that Jeffrey stared at -him and looked sort of worried or puzzled, kind of, and then started in -again chattering in that way of his. - -"Then it came jumping into my head all of a sudden that he was trying to -think of something and couldn't. And I was wondering if Tom really ever -had seen him before, when I just happened to think--the idea came to me, -sort of--that maybe it was his sister that Tom had seen. Of course, I -didn't think so but the idea wouldn't go away and I decided that anyway -I'd keep Jeffrey near me if I could and not let him get mixed up with the -crowd where he'd be all the time getting excited, and see if I couldn't -find out something about him. And even as it was, that was some tall job, -believe me." - -"You certainly kept by yourselves," some one said. - -"I knew the time was short and I wanted to see if maybe he wouldn't get -better by just being quiet. I knew a person could get to be--sort -of--flighty, like, from an accident or something like that, and lose his -memory, and be like a kid, and that sometimes, if he lives quiet and -don't get excited or see many people, he'll begin to remember things----" - -"Garry, we've got to hand it to you," said Roy, earnestly. "You've spent -your whole vacation buried alive." - -"Even still I didn't exactly think he was Harry Stanton," Garry went on, -"but after, a while, just for experiment, kind of, I began springing -words on him that I thought he might remember. I sprung _Stanton_ and -_Nyack_ but there wasn't any come-back until one day--it was the day -Arnold dropped in to see me--I sprung the word _Nymph_ as a good name for -a boat and that seemed to kind of hit him. He just stared and stared and -stared. After that I decided to take him down to Catskill Landing to look -at that sumptuous yacht of his and then to show him the _Good Turn_. I -knew that sometimes when a person sees the thing that caused his trouble -or goes back to the same place, maybe, or something of that sort, his -memory comes back to him all of a sudden and he wakes up as if he'd been -dreaming, as you might say. There's a long name they have for it, but I -can't seem to remember it. Anyway, it's a blamed funny thing, but it's -true. If you want to know what happened when we trespassed on the _Good -Turn_, you'd better let _him_ tell you, hey, Jeff?" - -The boy who had been the subject of Garry's simple narrative was smiling, -as every one turned toward him, and though the familiar trace of -childishness was not entirely gone from his smile, there was a suggestion -of mental poise or self-possession, even in the face of this public -stare, which had not been there before. And though one or two noticed -(for they were scouts and noticed things) that he twirled one finger -nervously with his other hand, he at least did not begin to chatter with -that distressing agitation and irrational boastfulness which the camp had -known so well. - -He had not changed his habit and demeanor as a lightning change performer -will doff his costume, but there was a difference and everyone could see -it. The woods and the quiet water and the sympathetic surroundings were -to do much for him yet and it would be a long journey back to mental -keenness and physical vigor. But he was different, and it seemed all very -wonderful. It was a knockout blow to Doc Carson, proficient though he was -in his chosen specialty, for not a word about this kind of business had -he ever seen in his study of First-Aid. - -"Hey, Stanton, you old Jekyll and Hyde," Garry repeated, cheerily; "you -came near getting me in Dutch with this bunch. Tell them about the -_Nymph_." - -Harry Stanton smiled naturally and now Tom Slade, who was watching his -every movement, realized how much like his young sister he looked. His -nose wrinkled a little, just like hers, when he smiled. There was no -doubt as to who he was. - -"I knew it was my boat," he said. "I thought it was the next morning. It -seemed as if I was just waking up. I don't mean it's my boat, now, of -course----" - -"It sure is yours, all right," said Roy. - -"I've got my other one and I don't want it. But it seemed as if I had -fallen asleep on it and----" - -"He thought I was Benty Willis for a minute," said Garry. - -"And then--then, sort of, I knew all about what happened. When I saw -my--the--boat, I knew. I knew for sure." - -There were a few seconds of silence, broken by Mr. Ellsworth's saying, -"It's wonderful, almost unbelievable." And still no one else spoke, the -company only gazing at Harry Stanton, as one might look at an apparition. - -Then Doc Carson, Raven and First-Aid Scout, said, "Garry, you're a -wonder." - -"And all the thanks he got----" began Connie Bennet. - -"Oh, I didn't mind that," laughed Garry; "I had my little trail to -follow, and I followed it, that's all. I just kept my eyes on the trail -and not on you fellows--just as Jeb is all the time telling us. If he had -seen that boat too soon, or been jollied or got too much excited or tired -he might have gone nutty, for sure. Tell us a camp-fire yarn, Roy, I want -Harry to see that we've got a real 'nut' in the camp." - -But Roy told no yarn, and still they were all silent. After a while, Tom -spoke. - -"I don't want to make you talk about it, if you don't feel like it," he -said, "or if you don't remember, but I always thought that maybe you were -alive because a board belonging to your launch's skiff was in the launch -when we got her." - -Garry laughed. "Tell him how it happened, Stanton," said he. - -"I remember all about it," said Harry. "I was in the launch and Benty was -in the tender, bailing it out. There was a long rope from the tender to -the _Nymph_. He was singing and I was sitting in the cabin talking to -him. We had a light on the launch. That's the same way as I told it to -you--isn't it?" he questioned, turning to Garry. - -"Sure--go on." - -"Then I heard a speed-boat coming--down?" - -"That's what you said," Garry encouraged. - -"Maybe it was up. Anyway I called, but I suppose they couldn't hear me on -account of their exhaust." - -"You see," said Garry. "He wanted to warn them about the small boat which -was about thirty feet away and had no light." - -"They crashed into it and Benty yelled that he was hurt and said he had -hold of the rope. And then--and then--" Stanton broke off, looking -frightened and perplexed, and rubbed his hands together distressingly. - -"You let me finish it for you and see if I don't get it right," said -Garry, soothingly. "Jeff pulled the rope so as to save Benty, who -couldn't swim very well. But Benty must have let go. That right, Jeff?" - -"Yes, and--" - -"Now wait a minute." Garry looked across the fire at Tom. "And all there -was at the end of the rope was a board from the skiff. The skiff must -have been all smashed to pieces. It was the board that had the ring in it -that the boat was tied to----" - -"Yes?" said Tom. - -"Well, that's all there is to it. Stanton pulled it aboard thinking his -friend was clinging to it. And when he saw how it was he dived for -him----" - -"I dived right away," interrupted Harry Stanton, shuddering, "and I swam -all around and I called--I swam way out and then there was a big light -that dazzled me----" - -"And that's all," concluded Garry. "He can't tell you any more because he -doesn't remember any more till he was in Mr. Waring's house. We're going -to try to find out about it, aren't we. Stan?" - -He moved closer to the boy and put his arm about his shoulder with a -significant look at the others as if to ask them not to question him -further. - -"And he wants us all to go down to Nyack with him in his own boat which -has the other one beat forty-'leven ways. He says he wouldn't ride in -that old tub now, hey, Stan? And you can keep it or sink it just as you -please. And when we get to Nyack he wants a committee of three scouts to -go home with him while the rest of us stay on the boat. And after that, -if we can fix it up, we're all going to take a cruise up the river and -through the lakes for a little call on Uncle Sam at Plattsburg. Hey, -Stan?" - -"And the three scouts that he wants to go up home with him (he's very -particular about it) are Tom Slade and Roy and Pee-wee Harris, because -they're the ones who were there last year and they know his sister, so -it's up to them to take him back." - -"How about you?" Roy promptly demanded. - -"Oh, I'm out of it," said Garry. - -Then, suddenly, such a shout as might have raised the dead resounded. It -was Pee-wee Harris, flying off the handle, as he realized the meaning of -Garry's proposal. - -"Oh, crinkums, won't it be great!" he shouted. "And--and--I'll think up a -little kind of a speech to make to her--gee, it's just like a story, -with--with--yachts and long lost brothers and things----" - -"Especially things," said Roy. - - - - - CHAPTER XII - PEE-WEE TRIUMPHANT - - -It was toward the close of a beautiful summer afternoon that a trim -Racine cruiser poked her nose around the boat club's anchorage near Nyack -on the Hudson, and brought up alongside one of the commercial wharves, -which made an inharmonious background to the spotless white hull and -shining mahogany cabin. She made no more noise than a canoe. The first -rays of the declining sun fell upon her knife-like brass bow and -reflected from her shining metal parts. As she touched the dock several -scouts scrambled from her and made her fast. - -"Jimin-_ety_! But she gets over the water!" remarked Connie Bennet. "We'd -have been a couple of days or more coming down in the _Good Turn_." - -"And doesn't she take the hills fine!" said Roy Blakeley. - -"She's a _regular_ boat," observed Garry. - -"The _Good Turn_ is all right only her bow's too near the stern," said -Roy. - -"Gee, everything looks the same, doesn't it," said Pee-wee, gazing about -him. "This is just where we stood when it began to rain last year. Then -we went up that road and that's where we found the _Good Turn_." - -"The sun was going down just as it is now," said Tom, climbing out over -the combing. "I remember those hills over there looked just like they do -now." - -"Sure, even the water's wet, just the same as it was then. Don't you -remember how I spoke about the water being so wet?" - -"This is just like a book," said Pee-wee. "Gee, I never thought it would -happen this way; I saw a movie play once where a feller--a long lost -brother--came home, and oh, cracky, they fell all over him. They thought -he was dead and his mother she was looking at his picture and crying--I -mean weeping--when all of a sudden----" - -"All of a sudden Pee-wee Harris will be left behind if he doesn't get a -hustle," said Roy. "Come on, wash up and get your hair fixed if you -expect to make that speech." - -"Do you know how I'm going to begin?" - -"I know how you're going to end, if you don't get a hustle." - -The whole Bridgeboro troop with Garry and Raymond and Harry Stanton, had -come down from Catskill Landing. Their stay at Temple Camp was ended and -they had said good-bye to Harry Arnold and his young friend, whom they -hoped to meet again next summer. Little they dreamed of the strange -circumstances under which that meeting was to occur. They had left the -_Good Turn_ up the river for they hoped to cruise northward again in the -larger boat. - -In the cool of the evening the three scouts who had trod this same road a -year before, accompanied by the boy who had trod it many times himself in -days gone by, made their way through the beautiful hilly country for West -Nyack. And, indeed, their errand seemed, as Pee-wee had suggested, like a -chapter out of a book. - -Garry had positively refused to go with them. - -"It was you fellows that she gave the boat to and it's for you to pay her -back," he had said. - -"Do you remember how old--how Mr. Stanton laughed when I talked to him?" -said Pee-wee as they tramped along the familiar road. "You can't deny -that I put it into his head to give us the boat. And I bet if I ask him -to let Harry go on a cruise now, he'll do it. You leave it to me--I know -how to handle him." - -"All right, kiddo, we'll leave it to you," laughed Roy, "but I've got a -sneaking idea that when they once get their fists on our long lost son -and brother it'll take a crow-bar to pry him loose again." - -"You leave it to me." - -It would be hard to say what Harry Stanton's feelings were as he walked -homeward with his three companions. He seemed nervous and anxious and -said but little, but every object which met his gaze now was familiar to -him and as he looked about upon the very fields where he had played and -the houses which he knew he seemed to acquire poise and self-possession. -An odd habit which he had shown to Garry and somewhat to the others of -confusing his life at Mr. Waring's with his old life at home, was fast -disappearing and now each familiar sight seemed to act like a potent -medicine to bring him to himself. - -A man who passed them on the road turned and stared at him, then went on, -turning again and again. He spoke to a man who was raking a lawn and who -also stared after him. The boys paid no heed. - -At last they reached the house. No one was about, and they took a short -cut across the lawn, right under the big tree where Pee-wee had captured -the fugitive bird. Here was a garden bench and leaving Harry Stanton -seated upon it, they went up on the porch and rang the bell. Pee-wee was -visibly nervous and even Roy showed repressed excitement, but Tom was -stolid as he always was. - -There was the calling of a voice within, the faint sound of footsteps on -the stair, and young Ruth Stanton stood on the inner side of the screen -door looking at them. For a moment she stared in amazement and in that -momentary look Tom caught a glint of the same expression that had puzzled -him in Jeffrey Waring in their first encounter on the lonely hill. Then -suddenly her face lighted up with a merry smile of recognition. - -"Oh, hello," she said, opening the door and speaking in great surprise. -"I didn't know you----" - -"You remember us?" laughed Roy. - -"I should think I did, but you're the last persons I ever expected to -see. Isn't it lovely, your coming again--just as if you had dropped from -the clouds!" - -"We'd have been some shower, wouldn't we?" laughed Roy. - -"Oh, I think it's fine," she repeated; "and you've got to stay to supper. -We're going to have popovers--do you like popovers? I adore them!" - -"We don't know what they are," said Roy, "but we like them." - -They sat down in the wicker chairs which formed a little circle on the -deep, shaded porch, the girl swinging her feet back and forth and gazing -from one to the other. - -"We've been up to camp," Tom began. "We're on our way down the river." - -"Oh, isn't that lovely--I wish I was a boy! How's the boat?" - -"Gee, it _is_ great being a boy," said Pee-wee. "I--" - -"The boat is in the best of health, thank you," interrupted Roy, fearing -that Pee-wee would say too much; "and one of the reasons we hiked up here -is because we want to pay you back for it. As Pee-wee says, a scout has -to be cautious and he didn't want us to pay you back till we were sure -the boat was all right." - -"I never said that!" cried Pee-wee, indignantly. "Don't you believe him, -I never said that!" - -"So we've been a long time getting around to it," continued Roy. - -"That's ridiculous," said the girl. "I thought you just came to _see_ -me." - -"So we did," said Roy. - -"And we're going to tell you our adventures since we saw you," added -Pee-wee. "We've had some dandy ones. One in particular that you'll like -to hear about," he added, with an air of mystery. - -"When anybody does anything for a scout," Tom began again in his sober -way, "he has to remember it and do them a good turn. We couldn't do you -one because we couldn't think of anything big enough----" - -"You see, I'll tell you how it is," interrupted Pee-wee, "each good -turn's got to be better than the other one--they get bigger--kind of, -and----" - -"That's nonsense," said Ruth. "Then I'd have to do you a bigger one to -pay back and you'd have to--" - -"We think we've hit on a pretty good one," said Roy. "Anyway, how's the -bird?" - -"Oh, he's fine! He can say 'Good-night' and 'Welcome, home'!" - -"That's a good thing to say just now," Roy said. - -"And I'm teaching him to say 'Down with the Kaiser'! Isn't that perfectly -terrible! Anyway, I'm not neutral. Are you?" - -"Not so you'd notice it," Roy confessed. - -"Would you go to war if we had a war?" she asked impulsively. - -"Oh, I guess we'd give old Uncle Samuel a hand." - -"Isn't that glorious! But suppose you should get killed." - -"We're not supposing things now," said Roy. "We've got something to tell -you. We came back to bring you a present. When people come across with -boats and things like that we don't let them get away with it--hey, Tom? -So we're here with our little come-back. What d'ye say we stroll down on -the lawn? We left our package on that bench out there; and just for the -fun of it we'd like to poke around where Pee-wee pulled his stunt last -summer. Then well go in and hear the parrot say 'Welcome home'--what d'ye -say?" - -"Yes, but you've got to stay to supper, so that you can see papa," Ruth -said. "He laughs whenever he thinks of how you called him Old Man -Stanton. But he isn't grouchy--only he'll never be the same since my -brother--died. And besides, you have to tell me your adventures, you -know." - -They went down the steps and crossed the lawn. The girl, running ahead, -seemed not to notice the lone figure on the bench with its back toward -her till she was within a few feet of it. Then she paused in surprise and -as she did so, Harry Stanton rose and turned to face her, the while -grasping the back of the bench nervously.... - -The several accounts of the three scouts as to what happened then, -differed materially. There was no doubt that Ruth stepped quickly back in -momentary fright, grasping the arm of Pee-wee who happened to be nearest -her. Pee-wee said that her hand was trembling and that she "clutched him -in terror." Roy maintained that the "clutching in terror business" came -out of a heroic scene from one of Alger's books. Tom said that for a -moment she seemed about to run, which Pee-wee admitted, claiming that she -thought better of it when she found that he was near. All agreed that she -was first panic-stricken and then greatly agitated as Roy took her hand -and drew her to the bench. - -At all events, it was only for a moment or two and then she and her -brother were in each other's arms. There is no authentic account of what -happened then, for the three visitors, being good scouts, strolled to the -hedge which bordered the lawn and looked at the scenery beyond. It must -have been beautiful scenery and very affecting, for Pee-wee's eyes were -brimming, and Tom's and Roy's were not exactly what you would call -dry.... - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - AT THE STANTONS' - - -The return of Harry Stanton to his home was a nine days' wonder in the -village. Poor Mrs. Stanton seemed almost unable to comprehend the -wonderful reality of his actual presence and she kept him by her -constantly, even to the point of accompanying him back and forth from the -river. The boys noted these affectionate attentions with dismay, for they -wished to make a cruise in the beautiful boat, with its proud owner as -their companion. - -"You leave it to me," said Pee-wee. "I know how to handle mothers; we've -got to wait for the something or otherological moment." - -The days which followed were days of stress but of happiness to all -concerned. Mr. Stanton lost no time in going to Poughkeepsie where he got -all the information that could be obtained from Mr. Waring's executor and -friends as to how the eccentric but kindly old gentleman came into -possession of the so-called nephew on whom he had showered wealth and -sympathetic attention. - -Because he _had_ been eccentric, his intimates knew but little of his -affairs, but the facts, as Mr. Stanton was able to piece them together, -were that Mr. Waring had lost his wife and only son and that he had never -been the same afterward. He lived the life of a recluse in his lonely, -luxurious home. Two years before he had started up the Hudson in his -beautiful boat, accompanied by a valet and a man to run the craft, -intending to visit some remote spot where he had enjoyed the trout -fishing in his early years. - -All that his business friends knew in addition to this was that he had -returned almost immediately, bringing with him an apparently weak-minded -boy whom he called his nephew and whose self-appointed guardian and -benefactor he became. - -Mr. Stanton tried to find the two men who had accompanied their employer -on that mysterious cruise. The valet had died, but he located the other -man working in a munitions plant not far from Poughkeepsie. From this -man, who spoke only broken English, he learned something of his son's -rescue. - -While cruising upstream at night, he said, they had heard a cry from the -water and throwing the searchlight about had located a drowning person, -whom they pulled aboard. It was a boy, the man said, whose head had been -frightfully injured, the skull being cracked, as was discernible through -his plastered, soaking hair. He was bruised in several other places and -lost consciousness as soon as they got him aboard the launch. - -They had turned the boat at once and returned home, where the victim, -still unconscious, was attended by "great doctors." The man had not lived -at Mr. Waring's house and he knew very little more except what he had -heard indirectly. The boy jabbered, he said, and did not know who he was -and talked nonsense. Then he had heard that an operation was performed, -that the edges of the broken skull were lifted up into place, and that -the boy was better but "nutty." He had later heard a rumor that the boy -was dead. That was all he knew. - -Mr. Stanton had had no difficulty in locating James, the chauffeur, whom -Jeffrey Waring had mentioned in connection with his pigeons, and from him -he had received a more coherent account of Mr. Waring's second cruise, -which was destined to have a fatal sequel for himself and momentous -consequences for his ward. - -James had, he said, entered Mr. Waring's employ the year before and found -the old gentleman's nephew to be a "queer lad" who, he understood, had -once had a dreadful accident of some sort. He got excited easily, the man -said, and at such times said the most extravagant things. He had pigeons -and dogs and lived an odd sort of life by himself. - -In the early part of the summer Mr. Waring had again planned a trip to -his favorite fishing retreat, believing that the quiet and remoteness of -the place would help the boy, who was already greatly improved. The -doctors, so the man said, had recommended the camping trip. - -They had made an uneventful but pleasant trip up the river in the -_Rambler_ and after they had moored her near Catskill Landing Mr. Waring -had sent James back to Vale Centre to attend to his regular duties there. - -That was all that Mr. Stanton could learn and he returned home somewhat -puzzled as to whether Mr. Waring had ever tried to locate Harry's people, -or whether he intended to do so when the boy should have regained his -health and mental poise. He had lavished wealth and kindness on the -stricken lad, that was certain; the last days of his life had been spent -in a sojourn to a remote spot dear to his own memory in the hope that it -might hasten the boy's recovery; and the Stantons could not think -otherwise of him than as one, peculiar indeed, but of the purest motive -and overflowing with kindness. Nor did they ever learn exactly what had -happened to Harry while in the water, though they held to the belief that -he had been injured by the paddlewheel of some steamer. - -That Garry Everson, scout, had completed the work which the old gentleman -had begun was now realized by all and with it the boys realized the quiet -patience with which he had borne their coldness and even their taunts. - -"He's a real hero," said Pee-wee. - -"All others are imitations," agreed Roy. - -During Mr. Stanton's absence, Mr. Ellsworth had made a flying trip to -Bridgeboro to arrange for the troop's absence for another week or two, -and meanwhile the scouts camped on the boat, spending much of their time -at the Stanton place, where they played tennis and basket-ball and taught -the parrot to say "I'm a scout," and "Poor Pee-wee." - -Those were days of great delight to Ruth Stanton. In contemptuous -defiance of Pee-wee's proud assertion that "boys could do things that -girls couldn't do" she beat him again and again at tennis, and beat the -rest of them, too, for she was an old hand at the game. - -For the first time, too, her brother showed his interest and skill in -outdoor games; his fondness for tennis seemed to come back on him in a -rush, and though he sometimes got rattled and did not think quickly -enough, his playing was rapid and accurate in the main and he and Ruth -came out first in the tournament in which they all joined. - -"And wait till you see Harry swim!" she said proudly, as, racket in hand, -she sank onto a garden bench; "he can swim across the river and back; do -you know how far that is?" - -"I know how far it is over; I don't know how far it is back," said Roy. - -"You think you're smart, don't you!" - -"I'll give you a correct imitation of a boy scout raising a racket," Roy -said, holding his racket high in the air. "Next imitation, that of a boy -scout following a trail," he added, going on his hands and knees and with -an absurd air of scrutiny and stealth following the chalk mark around the -tennis court. - -"Isn't he too silly!" laughed Ruth. - -Roy resumed his seat beside her. "Did you hear about the Germans -bombarding a man's garden and shelling all his peas?" - -"Really--" began Ruth. "Oh, nonsense, it's a joke!" - -"Why is a boy scout?" he persisted. - -"What's the answer?" - -"There isn't any. Here's another. What's the aim of a scout?" - -"Well?" - -"A correct aim. Did you hear about the scout that went camping without -any duffel bag or baggage, yet he carried fifteen good-sized articles in -his back pocket?" - -"He couldn't! How could he?" - -"He had a copy of _Boys' Life_ with fifteen articles in it. Which has the -most stories, _Boy's Life_ or the Mutual Life? Here's another. If _Every -Boys' Library_ caught fire, how would the smoke come out?" - -"Silly!" - -"In volumes, of course. Say, if it's cowardly to strike a person who is -on the ground, is it all right to hit the trail? Here's another----" - -"You seem to know so much about them," Ruth interrupted. "Tell me what an -Honor Scout is?" - -"Is it a riddle?" - -"No, it isn't a riddle; I really want to know." - -"An Honor Scout is a scout that has a sense of honor. There's only one -scout in our troop that has any sense of honor--that's Honorable Tomasso -Slade alias Sherlock Nobody Holmes. He has the gold cross. Honorable -Garry Everson has the silver cross. That means he has some sense of -honor, but not so much." - -"I don't believe a word you're telling me," she said. - -Roy looked at her through the strings of his racket. "Boy Scout behind -prison bars," said he, teasingly. - -"_You_ tell me," she said, turning to Doc Carson. - -"_I'll_ tell you," said Pee-wee; "you've got to look out for him, he's a -jollier. An Honor Scout is one that has saved somebody's life--and gets -an honor medal--see? If he takes a big chance and--and--kind of plunges -into the jaws of death--kind of--" - -"How?" said Roy. - -"Then he gets the gold cross. If he--" - -"Lands just outside the jaws," interrupted Roy. - -"Shut up!" said Pee-wee. "If he doesn't take quite such a big chance but -a _pretty_ big one, then he gets the silver cross. And if he takes a -small chance--" - -"About the size of Pee-wee," Roy put in. - -"Then he gets the bronze cross," Pee-wee finished. "See?" - -They were lolling on and about the bench near the tennis court, laughing -at each other's nonsense, when Harry Stanton jumped up suddenly. Garry -and Ruth watched him keenly, as they always did when he became excited. - -"Oh, I've got an idea, a fine idea!" he cried. "I got it from what -Pee-wee said----" - -"All right, take your time, Stan," said Garry. - -"I tried to think of a name--a new name--for the _Rambler_ but I couldn't -think of any. I told my mother I'd name it for Tom Slade only that -wouldn't be fair to Garry, and it would be the same if I named it for -Garry--see? Anyway--anyway--she said a boy's name wouldn't be good, -anyway. But if I name it _Honor Scout_, it will be naming it for both of -them--won't it?" he asked anxiously. - -"Oh, crinkums, you hit it!" shouted Pee-wee, enthusiastically. "It's an -insulation--" - -"Inspiration, you mean," corrected Connie. - -"What's the difference?" demanded Pee-wee. - -"Nothing--only insulation is the covering around a wire and inspiration -is a good idea." - -"Otherwise they're the same," said Roy. - -"Oh, it's one peach of a name!" repeated Pee-wee, undaunted, and pounding -the back of the bench. "It's a piperino!" - -Harry Stanton was delighted. - -"It _is_ a bully name," said Westy Martin. - -"And--and _I_ thought of it--didn't I," said Harry, with the touch of -childishness that still showed itself at times. - -"You sure did," said Garry. - -"It's sort of two names in one," said Will Bronson. - -"I--I thought of it just this minute," repeated Harry, nervously. - -"You're all right, Stan," said Garry. "Sit down and watch the game -now--watch your sister trim Roy." - -"I wouldn't play with him, he's too silly," said Ruth. - -"You're afraid of being beaten," challenged Roy. - -"By _you_? You don't even know how to volley." - -"I know how to jolly," Roy came back. - -They played much to Harry's amusement, which was just what Garry wanted, -and Roy was ignominiously vanquished. - -"Now you're supposed to say 'Deuce'!" Ruth called to him. - -"I don't use such language," answered Roy. - -"Bat it over there, silly, and then say 'My advantage!'" - -"I wouldn't take advantage of a girl," he answered. - -It was no wonder he was beaten. - -Roy and one or two of the others stayed for supper and Ruth took him into -the kitchen (to the consternation of her mother and the colored cook) and -taught him to make popovers. Being the troop's chef, he was greatly -interested and wore a huge kitchen apron on which he was continually -tripping. - -Upon Mr. Stanton's return a slight cloud was cast upon the rosy plans for -a cruise, partly from his hesitancy to let Harry go with them and partly -because of his doubts as to whether his son ought to keep the boat at -all. Of these latter misgivings he was cured by an elaborate argument of -Pee-wee's. Or, in any event, he surrendered--and Pee-wee took the credit. - -"I've got a peach of an argument I'm going to give him," said Pee-wee, as -he and Roy and Garry were hiking it to Shady Lawn for a set of tennis. -"It's what the lawyers call a teckinality. Don't you remember he used one -last year when he gave us the boat?" - -He found Mr. Stanton on the porch, and perched himself upon the railing -near him, swinging his legs. - -"I don't know," said Mr. Stanton, when Pee-wee broached the subject, -"whether I shall let Harry keep the boat or not. Mr. Waring was rather a -queer man, and I don't know whether we ought to take his will too -seriously. I shouldn't wish you boys to be disappointed," he added, -thoughtfully. - -"Well, I'll tell you how it is," said Pee-wee. "You're a lawyer, kind of, -aren't you?" - -"Kind of," Mr. Stanton conceded. - -"I thought it all out last night. Now you gave us a boat, didn't you? And -I'm not saying that wasn't a dandy thing to do." - -"I'm glad you have found pleasure in it." - -"Only the trouble was the fellow that owned the boat was alive all the -time and so you really didn't have any right to give it to us. That's a -teckinality, isn't it?" - -Mr. Stanton laughed. - -"So if Harry didn't have a boat of his own, why, then, of course, we'd -have to give the _Good Turn_ back to him--'cause it's his, see? But, of -course, as long as he _has_ a boat of his own, it's all right. Anyway, -you couldn't stop us from leaving the _Good Turn_ at Nyack Landing if we -wanted to. Even if you were a--a--judge, you couldn't do that, could -you?" - -"I seem to be at your mercy," said Mr. Stanton. - -"And there's another dandy argument, too--a peach!" - -"If it's one of your own, I should like to hear it." - -"Well, you want Harry to get well, don't you? Maybe you don't know all -that Garry Everson did to make him--to help him get better. And then he -gave him up so's Tom could have a full patrol. Gee, even _we_ didn't know -what kind of a fellow Garry was--we didn't. But we know now, you can bet. -Maybe Harry would get worse again if you took that boat away from him. -He's just thought of a dandy name for it--the _Honor Scout_." - -"Hmmm," mused Mr. Stanton. - -"Isn't that one pippin of a name?" - -"I think we may let him have the boat," said Mr. Stanton, thoughtfully. -"The whole circumstance is so very strange----" - -"And can he make the cruise with us to Plattsburg?" - -"We will see what Mr. Ellsworth thinks--and the doctor. I don't quite -see," Mr. Stanton added, after a thoughtful pause, "how Harry can become -a member of Tom Slade's patrol, much as I should like to see him the -companion of you boys. We live so far from Bridgeboro----" - -"It seems that way to you because you're not a scout," interrupted -Pee-wee, patronizingly. "But we've thought it all out and we've decided -that twenty-three miles isn't so far. You see, when you're a scout -distance doesn't amount to anything, because we hike. And if you go -scout-pace, you don't get tired at all. Did you ever try scout-pace?" - -"No, I never did." - -"Well, you've missed something. You ought to try it. Would you like me to -show you?" - -"I think I'll stick to the automobile," said Mr. Stanton, dubiously. - -"Well, you know, when Harry gets all well he could paddle down and he -could run the machine, and besides they have two autos at Roy's and he -runs them, and they've got one at Westy's--of course, it isn't exactly an -automobile, it's a Ford--and in the summer it would be easy going back -and forth and in the winter we only have one meeting a week, and he could -come down Fridays and stay at my house till Sunday. Oh, gee, I hope -nothing will happen now to stop him from joining Tom's patrol. Tom would -be awful disappointed." - -Nothing did happen, and Pee-wee took his full measure of glory. The -doctor proved his staunch supporter, and even Mrs. Stanton said -reluctantly that she supposed Harry might go, but that they must be very -careful to bring him safely home to her again. - -"Didn't we bring him home once?" Pee-wee demanded. "You leave it to me." - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - FIRST BRIDGEBORO B.S.A BECOMES A FULL TROOP - - -"We'll have the initiation on the boat, hey?" exclaimed Pee-wee. "Just -like in _Pinafore_, kind of. Ever see that play? It's a dandy! I saw -it--the whole of it is supposed to be on a ship." - -"Can I come and see the initiation?" Ruth Stanton asked. - -"I'm sorry," began Roy, "but----" - -"I don't believe a word you say." - -"You leave it to me," said Pee-wee. "I'll fix it." - -So the installation of Harry Stanton as a scout and a member of the Elk -Patrol took place on the deck of his own beautiful cruising launch as it -lay at Nyack Landing. The troop's own ceremony, by which Tom himself had -become a scout, was used, but it had been performed so many times since -then that it went off with a routine smoothness, free from any of the -little hitches that are apt to mar the impressiveness of scout -ceremonials. The three patrols were grouped separately and Mr. Ellsworth -stood apart from them. - -Garry, who, though an outsider, was asked to participate, presented the -applicant to Tom. - -The three simple requirements of the tenderfoot--familiarity with the -twelve laws and the history of the American flag, and the ability to tie -four kinds of knots--had been proved informally at Shady Lawn and it -remained only for Tom to read the laws one by one, pausing after each and -asking the applicant if he agreed to accept it and abide by it. Then Tom -presented him to Mr. Ellsworth and Harry, nervous but trying to be -self-possessed, made him the scout salute, then offered him the -hand-clasp, and then made the scout sign, holding up his hand with the -three fingers upright. - -Then he took the familiar scout oath, and Tom stepped forward and pinned -the tenderfoot badge on him. Then the whole troop filed past, each giving -him the scout hand-clasp, after which he stepped back with Tom as the -members of the Elk Patrol raised their voices in unison, simulating the -cry of the elk. - -And so the Elks, for whom the former hoodlum of Barrel Alley had striven -and worked and planned, became a complete patrol at last. - -"All over but the shouting," said Roy, not letting a minute elapse. -"Better to be a pro-ally Elk than a German Silver Fox, hey? Listen to the -Ravens rave," he added, as that patrol set up its familiar cry in honor -of the occasion. "Some flock! Let's give the voice of the package--I mean -the pack. Come on, Foxes!" - -The Silver Foxes prided themselves on the accuracy of their fox call, and -the attenuated "Haa-haa" resounded musically from the hills around. - -"It's beautiful, isn't it," said Ruth Stanton, standing close to Garry -and Raymond, who were watching half enviously. "I don't see how they can -do it. Did you have a call when you had your patrol last summer?" - -"It wasn't much of a call, it was kind of a squeak," said Garry in his -quiet way. "We called ourselves the 'Church Mice' because we were so -poor. It wasn't very much of a patrol and it all fizzled out." - -"Wasn't that too bad! Why did it?" - -"Oh, one fellow had to go away to school; another moved out west, -and--oh, I don't know, it evaporated, sort of. You see, Edgevale isn't -much of a place." - -"They used to have a lake there," interrupted Roy, "but a bird stopped -for a drink one day and after that they couldn't find the lake. Shows you -what a big place it is--hey, Garry?" - -Garry laughed good-naturedly. - -"Not very far from where we live is Vale Centre; Warrentown is near, too. -That's the county seat and they've got a bully troop there." - -"Why don't you join that?" asked Ruth. - -"Well, it's a full troop, and when a troop's full it can't be any fuller. -You just have to start another and I guess I wasn't smart enough--hey, -Raymond? We're just free lance scouts now," he added. "I don't know as -they'll call us scouts at all at National Headquarters." - -"You should worry," called Roy, overhearing scraps of their talk. - -"You've done something more than form a patrol," Ruth said, soberly. "You -should have heard what Dr. Brown said about you--and my father and -mother. That headquarters wouldn't dare to say you aren't a scout." - -"Oh yes, they would--they're very brave. They've got heroes in there -who'd think no more of cancelling an index card----" - -"You're almost as silly as Roy. But I know you don't think it's a joke. I -can see by the way you look at them how you feel." - -"They're a fine troop," Garry said, as he watched the boys. "Next to that -troop in Warrentown they're the best all-around troop I ever saw--and you -see some pretty good ones up there at camp." - -Ruth told her mother that afternoon that she liked Garry better than any -of them--he was so quiet and had such a funny way of saying things. - -"Better than Roy?" Mrs. Stanton asked. - -"Yes, Roy's so foolish." - -But just the same, after the _Honor Scout_ had gone away, she missed Roy -immensely. Indeed, she missed them all; their brief stay (entirely apart -from the miraculous return of her brother) had been a delightful event in -her life, and now with only the parrot to relieve her loneliness, it -seemed as if the bottom had fallen out of things. Even the parrot -reminded her of Roy, for when she told the bird that it was lonesome and -slow at Shady Lawn, he replied, "You should worry!"--a phrase which he -had never been known to use before. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - CRUISING IN THE "HONOR SCOUT" - - -"I don't say I'll get it this summer," said Tom in his sober and rather -awkward way. "'Cause you can never tell what you'll get. I care more -about all the members getting them, anyway, and when we get twenty-one -we're an Eagle Patrol." - -"There's no such thing as an Eagle Patrol, Tom," said Mr. Ellsworth. - -"If a scout is an Eagle Scout when he gets twenty-one merit badges," said -Tom, doggedly, "then a patrol is an Eagle Patrol when it has twenty-one -merit badges. I don't care what National Headquarters says." - -Mr. Ellsworth laughed. The patrol idea was so firmly rooted in Tom's mind -that he could never think of the individual scout. Rule or no rule, you -couldn't pry that notion out of his head with a crowbar. Everything was -for the glory and honor of the patrol. - -"You've only one more to get yourself to be a star scout, haven't you?" -asked Garry. - -"I got nine," said Tom. "We got sixteen in the patrol. If I get one more -I'll be a star scout as you call it. I'd like the Gardening Badge or the -Automobile Badge----" - -"Smallest flivvers thankfully received, hey?" said Roy. - -A half dozen or more of them were sprawled upon the cabin roof as the -_Honor Scout_ glided silently up the river. - -"Merit badges are a cinch," said Roy. - -"No, they're not either," said Connie Bennet. - -"Sure, all you have to do for the Architecture Badge is to build a castle -in the air. Know how to win the Astronomy Badge?" he asked, turning to -little Raymond who was always hugely amused at Roy's nonsense. "Jump out -of a third-story window, land on your head and see stars. The Aviation -Badge is easy, too. Fly up in the air when anybody kids you--like -Pee-wee. Know how to win the Plumbers' Badge? Just have a pipe dream. -Know how to win the Photography Badge? Cultivate _taking_ ways." - -"Tell some more," said Raymond. - -"Well, if you want the Blacksmith's Badge, you just forge a check, and -for the Business Badge, mind your own business." - -"I think we'd _better_ mind our business," said Mr. Ellsworth, "and slow -down if we expect to stop at West Point." - -"Man the tiller, Pee," called Roy. "I don't mean _man_ it, I mean _small -boy_ it." - -They paused for a visit at West Point, where they were cordially received -and shown about. They saw the immaculate barracks, watched the drill -which was carried through with the precision of clock-work, noted with -envy the erect posture and almost mechanical salutes of the young -officers, and Pee-wee, at least, felt assured that the talk which he had -heard about unpreparedness was without foundation. - -"It makes me feel like a tramp," said Will Bronson, as they resumed their -cruise, "to see all those swell uniforms and the way those fellows stand -and walk." - -"Some class," agreed Roy, perched in his usual place upon the combing. - -Mr. Ellsworth, who was steering, laughed. "I guess they don't always look -like that," said he. - -"If Germany sinks many more of our ships, they won't look like that," -said Connie. "They'll put on khaki and roll up their sleeves." - -"You said something," observed Roy. - -"What would _we_ do if the country went to war?" asked Pee-wee. - -"Move to the city," said Roy. - -"I like uniforms," said a timid voice, "because that shows what you are; -a policeman makes you feel safe and so does a soldier, because they have -their uniforms. It says in a book I read, 'Show your colors' and that -means, show what you are." - -Everybody turned and stared at little Raymond Hollister who was sitting -on the cabin with his feet dangling in the cockpit. It was not often that -he spoke up. Indeed, he had never seemed to be thoroughly at home with -anyone except Garry and Jeb Rushmore. They all liked him for the quiet, -odd little fellow that he was. They seldom jollied him as they did -Pee-wee and they humored his prejudices and notions when those became -known. He would sit, hour in and hour out, quietly listening to their -talk, laughing at Roy's nonsense, and occasionally emboldened to defend -Garry against some bantering charge. - -"Right you are, Ray, old pal," said Roy. "It's the suit that makes the -scout. That's a good slap at Tomasso; sling it into him, Ray!" - -"I don't know," said Mr. Ellsworth. (He always hesitated to direct their -arguments, preferring to let them dope things out themselves.) "The -uniform is only good for what it means--as it seems to me. To be a scout -means certain things and to wear the uniform says to the world that you -are for those things. So I'm for the uniform. The uniform is the scout's -chief badge. It's just a great, big merit badge and it ought to be worn -like the other merit badges." - -"There might be an invisible badge," said Tom. - -Everybody laughed except Tom himself. - -"I'm afraid not," said Mr. Ellsworth. "An invisible badge wouldn't be a -badge at all." - -"It would be like a silent noise," said Roy, "You've got the right idea, -Raymond, _Show your colors_. Rub it into him? He sold the _Friday Evening -Pest_ all winter and he got fifty cents twice a week for leading Miss -Wade's kindergarten class in physical torture; gee, I think he's saving -up to pay the national debt, or something! And look at him with that old -book strap for a belt. Can you beat it!" - -Roy's propensity for jollying, together with his known fondness for Tom, -made it possible for him to say almost anything he chose, and he never -lost a chance to set people good-naturedly by the ears. But you never -know where a spark is going to fall. If these sparks of wit had fallen -only upon Tom they would have had no more effect than water, for he knew -Roy, and their friendship was as a rock. - -But they fell upon little Raymond Hollister, where they ignited other -sparks which were already smouldering. Like many boys who have been -invalids and have been much by themselves, Raymond had notions; away back -home he had first been attracted to the scouts by the trim khaki regalia; -it was the first bait Garry had used with him, and to Raymond at first a -scout was simply a boy who wore a khaki suit. With Garry's help, the -pale-faced little fellow had managed to wriggle through the tenderfoot -tests, and then he wanted his suit. It was all he had thought of. I dare -say there are a few other scouts like him. He had not delved very deeply -into the Handbook. - -The members of the little struggling patrol had slipped away until there -was no patrol, but Raymond still wore his precious suit and felt that he -was a Boy Scout. Perhaps he had the right idea, too, if you will just -subtract his prejudice. _Show your colors_ is a good slogan, but little -Raymond went farther than that. He assumed that if you didn't show your -colors it was because you didn't have any; and like most scouts of the -tenderfoot class, he was a great stickler for the khaki, for its own -sweet sake. - -He had (as he had confided to Pee-wee that first night in camp) never -"fallen for" Tom Slade. There was not much of the scout glamor about Tom -and Raymond liked the scout glamor. He worshipped Roy and he idolized -Garry. He was so jealous for Garry that he looked on Tom as an unfair -rival. Who had sent that smudge signal from the hill? Who had made Harry -Stanton get better? And who had been treated like a dog during his whole -vacation? Who but his friend, Garry. - -And who had taken Harry Stanton when he _got_ better, and broken up the -little patrol which was just starting up all over again? Why, that was -the fellow in the gray shirt and the book-strap belt, who was no scout at -all--Tom Slade. Raymond knew what a scout was--he had seen pictures -enough of them. - -Probably, his diffident nature would have kept him from saying more now -except for Roy's laughing encouragement and the belief that Mr. Ellsworth -stood with him. In any event, he launched forth in a way which astonished -them all. - -"That's why you don't wear the uniform--because you're not a scout!" he -shouted at Tom. "You're too stingy, you are, and everybody knows it! -You've no right to go with fellers that are scouts! You--you get them to -name their boats after you--fellers--fellers that you stole--yes, -_stole_, you did!" - -It was unfortunate that both Mr. Ellsworth and Garry, either of whom -could have smoothed this thing out in half a jiffy, were on the forward -deck getting the anchor ready to cast, and the other scouts were too -surprised, and perhaps a little too amused, to put a stop to his tirade. -Probably they did not think it would affect Tom. - -But Raymond, losing all control of himself, his eyes brimming and his -voice trembling, went on: - -"That's because--you--you lived down in an alley where people kill each -other--and burglars live--and men get drunk and you don't know how other -kinds of people act--you don't.... And maybe, you stole other things -before--maybe you did--before you ever _stole_ Jeff--I mean Harry -Stanton! _I_ wouldn't call you a scout with your old rags on--I wouldn't. -Scouts wear the uniform and they don't steal----" - -Then they stopped him. - -"It's my fault," said Roy, as Connie vaulted to the cabin edge and put -his arm about Raymond, trying to quiet him. - -"I know about scouts--I do--and I know what a scout is--I do----" he -shouted, almost crying. - -"All right, all right, Ray," said Connie, soothingly. - -Tom Slade looked up, straight at Raymond. He was gulping and it was -pitiful to look at him. "I know I did," he almost sobbed. "I----" - -"Never mind, Tom," said Roy, softly. "Don't mind him. He doesn't mean -it." - -"I know I did," Tom said again. "But you _can_ have an invisible badge, -just the same--I don't care for Mr. Ellsworth or anybody." - -With a supreme effort to control himself, swallowing sob after sob in -great painful gulps, he pushed aside the cabin locker, went down into the -cabin and banged the door shut. - -Roy followed after him, but Tom's stolid nature had been pierced at last -and he turned away even from Roy. - -"Of course, you can, Tom," said Roy, almost frightened at his emotion. -"You _can_ have an invisible badge, Tom--I know you can, Tom." - -He did not know exactly what Tom had meant; like many of his expressions, -it had been a puzzle to them all, but he would have said almost anything -now to soothe him and help to efface those black memories. - -"Sure you can, Tom," he repeated. "That's easy--old man. It's a cinch!" - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - THE INVISIBLE BADGE - - -"What the dickens does he mean by an invisible badge, do you suppose?" -Westy Martin asked. - -"You can go through _my_ pockets," said Roy. "Tomasso is the Boy Scout -puzzle. They ought to give him away with a years subscription to _Boys' -Life_. I wish that hadn't happened, though. Jiminy, who'd have thought -that kid would go up in the air like that!" - -Tom had not been long in regaining his stolid composure; he appeared to -entertain no grudge against Raymond, and even offered to bait his hook -for him, for the little fellow angled continually, notwithstanding that -he never caught anything. But his offer was indignantly refused, and -Raymond would have nothing to do with him. - -The _Honor Scout_ cruised leisurely up the river, held at anchor for the -scouts to swim now and then, and making shore at safe places when the -tide was full, for luncheon or supper on the wooded banks with the -precipitous mountains rising sheer above them. - -Harry Stanton was hardly recognizable now as the panic-stricken, -scatter-brained youth whom they had found on the mountain. Under Mr. -Ellsworth's eagle eye he had a chance to show his skill at swimming, but -his wish to be ever in the water was discouraged and for the most part he -contented himself with reading the Handbook and studying the second-class -tests. Already he had "backfired" which was the word they used for the -act of qualifying for a merit badge before one reached the stage where -the scout rules would permit him to receive such a badge. - -This was in music. He had played a mandolin in former days and now he had -one of those Hawaiian instruments--a Ukulele--and he would sit on the -cabin locker by the hour picking out the soft South Sea airs, to the -delight of the whole troop. - -The dream of his life at present was to attain to second-class, and he -would talk eagerly about tracking and signalling and first-aid. His -impulsiveness sometimes ran to the point of agitation and he seemed to -have little balance wheel when he got excited, but he was getting better -fast and as the boys came to know him for what he was they grew to like -him immensely. - -In the course of their meanderings northward, they came again to Catskill -Landing and Roy, Doc Carson and Pee-wee hiked up to the camp to see how -things were and to get a sweater which Doc had left there, while the -others transferred some of the luggage from the _Honor Scout_ to the -_Good Turn_, for the Elks meant to continue in the smaller boat so as to -relieve the rather congested condition of the other. - -Late in the afternoon the three scouts returned, Doc carrying the sweater -on the end of his staff like a pennant. Roy carried a large jar of -marmalade (or "motherlade" as he called it) which the chief cook had -presented to the voyagers; and Pee-wee carried an extensive scout smile. -He was Law Eight, personified. - -"What's the news?" called one of the group that was lolling on the _Honor -Scout's_ cabin. - -"The plot grows thinner," said Roy. "Here, take this and put it in the -galley, compliments of Beefsteak Ben.... Don't say a word, a dark and -bloody mystery has been solved. Believe _me_, they've got a sleuth up -there that has Tom beaten forty-'leven ways." - -"How's everybody?" Will Bronson asked. - -"Fine," said Doc. "There's two troops there from Boston----" - -"You ought to see the beans that crowd eats," Roy interrupted; "and mince -pie--go-o-odnight!" - -"There's a bunch came from Brooklyn----" - -"Can you blame them?" interrupted Roy again. - -"And a troop from Canada----" - -"Daon'tcher knaow," interrupted Roy, with an exaggerated imitation of the -English accent. - -"Gee, that's some troop," said Doc. "They came from Montreal and they -wear trousers that don't tuck in and show part of their legs and they -wear little silver swastika badges that they get for special service. -They look awfully different from the other fellows----" - -"They showed us how to raise the English flag," said Pee-wee, excitedly. -"Maybe you think the English flag hasn't got any top and bottom to it. -Anybody can tell when the American flag is upside down----" - -"Well, I should hope so," said Mr. Ellsworth. - -"And maybe you think because the English flag has a center design that -you can't fly it upside down---- There's where you're wrong!" - -"I don't see that any of us is wrong since none of us has committed that -crime," laughed Mr. Ellsworth. "We're not in the habit of flying the -British flag at all." - -"I did," boasted Pee-wee. - -"Well, then, don't blame us for your sins," chuckled the scoutmaster. - -Pee-wee subsided for the moment, but the time was to come, and that not -so far distant, when this redoubtable "good turner" should enter stores -and even public buildings, in Uncle Sam's domain, and do the British -Empire a good turn by explaining how her proud emblem was being flown -without, upside down. - -"They've been doing war work," said Doc. "They built recruiting stands in -Montreal, and they sand-papered three thousand muskets that had to be -varnished, and distributed enlistment posters, and---- Oh, I don't know -what all. They showed us a poster like the ones they distributed. It said -'Meet me at the battle-line.'" - -"Meet me at the clothes-line, that's where I hang out!" put in Roy. - -"Oh, they're one peach of a troop!" enthused Pee-wee. - -This troop of Canadian scouts had produced a great impression on the -three boys, and, from their account, had done the same on all the others -at Temple Camp. The three were full of enthusiasm for their -wide-awakeness and efficiency, to say nothing of their patriotic -activities. It started the Bridgeboro boys thinking of what part they -might be permitted to play if Uncle Sam were drawn into the great war. - -These Canadian youngsters, according to Doc, had shown the greatest -friendliness toward their American brothers, standing with hats removed -when the _Star Spangled Banner_ was sung, and had become very popular in -camp, and shown an almost uncanny proficiency in tracking and the faculty -for deduction. One of their patrol leaders, indeed, was a veritable -hand-writing expert, and knew besides dozens of scout signs used in the -Canadian Rockies. But it fell out that he did Tom Slade a very bad turn. - -The enthusiastic report of the boys had two very marked effects upon the -party, one of which they would be destined to recall in strenuous days to -come. These were their admiration for the fine organization and superb -proficiency of the English scouts, and for the manner in which they were -"doing their bit" for their country in these days of trial. It seemed to -bring the Bridgeboro boys very near to the war. - -Garry, who sat quietly upon the combing listening to Doc's account, with -occasional spasmodic punctuations by Pee-wee, thought regretfully of his -own efforts to form a little troop, and of how meagre and discouraging -the results had been beside these splendidly organized scout units with -which it seemed his fate to mingle. - -"Well, how about the mystery?" Connie Bennet prompted. - -"I thank you," said Roy. "The mystery is all right, all right, and it -proves the good old rule that your sins are sure to find you out. I hold -here an envelope to be delivered to Tomasso Slade--main geezer of the -Elks. Stand, Tomasso, so I can get a good shot at you! _Who sent the -money for Raymond Hollister to stay at camp till September?_" he shouted, -suddenly. "And you thought you'd get away with it, didn't you--you big -sneak! Deny it at your peril! _Now_ I know where the profits from the -_Friday Evening Pest_ went! There's a fellow--Rolly Culver, from -Montreal, Canada--who has _your_ number, all right! Deny the allegation -and denounce the alligator, if you dare!" - -Everybody stared at Tom, who was blushing right up to the roots of his -towsled shock of rebellious hair. - -"What do you mean?" said he, sullenly. - -"Ah, well may you ask what I mean, Sherlock Nobody Holmes!" triumphed -Roy, shaking the envelope exasperatingly in Tom's face. "I mean that you -tried to beat Mr. John Temple to it--that's what I mean! And Rolly Culver -from Canada FOILED you! See?" - -"No, I don't," said Tom, glancing shamefacedly across the deck at little -Raymond and looking as if he had committed a crime. - -"I mean it's good we hiked up there," said Roy, more seriously. "A check -got there yesterday from Mr. Temple--a check for fifty bucks--mailed in -the West Indies. It was for Raymond to stay at camp till fall." - -"Go-o-odni-ght!" exclaimed Will Bronson. - -Garry stared, intensely interested. - -"You ought to have heard Jeb tell about it," said Roy. "'When I see es -haow they follyed one anuther up,'" he went on, accurately mimicking Jeb. -"'I sez thar' must be sump'n wrong somewhar.' And just by chance," Roy -continued, "he hauled out of his old buckskin wallet the old crumpled -piece of paper that had come with the other money--the fifty buckarinos -in cash--and it's lucky he happened to show it to that Culver kid, -believe _me_! That fellow said it was the same writing as the writing on -the bulletin board at camp. Other fellows said, no; but he stuck to it -and showed them how to compare curves and letters, and strokes and dots -and things--even straight lines--and there you are," concluded Roy, -delightedly. "We all know who had charge of the bulletin board---- And -you thought you'd make Mr. Temple the goat, didn't you, with your two -twenties and a ten! You thought he'd forgotten Raymond, didn't you. And -you thought you'd get away with it! We've got your number, Tomasso, my -boy, and we know why you've been wearing old gray flannel shirts and book -straps, and things. Here you are--there's your fifty!" he concluded, -throwing the envelope triumphantly in Tom's face. "It would have gone -back to Mr. Temple if it hadn't been for Rolly Culver and me!" - -There was no mistaking Roy's overwhelming delight, despite his -denunciatory tone and he watched joyously as Tom, distressed and -uncomfortable, in face of the whole troop's stare, tore open the envelope -and took out two twenties and a ten. For Roy had asked the camp trustees -who cashed the check to return Tom's money in just the form in which he -had sent it, when, having seen the Temples start for South America, he -had gone to the post-office at home in Bridgeboro, and with -characteristic disregard of the risk, had sent his whole savings in cash -to Temple Camp, that nature might complete the good work she had begun -for little Raymond Hollister. - -"I didn't think anybody'd find out," said Tom doggedly. - -"No, I don't suppose you did," laughed Mr. Ellsworth. - -"John Temple spoiled it for you," said Doc. - -"You can't get the best of that man!" shouted Pee-wee. "There's no use -trying!" - -"Tom," said Garry, simply, "I was always glad I turned Stanton over to -you, but now I'm gladder than ever. You can see yourself what you've done -for Raymond." - -"Yes, and we can all see what kind of a pal Raymond has, too," Roy shot -back. "You'll be leader of a swell patrol some day, Garry, or I miss my -guess." - -Garry only smiled. "All things come round to him who waits," said he. - -"Come here, Tom," said Mr. Ellsworth. "If there was a merit badge for -this sort of thing you'd be a star scout tomorrow. Come over here, my -boy." - -There was the faintest reminder of the old hoodlum shuffle in Tom's -clumsy gait as he went sheepishly across the deck and leaned against the -boat's rail near his scoutmaster, speechless, almost expressionless. The -book-strap was drawn absurdly tight around his waist. The old, worn, -faded gray flannel shirt that he wore was a sight. But upon the back of -it, such as it was, Mr. Ellsworth administered a resounding slap. - -"That's what you meant by an invisible badge, hey?" said Westy, suddenly; -"a good turn kept secret." - -"I'm afraid none of us have quite understood Tom," said Mr. Ellsworth, -simply. Then he turned and looked with the winningest smile at little -Raymond. "None of us have understood him, have we, Ray?" - -"No, sir," said Raymond, timidly. - -"And it shows us that being a scout means more than just wearing the -scout suit, eh?" - -"Y-yes, sir." - -"You see, one can be a very good scout in a very ragged shirt, and he -can, if he wishes to, be a very punk scout in full khaki. You get me, -Ray?" - -"Ye-yes, sir." - -"Well, then, what are we going to do about it?" Mr. Ellsworth asked -pleasantly. - -Garry understood, if Raymond did not, for he started the little fellow -over toward Tom, and Tom took the timid hand and held it. - -Then suddenly, in one of those freaks of impulse that Raymond sometimes -showed, he reached with his other hand and grasped Tom's arm. With the -arm that was free Tom encircled the small, agitated form. - -Raymond was crying like a baby. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - LOST! - - -"Do you know what I've decided, do you know what I've decided?" demanded -Pee-wee, uproariously. - -"Break it to us gently and let us hear the worst," said Roy. - -"I decided that we ought to stop in Albany and have Tom buy a suit. I -didn't say anything before, but crinkums, he ought not to go to -Plattsburg without a suit. You can see that yourself. And he can get one -now, all right." - -"Hear that, Tom?" said Mr. Ellsworth, quizzically. - -They were running up the stretch of river above Castleton and would reach -the capital that day, if their plans held good. - -"I got no objections to getting a suit," said Tom. "I believe in suits. I -never said I didn't." - -The _Good Turn_ had run up alongside the _Honor Scout_ which had come to -anchor for swimming and luncheon, and Tom and his patrol had gone aboard -the larger boat for "eats," where an uproarious session of jollying -usually awaited him. - -"Hurrah for Sigmund Eisner!" shouted Roy. "He's the fellow that makes -scouts, hey, Raymond?" - -"No, he isn't," said Raymond, quite boldly. "He's the fellow that makes -_suits_." - -"Same thing, only different," said Roy. - -"I guess we all believe in the khaki," said Mr. Ellsworth, "only we know -it's not the khaki that makes the scout." - -"Any more than it's the pants that make the panther, or the badge that -makes the badger," said Roy. "I vote for Tom to buy a suit and we'll all -go with him to help him choose it." - -"No, you don't," said Tom, with an actual approach to animation. "I won't -buy it if the whole troop goes along." - -"We wouldn't kid you," said Connie. "Honest, we won't." - -"Hear what Bennover Connet says? We'll promise to be good and----" - -"I'll take no chances," said Tom. "I don't mind if two or three go, so's -to help me get fitted right, but----" - -"One representative from each patrol," suggested Roy. - -"All right," said Tom, resignedly. - -About the middle of the afternoon they reached Albany and tied up at a -lumber wharf right under the shadow of the big night boat, the majestic -bulk of which made the _Good Turn_ and even the more imposing _Honor -Scout_ look very insignificant. - -"Now for a fling on shore," shouted Roy. "Hand me something till I fling -it on shore," he added, hitching his trousers in true mariner's fashion. - - _"Oh, the sailor's life is bold and free,_ - _Yo hum, yo ho, yo ha, yo hee!_ - _The briny foam he doesn't fear--_ - _When the foam is on an ice cream soda._ - -Tom's going to treat." - -Roy, being the leader of the Silver Foxes, represented that patrol in the -suit-buying expedition; Tom represented his own patrol, and Artie Van -Arlen, leader of the Ravens (of whom you shall know more in another -volume) completed the trio. - -"Correct imitation of a boy scout hunting for an ice cream soda," said -Roy, climbing stealthily over the lumber pile and picking his way up to -the street. "Gee, it seems funny to be in a city, doesn't it? What are -all the flags for?" - -"What flags?" said Tom. - -"Flag_stones_--you're walking on 'em. No sooner said than stung!" - -"Tom's easy," said Artie. - -"He bites like a sunfish," said Roy. - -It did not take them long to reach a thoroughfare where their tanned -faces and jaunty, out-of-town air attracted no little attention. - -"Maybe they know we're just fresh from a life on the ocean wave," -suggested Artie. - -"They can see we're fresh, all right," said Roy. "We should worry." - -In the first confectionery store which they came to they lined up at the -soda counter from behind which a white-jacketed man smiled at them. - -"Give me a raspberry sundae," said Artie. - -"V--vanilla," said Tom, hesitatingly. - -"I'll take heliotripe--trope," said Roy. - -The man waited, laughing good-naturedly. - -"I can't seem to make up my mind," Roy went on, studying the tempting -printed list. "Aren't mad, are you?" - -"Me?" said the man. "No, indeed, I'm glad you're so happy." - -"We're not happy," said Roy. "We laugh, ha-ha, and dance ha-ha, but we're -not happy. I think I'll take--let's see--I'll take--I think I'll -take--_chocolate_. Happy thought, that's my patrol color!" - -Tom paid for the sodas and Roy bought some peanut brittle. The man smiled -after them as they went out. - -"The natives on the island seem to be friendly," said Roy. - -"That's a good idea," said Artie, "picking out your patrol color." - -"Sure," said Roy. "I'm going to write to National Headquarters and tell -them to print a rule in the Handbook--next edition." - -"What?" - -"Don't you know what an edition is? You know what a dish is? Well----" - -"_Rule_," said Artie. "'Scouts buying sodas should always select their -own patrol colors'?" - -"Sure," said Roy. "Good idea. Tom would always take raspberry, I'd take -chocolate, and you'd take--let's see----" - -"Oh, there's a big dry goods store," said Artie. - -They cut across the street and entering a large store, asked where scout -supplies were sold. - -"Two aisles to your right, then one to your left," was the answer. - -"We get you," said Roy. - -Reaching the point indicated, and seeing no scout supplies, they asked -again. - -"Two aisles down and take the elevator to the third floor; then two -aisles forward," said a young lady. - -"We thank you," said Roy, bowing elaborately. - -Having followed these directions and seeing no scout supplies, they -inquired of another clerk. - -"In the basement," said the clerk. - -The three tramped back and down the stairway. - -"Keep your scout smile on," said Artie. - -"Scouts, I think we're lost," said Roy, "and darkness is coming on." - -In the basement they saw tents and canoes in the distance. - -"Maybe it's a scout camp in the wilds of a department store," said Roy. -"Are you getting tired, Tom?" - -"I bet Jeb Rushmore could find it all right," said Artie. - -"You said something; but I think we're hot on the trail now." - -Arrived at the spot which looked like a camp, they asked for scout suits. - -"You want supplies," said the young lady. - -"Right the first time," said Roy. - -"Those are on the fourth floor." - -The three sank down in one of those swinging porch benches and breathed -heavily, much to the girl's amusement. - -"What do you say we blaze the trail," said Roy, "so other scouts will be -able to follow it?" - -"It seems there's a difference between camping goods and sporting -articles," said Artie. - -"I say, let's not give up," contributed Tom. - -They rose and sallied laughingly forth, through aisles and around corners -to the elevator. On the fourth floor they found themselves in a -wilderness of carpets and rugs and bureaus, tables, chairs and curtains. - -"This beats the hill where we found Stan," said Tom. - -"Keep a good heart, scouts," said Roy. "We'll come out all right yet. -This has got the Canadian Rockies beat twenty ways." - -"Sporting supplies?" pleaded Roy of the first clerk they saw. - -"Two aisles over." - -"Scout suits?" he asked, reaching that point. - -"One floor down, in the boy's clothing." - -Near the stairway they encountered a friendly looking man in black, -standing with his hands clasped behind him. - -"Hey, mister," said Roy, "we are boy scouts and we're lost. It's getting -late and we have to get back to our boat before dark. We can't seem to -hit the right trail and we're afraid we'll starve if night comes on. We -want to find the place where they sell scout suits." - -The man laughed pleasantly and resting his arm over Roy's shoulder, went -part way down the stairs with them and pointed to a scout suit on a -wooden form at the other side of the store. - -"There you are," he said, smiling. - -"We thank you," said Roy. - -"Don't lose sight of it," suggested Artie. - -"We're all right now," said Tom. - -Reaching the elusive spot, they found themselves at last at the haven of -their desire, for there was the wooden boy scout facing them, his stiff -arm raised and his painted fingers sticking upright in the scout salute, -as if to greet the tired wayfarers, who sank down, panting -ostentatiously, upon a bench close by. - -"What do you say we agree not to tell the fellows that we were lost -and--and--asked our way?" said Artie. - -"All right," said Tom, "we're the three leaders and no one knows it but -us. We'll keep quiet." - -"If Pee-wee should ever hear of this," said Roy, "and find out that we -_asked our way_--G-o-o-dni-ight!" - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - THE TRAGIC ADVENTURE OF THE FRECKLED SCOUT - - -The salesman was busy waiting on two boys, both scouts, one of whom was -evidently buying a new outfit. Tom expressed surprise at this, since the -uniform which he was wearing seemed almost new. - -"I suppose the new one is for Sundays," said Artie. - -"We should worry," said Roy. - -The boy who was doing the purchasing was of a trim physique, with very -red hair and he had as many freckles upon his cheerful countenance as -there are stars in the quiet sky. There was much joking, which the -Bridgeboro boys could not hear, between these boys and the salesman, and -while waiting for the purchase to be wrapped the three formed a little -laughing group. - -The freckled boy, in particular, interested the waiting scouts who were -attracted by his trim figure, his jaunty manner and the shiny redness of -his rather curly hair. - -"Well, I wish you luck," said the salesman as they left him; "it's some -stunt!" - -As the two passed the bench where the Bridgeboro boys were sitting, the -red-headed boy turned and gave them the scout salute with a merry smile. - -"They live around here?" Artie asked. - -"No," said the salesman, inspecting Tom's scout certificate to be sure -that he was entitled to buy the official suit. "They're down from their -camp up Lake Champlain. Quite a pair, aren't they?" - -Artie felt that he would like to ask more about them, for he was sure -they had been telling "their adventures," as Pee-wee would have said, to -the salesman. But scouts are not officious, and these particular scouts -believed somewhat in Roy's advice for winning the business badge; _viz._, -Mind your own business. - -The salesman, however, did vouchsafe them one little morsel of -information while he was fitting Tom. - -"They've got a great scheme on foot, those kids," said he. - -"I think I know what it is," said Tom. "They're going to give a scout -suit to a new fellow for a surprise." - -"Sherlock Nobody Holmes again," jeered Roy. - -The man only laughed. "You scout fellows don't seem to know what fear is, -do you?" he added, pleasantly. - -"We wouldn't know it if we met it in the street," said Roy, not, however, -understanding the significance of the remark. "Tomasso's the -courageousest--look out he don't bite you! We've been feeding him meat -today." - -Tom loosened up and decided he would get a sweater, too, and the joint -deliberation over a suitable color put an end to their immediate thought -of the stranger scouts. - -"A kind of a blackish white would be good," said Roy. - -Artie suggested a pale lavender. The salesman was greatly amused at their -talk, but Tom was somewhat nettled and embarrassed, and he was glad when -the completion of the business put an end to their nonsense. - -On the way back to the boats and afterwards they speculated somewhat -about the two scouts. There was no particular reason for their doing so -except that the red-headed boy lingered in their minds with his trim -appearance and his vivacious manner. Later, they recalled his jaunty, -careless air, his friendly salute and his winning smile, almost with a -shudder. - - -"We saw the kind of scout that Raymond believes in," taunted Roy, upon -their return to the boats. "He had on the full uniform, belt-axe, -whistle, bugle, gaiters, hat----" - -"That's right," said Mr. Ellsworth, winking at Raymond. "That's what -they're for--to be worn." - -"There was only one thing wrong with him," Roy concluded. - -"What?" demanded Raymond, quite boldly for him. - -"He was made of wood," said Roy. - -"Well, then, let him serve as a terrible example," laughed the -scoutmaster. "I dare say there are a few others like him." - -"Did he have any invisible badges on?" Doc asked slyly. - -"Doesn't Tomasso look too sweet for anything?" teased Roy. - -"Cut it out," grumbled Tom. "It's time to get supper." - -They stayed at their mooring that night and lolled about on the cabin -roof of the _Honor Scout_ while Harry Stanton strummed his ukulele and -those who knew the soft music of the far-off Pacific isles hummed the -airs which seem nowhere so melodious as on the water. A group of small -boys from the unkempt waterside section caught the strains and shuffled -down, grimy and ragged, to sprawl upon the piles of lumber on the wharf, -staring with wide open eyes, and listening. To them it was like a circus -come to town. To the scouts it was a new kind of camp fire. - -In the morning they were gone, doubtless leaving a refreshing memory with -the youthful denizens of that squalid neighborhood. - -The Hudson above Troy is no longer of majestic beauty and the voyagers -were not sorry for the novelty which presented when they entered the -canal. At least, they did not have to "squint" for hidden perils, though -the locks played sorry havoc with the beautiful enameled freeboard of the -_Honor Scout_. - -"Cruising in a canal is about as exciting as a hike on Broadway," -commented Roy. - -"You said something," agreed Connie. - -It was not long, indeed, before the novelty began to wear off, and they -were one and all glad when the boats emerged into the broad expanse of -Lake Champlain. - -"Lake Champlain," said Roy, contemplating it in his favorite attitude, -sitting on the cabin roof with his hands clasped about his updrawn knees; -"Lake Champlain rises early in the morning, takes a northerly course, and -flows into the sink. Correct, be seated, Master Blakeley." - -They could accelerate their speed now and the _Good Turn_ had her work -cut out for her keeping up, even with the _Honor Scout's_ motor throttled -down to half-speed. - -"This is historic territory," said Mr. Ellsworth. "Almost every rock has -its tale to tell of the bloody French and Indian War----" - -"I hope they won't tell them," said Roy. "School's closed." - -But for all that he was interested as "our beloved scoutmaster" recalled -some of the stirring events which occurred along the rugged, historic -shores between which they were passing. They paused to see the ruins of -the old Revolutionary fort at Crown Point, and the restored fort at -Ticonderoga, with its underground passage to the shore. - -The first night of their cruise through the lake they tied up at Port -Henry and early in the morning sallied forth into the town for oil, -gasoline and supplies, replenishing their depleted stock sufficiently for -the fifty mile run up to Plattsburg. - -"Believe _me_, this is some hike," said Roy. - -"I dare say it looks about the same," mused Mr. Ellsworth, glancing about -at the wild shore, "as it did when Champlain sailed through it with his -Indian guides----" - -"That was sumpty-sump years ago," said Artie Van Arlen, "you have him in -the third grade." - -"Maybe he stopped at Port Henry for gasoline," suggested Roy. - -"I hope he didn't have to pay twenty-three cents for it," said Connie. - -For about fifteen miles above Port Henry the lake is comparatively -narrow, then it opens up to a breadth of ten miles or more, becoming a -veritable inland-sea, with the rolling hills of Vermont reaching far -eastward and merging in the distance with the lofty Green Mountains. - -About ten miles above Port Henry, and at the narrowest part of the lake's -narrow stretch, there rises upon the New York side an extent of -precipitous and rugged height known as the Split Rock Mountain. On the -landward side the slope from the mountain is easy enough, but toward the -lake this irregular eminence presents a steep surface interspersed with -woody patches and gray rock. Nestling under this forbidding height is a -narrow area of marshy woodland between it and the shore. - -It is related that in the olden days a Mohawk warrior, being pursued and -finding himself upon this dizzy summit without an arrow to his bow, tried -to scramble down and losing his foothold was precipitated against trees -and over rocks and his mangled body became a prey to vultures in the -wooded swamp below. There are guides about that historic water who can -point you where his skeleton and tomahawk were found--if you are disposed -to venture within that tangled morass. - -As the little flotilla approached this spot, Tom who was steering the -smaller boat noticed a green canoe drawn up at the wood's edge, and he -called to Roy, sprawling on the cabin of the _Honor Scout_, to look. - -"It's a canoe all right, ain't it?" he called. - -"Sure it is," answered Roy. - -"It's the same color as the woods, that's why you can't see it plainer," -said Will Bronson, looking through the field glass. - -Scarcely had he spoken when two scouts emerged at the shore and busied -themselves at the canoe for a moment or two. - -"Why, that's the red-headed fellow we saw in Albany!" said Artie, who had -taken the glass. "I can see him plain." - -"Sure it is," added Roy. "You can recognize him without the glass." - -The scouts on the larger boat passed the glass from one to another, -though most of them could distinguish the boy without it. - -"His hair is as red as a brick, isn't it?" said Mr. Ellsworth. - -"That's him, all right," said Tom, ungrammatically, from the other boat. - -They were almost abreast of the spot when the two boys disappeared in the -woods. Roy had meant to hail them and perhaps would still have done so -but for the fact that the freckled scout presently reappeared alone -climbing up the precipitous slope. - -"You don't suppose he's going to try to climb that, do you?" Mr. -Ellsworth queried as he watched. - -"Looks that way," said Connie. - -"Wonder where the other fellow is." - -The other scout did not appear, and they watched the agile form as it -scrambled up the almost sheer face of the mountain. The sunlight was -falling upon the dull face of rock and touching the sparse vegetation -with its bright glow, and they recognized the boy clearly now, even to -his red hair which shone when it caught the rays of the sun. - -"Well--that's--some stunt!" exclaimed Garry, in amazement. "Do you -suppose their camp is up there?" - -"They ought to call themselves the Eagles, if it is," said Roy. - -"Watch him," called Tom from the other boat. - -The eyes of the whole troop were upon the nimble figure as it worked its -way upward, now scrambling, now climbing among trees, now going zigzag -over a precipitous area. - -"Some monkey, hey?" called Garry, to the boys in the smaller boat, where -Harry Stanton watched, fascinated. - -"Some scout, all right," one of the O'Connor boys called back. - -"That's a most amazing feat," said the scoutmaster, watching with the -glass. - -Soon the agile form, verging to right or left to follow a path of less -resistance and sometimes pausing to use his brains as a scout should, had -reached a little clump of freakish trees, growing out of rock, and for a -few moments he was hidden from the distant watchers. - -They had shut off the power of both boats and lay drifting. A scout is -brother to every other scout, and I dare say the whole party took a pride -in the scout who dared attempt so hazardous an undertaking. - -"I could see it in his face," Tom said. - -"Sherlock Nobody Holmes again," called Roy from the other boat. - -Presently, the scrambling figure emerged upon the bare surface above, -wriggling and bracing itself on what seemed to be mere points of rock. A -few yards more and he would be safe upon the wooded summit. - -"Don't shout!" said Mr. Ellsworth, anticipating an impulse on Roy's part. -"You might rattle him. Wait till he's out of danger." - -Now he had reached the edge of the woods which covered the summit and -extended somewhat down the precipitous side, and as he disappeared among -the trees the scouts on the lake sent up a lusty cheer. - -Scarcely had the echo of their shout died away when Roy jumped to his -feet. - -"Look!" he cried. - -Following his pointing finger, the whole troop stood aghast in utter -horror as they saw the limp and sprawling figure of the freckled scout go -tumbling headlong over tree and rock down the rugged precipice. Harry -Stanton gasped and almost fainted away. Pee-wee grasped the rail, white -as a sheet. - -The figure fell against a crooked tree, the limp arms of the apparently -dead or unconscious boy making no effort to grasp it, then tumbled -headlong from the ledge and fell with a sickening impact upon the jagged -rocks below. There it paused for a second, then fell again like a dead -weight, over sheer walls of rock. Once again it paused against some -obstacle and Mr. Ellsworth, watching with the glass, could see the neck -hanging limp, the head far back in a ghastly, unnatural attitude. The boy -was evidently quite dead. Again the body fell, the loose arms and limbs -sprawling this way and that until it was precipitated over the edge of -the lowest rocky wall and the dreadful sight was ended by its -disappearance into the swampy woods below. - -"He must have lost his foothold," whispered Connie. - -"It's--it's terrible," breathed little Raymond, almost in a panic. - -"Get the oars," said Mr. Ellsworth, quietly. "We'll row ashore. Cast the -anchor," he called. "We may be able to get the body. That's about all we -can do, I'm afraid. He probably lost his life with the first impact. He -was dead long before he reached the bottom." - -There was not a scout among them but was sobered by the dreadful thing; -Harry Stanton had lost his nerve entirely; and it was a solemn little -group that scrambled into the _Honor Scout's_ skiff and rowed for shore. -Garry Everson, who was a better swimmer than any member of the Bridgeboro -troop, had already thrown off his outer clothing and was well toward -shore. Others, for whom there was not room in the skiff, followed -swimming, until only Harry Stanton, Raymond, and Westy Martin whom Mr. -Ellsworth had asked to remain with them, were left on the smaller boat. - -"It's worse than that hill near camp," Garry called to the boys in the -approaching boat. "It's a regular everglades." - -They found the place a veritable maze of tangled swamp, with a spongy, -uncertain foothold. In toward the hill the land was firmer but at close -range and without an open view it was impossible to determine where the -body had fallen. - -"Can you point out about where it was?" called Roy, from the shore. - -Westy pointed as best he could and the shore party, spreading, began a -systematic search of the spot. - -"Is this the place?" said Doc who, as a matter of general precaution, had -his first-aid case slung over his shoulder. He was standing on the brink -of a black pool, which they thought to be right under the spot where the -body had fallen. - -"Wait till I see how deep it is," said Garry, wading in. He was soon -beyond his depth and swimming. "If he fell in _there_ we'll never get -him," he said, emerging with black slime dripping from him. - -"Maybe he caught in the branches of some of those trees," suggested -Connie. - -It was the signal for several scouts to scramble up among the knotty -branches of the trees in toward the precipice, but without result. - -They scoured the whole treacherous ground for fifty yards or more in -every direction, but no sign of the unfortunate boy's body could they -discover. They lashed together the two oars from the boat, making a -length of perhaps twenty feet, and probed the pool but found nothing. - -"I'm going to dive into that," said Garry. - -"I don't think you'd better, my boy," said Mr. Ellsworth. - -But Garry had already dived and came up dripping with mud and slime. - -"I couldn't get to the bottom," said he; "there _isn't_ any bottom." - -Tom Slade who, as usual, had pursued his own way, called to the others, -"There's a kind of a trail here--a pearl necklace,[2] I should think. It -runs through this swamp and up around the side there. See?" - -Roy and Mr. Ellsworth, who had come close to him, saw what he meant, -though it is doubtful if even those good scouts would have recognized it -as a trail. - -"See?" said Tom, "you can get to the top without that climb. This runs up -around where it isn't so steep." - -Sure enough, there was a sort of zigzag trail, becoming plainer as it -wound its way up, by which one might ascend by a longer though safer -route. It followed a deep cleft in the rocks and led, as they surmised, -to the easier slope on the landward side of the mountain. - -"Why didn't he take that path, do you suppose?" said the scoutmaster. - -"Because he was a dare-devil," said Roy. - -Mr. Ellsworth stood silently as Tom and Roy started up the trail. It led -them, as they had supposed it would, to a broader path by which the hill -could be surmounted. Here were indistinct footprints at intervals. Why -they were not regular Tom could not imagine. - -"Why _didn't_ the fellow go this way, I wonder?" Roy said. - -"You answered that yourself," Tom answered. - -They were now upon the summit and could look down and see the two boats -side by side in the lake. It was a dizzy height. Behind them was a broad, -flat plateau which became a gentle slope and fell away into the lower -country beyond. The path crossed this and here the footprints were -plainer and more regular. Then they verged from the path and were -difficult to follow amid the sparse vegetation of the plateau. - -A few yards and they ended abruptly at a point where there was a little -disturbance of the earth and what Tom and Roy thought to be the imprints, -very faint, of rubber tires. - -"There must have been an auto here," said Roy. - -"It must have been one of those motor-cycle affairs with a kind of a baby -carriage alongside it," said Tom. "Those prints are too close together -for a regular auto." - -"How could an auto or a motor-cycle get up here, anyway?" queried Roy. - -From the spot where they happened to be, they could just manage to trace -a second line of footprints coming from another direction. - -Roy was very much sobered by this whole affair, but he could not refrain -from his usual comment, "The plot grows thinner." - -"Come on, let's follow those," said Tom. - -They did so until the prints ended abruptly upon the flat, rocky surface -near the edge of the precipice. - -"I don't know what to make of the whole business," said Roy. "Blamed if I -do! It's a puzzle." - -"My idea," said Tom, as they started down again, "is this; the other -fellow was down there below somewhere and was going to follow that -fellow, when all of a sudden he fell. They must have chosen that way just -for a stunt, I suppose. Didn't you ever hear that red-headed fellows are -reckless? It might possibly be," he added, hesitatingly, "that the other -fellow managed to get his--his body and drag it around up this way. That -might account for the way that path looked back there; if someone had -been dragged along it might sort of wipe out the footprints. I don't see -how he could have got so far ahead of us, though," he added. - -"But where could he have taken the--body?" - -"I don't know--unless he managed to carry it to that automobile or -whatever it was back there. Maybe they'd left some kind of a car there to -go out on the lake." - -"But all that wouldn't account for those other footprints we saw out -toward the edge," said Roy, skeptically. - -"No," said Tom, "unless the other fellow went out there and tried to find -out, maybe, how the dead fellow had happened to fall. Maybe a tree that -he had hold of broke--or something." - -"Then there ought to be footprints back," said Roy. - -"Sure--there were." - -"I didn't see any." - -"That isn't saying they weren't there," said Tom. - -"Tomasso, you're a wonder." - -"Only how did they ever get an automobile, or a motor baby carriage or -whatever you call it, up to that place?" - -"That's what's got me," said Roy. - - -They found their companions still searching, but almost discouraged, and -Mr. Ellsworth listened with keen interest to Roy's report. - -"Hmmm," said he, soberly; "you say you saw wheel imprints? Were there no -wheel tracks?" - -"No," said Tom, "but the land was grassy in places and it was pretty -hard." - -"Hmmm?" was all that Mr. Ellsworth could say. "I think the most likely -view is that the body is at the bottom of that bottomless pool," he -added. "I don't see that we can do anything else, boys. It goes against -me to go on without finding the poor fellow's body, but--" - -Scouts do not give up easily and they did not leave the spot until it was -too dark to see. Then they went back to the boats, a muddy, dishevelled, -scratched and discouraged band. They did not take kindly to defeat. - -"The nearest town," said Mr. Ellsworth, looking at their map, "is Boquet. -Farther up, on the Vermont side, is Burlington. I suggest that we stop at -both those places and notify the scouts and the authorities. With a -grappling iron they could probably get the body." - -Tom listened with stolid indifference to this apparent repudiation of his -own theory. Probably he did not think the matter worth discussing for in -either case the freckled scout was dead. - -There was no music on the cabin roof of the _Good Turn_ that night and -the Silver Foxes and Ravens who lolled about on the _Honor Scout_ did not -call for it, as they usually did. Mr. Ellsworth stood quietly at the -wheel; the others sat or lay about, sober and silent. - -"Why so quiet, Roy?" Garry asked. - -"I don't know," said Roy, who squatted in his characteristic position. "I -can't seem to get that fellow out of my head--and--and the way he saluted -us back there in Albany. Gee, I can almost hear him laughing now." - -"Guess that's Burlington where the lights are," said Mr. Ellsworth. -"Throttle her down to half, Roy, and throw your lead to see how much -water we've got." - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - "SO LONG--SEE YOU LATER!" - - -It was the afternoon of the following day when the little flotilla, -running past the island of Valcour, sighted a promontory straight ahead -and a little later discovered it to be the embracing arm which forms the -outer boundary of Cumberland Bay. - -As they sailed into this spacious haven they could see, a little to the -northwest, a large field dotted with innumerable tents, which on closer -view they saw to be arranged with the utmost squareness and precision, in -avenues.[3] Their first sight of the famous training camp made Temple -Camp seem very insignificant indeed. Out in the lake was a bobbing buoy -with a bulls-eye target upon it, and a group of khaki-clad rookies were -pelting this with rifle shot. In an open part of the field several -companies were drilling and the crisp orders of their officer could be -plainly heard across the water. - -"Hurrah for Preparedness!" shouted Roy, throwing his hat in the air. - -They had been a rather sober party of voyagers during this last part of -their trip and Roy's accustomed spirit seemed to have gone from him, but -it came back now with a rush and as usual it had a contagious effect on -the others. - -"Hurrah for Uncle Sam!" shouted Pee-wee, grabbing the naval flag from the -stern and waving it frantically. - -"They look like scouts, don't they?" said Mr. Ellsworth. - -"Oh, cracky," enthused Pee-wee. "I'm glad we came!" - -"Altogether!" called Mr. Ellsworth, looking over to the smaller boat. -"Hoop it up, Tom! Hurrah for Preparedness!" - -"We thought of it first," called Connie. "Uncle Sam swiped it from us. -Come on, let's give 'em our own call!" - -"_Be prepared! Be prepared! Be prepared!_" - -And so, shouting lustily the motto of the scouts the boats came alongside -the landing and were met by several smiling rookies, off duty. - -"Are we pinched?" asked Mr. Ellsworth, laughing as he stepped ashore. - -"No, indeed; you're welcome," said a bronzed rookie. - -Pee-wee was not to be repressed by any formal greeting, however -hospitable. He stood upon the _Honor Scout's_ cabin, waving the naval -flag in one hand and his scout hat in the other, like some frantic, -idiotic form of semaphoring. - -"Hurrah for Uncle Sam!" he shrieked, hilariously. "Hurrah for -Preparedness! Hurrah for Platts----" - -He stopped short, gaping like an idiot. The flag fell from his hand -unheeded. - -"_Look--look!_," he gasped. - -"What is it, the Germans?" asked a rookie, looking around. - -"_Look--look!_" he gasped. - -They looked, and there, sitting astride a piece of artillery not far from -shore, his legs dangling and a merry smile upon his face, was the -freckled scout! - -No sign of scratch or bruise was there about him, and if he had been shot -out of the mouth of the cannon he was straddling he could hardly have -caused greater consternation. Plattsburg, preparedness, Uncle Sam, must -be content with back seats, as this freckled youngster descended nimbly -from the cannon and came smiling toward his brother scouts. - -"_Aren't--you--dead?_" ejaculated Pee-wee. - -"Not so you'd notice it," said the freckled boy with a surprised laugh. - -"You don't find many dead ones among the scouts, I guess," said an -officer, who had come down to confirm the rookies' welcome. - -"You said something," said Roy. - -"I remember you three fellows," said the freckled scout. "Don't you -remember? I was in that store in Albany----" - -"Sure, we got lost," began Roy. - -"Shhh," interrupted Artie. - -"We--we thought you were dead," said Tom, startled somewhat out of his -usual composure. - -"Dead? No," laughed the boy. "I haven't been dead for quite a while. -What's the idea?" - -"Have--have you got anything the matter with you?" stammered Pee-wee, -staring blankly at him. - -"I've got a wart on my left thumb," said the freckled scout, "but that -won't stop me helping Uncle Sam if we have to scrap it out with Germany." - -"Haven't you got anything else the matter with you?" Pee-wee asked -imploringly. "Even if you're alive, you ought to have _something_ the -matter with you---- Gee!" - -The freckled scout began to laugh and then came _his_ surprise, for he -broke off as Garry came ashore, and grasped him by the hand. - -"Hello, Everson," said he. "Don't you know me?" - -"For the love of tripe!" said Garry. "You don't live in Warrentown, do -you? Down near Edgevale?" - -"Sure, when I'm alive," laughed the freckled scout. "But these fellows -seem to think I ought to be dead. What's the idea, anyway?" - -"Well, what _are_ you doing alive, I'd like to know," said Garry. -"Fellows, this is--Everett, I think your name is, isn't it?" - -"Warren Everett," said the boy. - -"I thought I recognized you," said Garry. "I didn't get a good enough -squint at you down the lake yesterday--if that _was_ you." - -"Sure it was me--I saw you fellows out there in the boats. I see I've got -you all guessing." - -"Where's the other fellow?" - -"Oh, he's knocking around somewhere in camp here. We just canoed up for a -squint at the place. I've often seen you in Warrentown," he added, -turning again to Garry. "I heard you fellows over in Edgevale started a -troop." - -"It fizzled out," said Garry, resting his arm on Raymond's shoulder. -"We're the last of our race. But, for goodness' sakes, tell us how you -come to be alive, anyway? We saw you fall down that cliff----" - -Warren Everett laughed again. "You see it was this way," said he. "On our -way up the Hudson we ran into a moving picture bunch. They had a big -launch and a hydro-aeroplane----" - -"A what?" said Tom. - -"They said we were just the fellows they wanted because there was a scene -they were going to make where a scout climbs up a steep mountain and then -slips and falls down. They wanted to take pictures of him climbing and -then more of him falling. They had the hill all picked out and they -wanted to know if I'd climb it. - -"'Believe me, that's my middle name,' I told them. 'Let's see the hill.' - -"'We haven't got it with us,' the man said, 'but it's a peach, all -right--it looks harder than it is.' - -"I asked him about the falling down part, and he said, 'Don't you worry -about that. We've got a rag dummy to do the falling. All you've got to do -is to climb till you get to the grove near the top and when you get -inside of that you'll find the rag dummy on a log. Just push it over and -let it fall down the hill.'" - -"Well--I'll--be--jiggered!" said Roy. - -"Good idea?" laughed Everett. "Of course, the rag dummy went all the way -down to the bottom----" - -"You bet it did," said Connie. - -"But in the picture it won't be that way. You'll see me climb up the hill -and you'll see the dummy start down, and then--zip, goes the fillum--and -the next you see is a first-aid scout bandaging up another scout's head." - -By this time Everett's companions had joined the party and having -properly presented him to the newcomers, the freckled boy resumed his -original seat astride the cannon. - -"You see," said he, "we were down near Glens Falls when we picked up the -movie men. They had a hydro and a big cabin boat. They gave us the money -for a uniform for the rag dummy and we went back to Albany and bought it. -When we got back they were waiting for us, and believe me, we had some -fun dressing up that dummy. I took the new suit and gave him the old one. -_He_ didn't care." - -"He should worry," put in Roy. - -The freckled scout continued his story, swinging his legs and greatly -delighted at the astonishment of his listeners. - -"This is a most remarkable thing," said Mr. Ellsworth. - -"Can you beat it! Well, we all started north with our canoe tagging -behind. It was all right, wasn't it, Frank, because we were going that -way anyway. When we got into the lake the man in the hydro left the water -and said he'd meet us on the top of the cliff. He told me just where he'd -leave the dummy. Oh, gee, but he looked nice as he went sailing up in the -air! We got out of the boat at Westport[4] and Frank and I helped them -lug the camera and things to the mountain. We had it all fixed just what -we'd do and when the man found a good place up the hill a ways, where -they could get enough sunlight on the only original Boy Scout movie -star--that's me!--Frank and I went back to Westport, and paddled up in -our canoe, just as if we were coming to the mountain for the first time. -We got out under the cliff and I started up. Frank stayed down below so -he could get the dummy! Believe me, that dummy has some busy life! They -use it for a policeman and a soldier and a poor orphan child--gee, you -ought to see the clothes that poor dummy's got! - -"Well, I guess you fellows know the rest. I got to the top all right, and -take it from me, when I got my fists on that rag dummy, I gave it -one--good--chuck--_ker-bang!_ G-o-o-d-night! - -"Then I trotted over to the big field on top of the cliff where the -fellow with the aeroplane was waiting. Pretty soon along came Frank -dragging the poor dummy after him by the leg. He came up the easy way. -And goodnight, Mary Ann! I'm glad I wasn't that poor dummy----" - -"I'm glad you weren't," said Mr. Ellsworth, dryly, thinking of the -harrowing hours they had spent searching for his dead body. - -"Well, they said they had the picture all right and it would be a beaut'. -So then the man told us to jump in the aero and he'd bring us up to -Plattsburg. You see that red boat over there with _Back to Nature Film -Corporation_ on it? That's ours--I mean, theirs. They're going to take -some pictures here if they can get permission. But we're out of the movie -business for good--aren't we, Frank? And we're going to ship our little -old canoe down home and get the train tonight---- Hey, Everson," he said, -breaking off suddenly and turning to Garry; "why in the deuce don't you -be a good scout and come over to Warrentown and give us poor fellows a -hand? Mr. Wentworth, our scoutmaster, is on the Mexican border and three -of our fellows have gone out west to live--the Harris boys--maybe you -know of them. Gee, a fellow like you could help us an awful lot. You -could be a sort of scoutmaster till the Local Council scares one up. And -you don't live so far--going scout pace. What do you say? Will you?" - -_Would he!_ - -"He will on one condition," said Mr. Ellsworth. "You and your friend must -join us on our homeward cruise. I've heard of the Warrentown Troop and -Garry ought to be glad to get into it----" - -"They ought to be glad to get him!" shouted Pee-wee. - -"Sure, he's a bargain," put in Roy. "Now's their chance." - -"Yes, I think myself it will be an honor both ways," said Mr. Ellsworth, -who had grown very fond of Garry. "He will bring you the Silver -Cross----" - -"And he's no rag dummy," interrupted Roy. - -"Our plan," said Mr. Ellsworth, "is to look about the camp here and set -off again in the morning, for time is beginning to be precious. We shall -leave Raymond at Temple Camp, in the Catskills, where he's to stay for -the balance of the summer. Then, if you like, we'll drop you boys and -Garry at Edgevale. Our larger boat and one of our members, to whom it -belongs, we shall leave at Nyack. The rest of us live in Bridgeboro, New -Jersey--we're the First Bridgeboro B. S. A. Probably some of our boys -will hike it home from Nyack while the rest of us cruise down into New -York Bay and up our own small river." - -"It's just a one-patrol river," said Roy. - -"Are you with us?" Connie asked. - -"Sure, he's with us!" cried Roy. "Who's deciding this, Warrentown or -Bridgeboro? We'll drag both of them along by the legs the way they -dragged the rag scout, hey?" - - -The party made a pleasant stay at the big training camp, walking through -the straight, neat avenues of tents, visiting the commissary, watching -the drill, and lingering, fascinated, about the rookies who were busy at -rifle practice. They were made very welcome and it was not without a -feeling of regret that they went aboard the two boats after the colors -had been lowered. But Plattsburg, of which they were to hear so much -later, had been merely the chosen point of destination for their rambling -inland cruise, and as Mr. Ellsworth had remarked, time was beginning to -be precious. - -The hospitable Bridgeboro Troop, with its strangely acquired new member -and its several guests, lolled upon the deck and cabin roof of the _Honor -Scout_ that night, as the two boats waited at their moorings for the dawn -which would mean their departure on the speedier journey homeward. - -As the moon rose over the wide bosom of the great lake and flickered the -waters with its silvery brightness, Harry Stanton sat upon the cabin -locker, strumming his ukulele, and those who were in the mood hummed the -soft airs while the others listened. Often whole days would elapse in -which Harry Stanton would be scarcely heard from, but in the quiet of -those summer nights upon the water he contributed his full share to the -pleasure of the party. - -If you, to whom I am about to bid a short farewell, are a scout of the -scouts, see to it that some one of your troop's number learns to play a -mandolin, a banjo, or guitar--even if you have to drag him by the leg, as -young Frank dragged the unfortunate dummy. - -After a little while some one discovered that Roy was not among them, and -there was set up at once a hue and cry for him, for such an evening could -be no more complete without Roy than a Buffalo Bill Show would be without -Buffalo Bill or a circus without peanuts. - -"Maybe he's in the other boat," said one. - -"Maybe he's on shore," said another. - -It was Pee-wee who dragged him forth from the forward end of the cabin, -where he had been ensconced, knees up, "far from the madding crowd." - -"What's the matter?" asked Artie Van Arlen. - -Roy squatted in his customary attitude, holding a paper in his hand. - -"I was thinking about all the crazy things that have happened," said he, -"and the fellows we've met on this trip, and believe _me_, it's some -hodge-podge. I was coming down from that big commissary tent, scout pace, -when some poetry jumped into my noddle. Did you ever notice how poetry -comes to you when you go scout pace?" he asked, turning to Mr. Ellsworth. - -"No, I never did," said the scoutmaster. - -"Want to hear it? It's a sort of--sort of a national anthem of the -troop----" - -"Troop anthem?" - -"It isn't fixed up yet because the kid interrupted me. Do you want to -hear it?" - -"I dare say I can stand it if the others can," said the scoutmaster. - -"Go ahead, shoot!" said Doc. - -"Get the agony over with," said Connie. - -"All right, since you insist," said Roy, taking Tom's flashlight so he -could read the immortal lines. "Here goes--one--two--_three_! - - "Rag scouts, wooden scouts, - Thin heads and thick, - Honor scouts, young sprouts-- - Just take your pick. - - "Scouts without scout suits, - Shirts full of holes, - Silver Foxes--_they're the beauts_! - Scouts without patrols. - - "Youth scouts, sleuth scouts, - Scouts with motor-boats, - Scouts that come to life again, - Music scouts and potes. - - "Scoutmaster on the job, - Something-or-other--welk, - Hip, hip, hurrah, scouts-- - Raven, Fox and Elk! - -"What do you think of it?" - -"Of, it's great!" yelled Pee-wee. - -"I think it's superb," said Mr. Ellsworth, "especially the complimentary -reference to the scoutmaster." - -"The pleasure is mine," said Roy, with an elaborate bow. - -"But may I ask what a _pote_ is?" - -"Sure, a pote's a scout that writes pomes." - -"I see. And a welk?" - -"Well, you see it's this way," said Roy, undaunted. "The welkin is the -sky, and welk's short for welkin. Get me? I was just trying to dope out -how to fit that in when Pee-wee grabbed me." - -"We shall have to make you poet laureate of the troop," said Mr. -Ellsworth. - -"The Bridgeboro Bard," laughed Garry. - -"Do you think if I sent it to _Boys' Life_ they'd print it?" Roy asked. - -"Sure, they would!" yelled Pee-wee. - -"I don't know," said Mr. Ellsworth, cautiously. "I doubt it. You might -try. They have printed worse things," he added. - -Roy glanced again at his masterpiece, folded it up, put it in his pocket, -drew his knees up, clasped his hands about them, and grinned at the -assemblage. - -"_I_ should worry," he said. - - - THE END - - - - - Footnotes - - -[1]Meaning to send a message by a smudge signal. - -[2]A pearl necklace is the phrase used by the English in Africa to define - a trail which is visible and invisible at short, regular intervals. - -[3]This is the Plattsburg of 1915-1916. - -[4]Westport is just below Split Rock Mountain. - - - _This Isn't All!_ - -Would you like to know what became of the good friends you have made in -this book? - -Would you like to read other stories continuing their adventures and -experiences, or other books quite as entertaining by the same author? - -On the _reverse side_ of the wrapper which comes with this book, you will -find a wonderful list of stories which you can buy at the same store -where you got this book. - - - _Don't throw away the Wrapper_ - -_Use it as a handy catalog of the books you want some day to have. But in -case you do mislay it, write to the Publishers for a complete catalog._ - - - THE TOM SLADE BOOKS - - By PERCY KEESE FITZHUGH - - Author of "Roy Blakeley," "Pee-wee Harris," "Westy - Martin," Etc. - - Illustrated. Individual Picture Wrappers in Colors. - Every Volume Complete in Itself. - -"Let your boy grow up with Tom Slade," is a suggestion which thousands of -parents have followed during the past, with the result that the TOM SLADE -BOOKS are the most popular boys' books published today. They take Tom -Slade through a series of typical boy adventures through his tenderfoot -days as a scout, through his gallant days as an American doughboy in -France, back to his old patrol and the old camp ground at Black Lake, and -so on. - - TOM SLADE, BOY SCOUT - TOM SLADE AT TEMPLE CAMP - TOM SLADE ON THE RIVER - TOM SLADE WITH THE COLORS - TOM SLADE ON A TRANSPORT - TOM SLADE WITH THE BOYS OVER THERE - TOM SLADE, MOTORCYCLE DISPATCH BEARER - TOM SLADE WITH THE FLYING CORPS - TOM SLADE AT BLACK LAKE - TOM SLADE ON MYSTERY TRAIL - TOM SLADE'S DOUBLE DARE - TOM SLADE ON OVERLOOK MOUNTAIN - TOM SLADE PICKS A WINNER - TOM SLADE AT BEAR MOUNTAIN - - - THE ROY BLAKELEY BOOKS - - By PERCY KEESE FITZHUGH - - Author of "Tom Slade," "Pee-wee Harris," "Westy Martin," Etc. - - Illustrated. Individual Picture Wrappers in Color. - Every Volume Complete in Itself. - -In the character and adventures of Roy Blakeley are typified the very -essence of Boy life. He is a real boy, as real as Huck Finn and Tom -Sawyer. He is the moving spirit of the troop of Scouts of which he is a -member, and the average boy has to go only a little way in the first book -before Roy is the best friend he ever had, and he is willing to part with -his best treasure to get the next book in the series. - - ROY BLAKELEY - ROY BLAKELEY'S ADVENTURES IN CAMP - ROY BLAKELEY, PATHFINDER - ROY BLAKELEY'S CAMP ON WHEELS - ROY BLAKELEY'S SILVER FOX PATROL - ROY BLAKELEY'S MOTOR CARAVAN - ROY BLAKELEY, LOST, STRAYED OR STOLEN - ROY BLAKELEY'S BEE-LINE HIKE - ROY BLAKELEY AT THE HAUNTED CAMP - ROY BLAKELEY'S FUNNY BONE HIKE - ROY BLAKELEY'S TANGLED TRAIL - ROY BLAKELEY ON THE MOHAWK TRAIL - - - THE PEE-WEE HARRIS BOOKS - - By PERCY KEESE FITZHUGH - - Author of "Tom Slade," "Roy Blakeley," "Westy - Martin," Etc. - - Illustrated. Individual Picture Wrappers in Color. - Every Volume Complete in Itself. - -All readers of the Tom Slade and the Roy Blakeley books are acquainted -with Pee-wee Harris. These stories record the true facts concerning his -size (what there is of it) and his heroism (such as it is), his voice, -his clothes, his appetite, his friends, his enemies, his victims. -Together with the thrilling narrative of how he foiled, baffled, -circumvented and triumphed over everything and everybody (except where he -failed) and how even when he failed he succeeded. The whole recorded in a -series of screams and told with neither muffler nor cut-out. - - PEE-WEE HARRIS - PEE-WEE HARRIS ON THE TRAIL - PEE-WEE HARRIS IN CAMP - PEE-WEE HARRIS IN LUCK - PEE-WEE HARRIS ADRIFT - PEE-WEE HARRIS F.O.B. BRIDGEBORO - PEE-WEE HARRIS FIXER - PEE-WEE HARRIS: AS GOOD AS HIS WORD - - - THE JERRY TODD SERIES - - By LEO EDWARDS - - Illustrated. Individual Colored Wrappers For Each Story - Every Volume Complete in Itself - -Detective stories for boys! Jerry Todd and his trusty pals solve many a -baffling mystery in their home town, much to the amusement of all who -read of their adventures. - - JERRY TODD AND THE WHISPERING MUMMY - - Having been duly appointed "Juvenile Jupiter Detectives" Jerry Todd - and his trusty pals little realize how fast things are going to - happen. First comes the amazing adventure in the museum in Tutter - College. Did the mummy actually whisper? And did it later vanish of - its own accord? - - JERRY TODD AND THE ROSE-COLORED CAT - - Cats by the dozens; cats by the hundreds; and most important of all, a - mysterious five-hundred dollar rose-colored cat. Then comes the - lamentable accident to Lady Victoria's aristocratic tail; the - operation; the over-dose of chloroform; the funeral. There is a laugh - on every page. - - JERRY TODD AND THE OAK ISLAND TREASURE - - Jerry Todd and his pals set themselves up in the show business by - transforming a disused clay scow of Mr. Todd's into a floating - theatre. And a very wonderful show it is! Certainly it leads the boys - into exceptional adventures. - - JERRY TODD AND THE WALTZING HEN - - That strange hen? Why does it waltz? And what is the secret of the - prowling peril? Then, even as the Hindu had earlier died so quickly - and mysteriously, the boys' old friend disappears. Then comes the - final ludicrous climax. - - JERRY TODD AND THE TALKING FROG - - Jerry Todd and his chums leagued together to help another boy save a - peculiar invention of his father's, a talking frog, from thieving - hands,--wait breathlessly in the lonely brick house where the puzzle - maker had met with such a strange death. Fun and mystery here! - - - Football and Baseball Stories - - Durably Bound. Illustrated. Colored Wrappers. - Every Volume Complete in Itself. - - - - - The Ralph Henry Barbour Books for Boys - - -In these up-to-the minute, spirited genuine stories of boy life there is -something which will appeal to every boy with the love of manliness, -cleanness and sportsmanship in his heart. - - LEFT END EDWARDS - LEFT TACKLE THAYER - LEFT GUARD GILBERT - CENTER RUSH ROWLAND - FULLBACK FOSTER - LEFT HALF HARMON - RIGHT END EMERSON - RIGHT GUARD GRANT - - - - - The Christy Mathewson Books for Boys - - -Every boy wants to know how to play ball in the fairest and squarest way. -These books about boys and baseball are full of wholesome and manly -interest and information. Every young American who has ever tried to stop -a grounder or put one over to first will enjoy them and want to own them -all. - - PITCHER POLLOCK - CATCHER CRAIG - FIRST BASE FAULKNER - SECOND BASE SLOAN - PITCHING IN A PINCH - - THIRD BASE THATCHER, By Everett Scott - - - THE TOM SWIFT SERIES - - By VICTOR APPLETON - - Uniform Style of Binding. Individual Colored Wrappers. - Every Volume Complete in Itself. - -Every boy possesses some form of inventive genius. Tom Swift is a bright, -ingenious boy and his inventions and adventures make the most interesting -kind of reading. - - TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR CYCLE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS MOTOR BOAT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRSHIP - TOM SWIFT AND HIS SUBMARINE BOAT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RUNABOUT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIRELESS MESSAGE - TOM SWIFT AMONG THE DIAMOND MAKERS - TOM SWIFT IN THE CAVES OF ICE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS SKY RACER - TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC RIFLE - TOM SWIFT IN THE CITY OF GOLD - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR GLIDER - TOM SWIFT IN CAPTIVITY - TOM SWIFT AND HIS WIZARD CAMERA - TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT SEARCHLIGHT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS GIANT CANNON - TOM SWIFT AND HIS PHOTO TELEPHONE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AERIAL WARSHIP - TOM SWIFT AND HIS BIG TUNNEL - TOM SWIFT IN THE LAND OF WONDERS - TOM SWIFT AND HIS WAR TANK - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIR SCOUT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS UNDERSEA SEARCH - TOM SWIFT AMONG THE FIRE FIGHTERS - TOM SWIFT AND HIS ELECTRIC LOCOMOTIVE - TOM SWIFT AND HIS FLYING BOAT - TOM SWIFT AND HIS GREAT OIL GUSHER - TOM SWIFT AND HIS CHEST OF SECRETS - TOM SWIFT AND HIS AIRLINE EXPRESS - - - THE DON STURDY SERIES - - By VICTOR APPLETON - - Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations by - WALTER S. ROGERS - Every Volume Complete in Itself - -In company with his uncles, one a mighty hunter and the other a noted -scientist, Don Sturdy travels far and wide, gaining much useful knowledge -and meeting many thrilling adventures. - - DON STURDY ON THE DESERT OF MYSTERY; - Or, Autoing in the Land of the Caravans. - - An engrossing tale of the Sahara Desert, of encounters with wild - animals and crafty Arabs. - - DON STURDY WITH THE BIG SNAKE HUNTERS; - Or, Lost in the Jungles of the Amazon. - - Don's uncle, the hunter, took an order for some of the biggest snakes - to be found in South America--to be delivered alive! The filling of - that order brought keen excitement to the boy. - - DON STURDY IN THE TOMBS OF GOLD; - Or, The Old Egyptian's Great Secret. - - A fascinating tale of exploration and adventure in the Valley of - Kings in Egypt. Once the whole party became lost in the maze of - cavelike tombs far underground. - - DON STURDY ACROSS THE NORTH POLE; - Or, Cast Away in the Land of Ice. - - Don and his uncles joined an expedition bound by air across the north - pole. A great polar blizzard nearly wrecks the airship. - - DON STURDY IN THE LAND OF VOLCANOES; - Or, The Trail of the Ten Thousand Smokes. - - An absorbing tale of adventures among the volcanoes of Alaska in a - territory but recently explored. A story that will make Don dearer to - his readers than ever. - - - THE RADIO BOYS SERIES - - (Trademark Registered) - - By ALLEN CHAPMAN - Author of the "Railroad Series," Etc. - - Individual Colored Wrappers. Illustrated. - Every Volume Complete in Itself. - -A new series for boys giving full details of radio work, both in sending -and receiving--telling how small and large amateur sets can be made and -operated, and how some boys got a lot of fun and adventure out of what -they did. Each volume from first to last is so thoroughly fascinating, so -strictly up-to-date and accurate, we feel sure all lads will peruse them -with great delight. - -Each volume has a Foreword by Jack Binns, the well-known radio expert. - - THE RADIO BOYS' FIRST WIRELESS; - Or, Winning the Ferberton Prize. - THE RADIO BOYS AT OCEAN POINT; - Or, The Message That Saved the Ship. - THE RADIO BOYS AT THE SENDING STATION; - Or, Making Good in the Wireless Room. - THE RADIO BOYS AT MOUNTAIN PASS; - Or, The Midnight Call for Assistance. - THE RADIO BOYS TRAILING A VOICE; - Or, Solving a Wireless Mystery. - THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE FOREST RANGERS; - Or, The Great Fire on Spruce Mountain. - THE RADIO BOYS WITH THE ICEBERG PATROL; - Or, Making Safe the Ocean Lanes. - RADIO BOYS WITH THE FLOOD FIGHTERS; - Or, Saving the City in the Valley. - - - THE RAILROAD SERIES - - By ALLEN CHAPMAN - Author of the "Radio Boys," Etc. - - Uniform Style of Binding. Illustrated. - Every Volume Complete in Itself. - -In this line of books there is revealed the whole workings of a great -American railroad system. There are adventures in abundance--railroad -wrecks, dashes through forest fires, the pursuit of a "wildcat" -locomotive, the disappearance of a pay car with a large sum of money on -board--but there is much more than this--the intense rivalry among -railroads and railroad men, the working out of running schedules, the -getting through "on time" in spite of all obstacles, and the manipulation -of railroad securities by evil men who wish to rule or ruin. - - RALPH OF THE ROUND HOUSE; - Or, Bound to Become a Railroad Man. - RALPH IN THE SWITCH TOWER; - Or, Clearing the Track. - RALPH ON THE ENGINE; - Or, The Young Fireman of the Limited Mail. - RALPH ON THE OVERLAND EXPRESS; - Or, The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer. - RALPH, THE TRAIN DISPATCHER; - Or, the Mystery of the Pay Car. - RALPH ON THE ARMY TRAIN; - Or, The Young Railroader's Most Daring Exploit. - RALPH ON THE MIDNIGHT FLYER; - Or, The Wreck at Shadow Valley. - RALPH AND THE MISSING MAIL POUCH; - Or, The Stolen Government Bonds. - - - THE RIDDLE CLUB BOOKS - - By ALICE DALE HARDY - - Individual Colored Wrappers. Attractively Illustrated. - Every Volume Complete in Itself. - -Here is as ingenious a series of books for little folks as has ever -appeared since "Alice in Wonderland." The idea of the Riddle books is a -little group of children--three girls and three boys decide to form a -riddle club. Each book is full of the adventures and doings of these six -youngsters, but as an added attraction each book is filled with a lot of -the best riddles you ever heard. - - THE RIDDLE CLUB AT HOME - - An absorbing tale that all boys and girls will enjoy reading. How the - members of the club fixed up a clubroom in the Larue barn, and how - they, later on, helped solve a most mysterious happening, and how one - of the members won a valuable prize, is told in a manner to please - every young reader. - - THE RIDDLE CLUB IN CAMP - - The club members went into camp on the edge of a beautiful lake. Here - they had rousing good times swimming, boating and around the - campfire. They fell in with a mysterious old man known as The Hermit - of Triangle Island. Nobody knew his real name or where he came from - until the propounding of a riddle solved these perplexing questions. - - THE RIDDLE CLUB THROUGH THE HOLIDAYS - - This volume takes in a great number of winter sports, including - skating and sledding and the building of a huge snowman. It also - gives the particulars of how the club treasurer lost the dues - entrusted to his care and what the melting of the great snowman - revealed. - - THE RIDDLE CLUB AT SUNRISE BEACH - - This volume tells how the club journeyed to the seashore and how they - not only kept up their riddles but likewise had good times on the - sand and on the water. Once they got lost in a fog and are marooned - on an island. Here they made a discovery that greatly pleased the - folks at home. - - - THE HONEY BUNCH BOOKS - - By HELEN LOUISE THORNDYKE - - Individual Colored Wrappers and Text Illustrations Drawn by - WALTER S. ROGERS - -A new line of fascinating tales for little girls. Honey Bunch is a -dainty, thoughtful little girl, and to know her is to take her to your -heart at once. - - HONEY BUNCH: JUST A LITTLE GIRL - - Happy days at home, helping mamma and the washerlady. And Honey Bunch - helped the house painters too--or thought she did. - - HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE CITY - - What wonderful sights Honey Bunch saw when she went to visit her - cousins in New York! And she got lost in a big hotel and wandered - into a men's convention! - - HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS ON THE FARM - - Can you remember how the farm looked the first time you visited it? - How big the cows and horses were, and what a roomy place to play in - the barn proved to be? - - HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST VISIT TO THE SEASHORE - - Honey Bunch soon got used to the big waves and thought playing in the - sand great fun. And she visited a merry-go-round, and took part in a - sea-side pageant. - - HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST LITTLE GARDEN - - It was great sport to dig and to plant with one's own little garden - tools. But best of all was when Honey Bunch won a prize at the flower - show. - - HONEY BUNCH: HER FIRST DAYS IN CAMP - - It was a great adventure for Honey Bunch when she journeyed to Camp - Snapdragon. It was wonderful to watch the men erect the tent, and - more wonderful to live in it and have good times on the shore and in - the water. - - - GROSSET & DUNLAP, Publishers, NEW YORK - - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Tom Slade on the River, by Percy K. 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