taking the Silver Foxes away. They
appreciate that he does this for the sake, not of the Silver Foxes, but as
a good turn to the Ravens and the Elks. The Ravens and the Elks hope to
have a little peace meanwhile. They thank him. In the familiar words of one
of our famous patrol leaders, _'we should worry.'_ And we wish you all good
luck in your daring enterprise."

I could see that he winked at Harry Donnelle and Harry Donnelle was
laughing so hard that he couldn't make a speech. So I climbed up on
Council Rock and shouted, "Hear, hear" Then I made a speech and this is
it, because afterwards I wrote it out in our troop book.

The Silver Foxes thank the Ravens and the Elks for their
kind wishes. I bequeath all my extra helpings of dessert to
Pee-wee Harris of the Ravens-up to three helpings. After that
it reverts to Vic Norris of the Elks. Reverts means _goes to_.
Who ever reaches Bridgeboro, New Jersey, first will send out a
searching part for the others. The searching party will bring
their own eats. If we're never heard of again, that's a sign
you won't hear from us. If we get to Bridgeboro and don't find
you, that'll be a sign that you're not there. If you are there
it won't be our fault. We should worry. We go forth for the
sake of prosperity-I mean posterity. So please tell posterity
in case we don't reach home safely. If our friends and parents
are anxious, tell them to wait at Bennett's on Bridge Street,
because that'll be the first place we go to.

The next day was Wednesday and we started early in the morning. The others
were going to start down in the house-boat on Saturday. I think the Ravens
and the Elks must have sat up all night making crazy signs on cardboard
just so as to guy us. And Mr. Ellsworth helped them, too. They had the
whole camp with them-even Uncle Jeb; he's manager. He used to be a trapper.

When we got out onto the main road, we saw signs tacked up on all the
trees and I guess even scout in camp was there. One of the signs read,
_Olive oil, but not good-bye_. Another one read _Day-day to the brave
explorers_. Another one read, _Don't forget to wear rubbers going through
the Newburgh morass_. Another one read, _Beware of the treacherous Ashokan
Reservoir_. A lot we cared. Didn't people even make fun of Christopher
Columbus?

CHAPTER IV

GO!

Buy remember, I told you that the hike didn't really begin till we got