.

Fires were lighted and pots and pans appeared. Somebody yelled that cocoa
was ready. The Foxes dished it out, and Mr. Wall distributed bread
thickly covered with molasses.

"Some feast," said Tim. He took his place in the circle of Wolves. He was
one of them--at home.

There was still some daylight left after dishes had been washed and put
away, and the supper refuse burned. Tim and Don walked off a way with
their flags. Teams from the other patrols scrambled for their flags,
too, and practiced until the last light began to go.

The night-fire grew brighter in the darkness. A hush fell over the camp.
The boys formed a circle about the blaze. Where they sat there was light
and warmth, but ten feet back were the trees, and darkness, and the
melancholy whispering of the breeze through stirring branches.

There was sober discussion of the morrow's contest. No voice lifted
itself loudly. Mr. Wall told an Indian story. The scouts drew closer to
the fire, and Bobbie glanced back over his shoulder. After a time heads
began to nod.

"Time to turn in," said the Scoutmaster. "Better fill your canteens. You
may want a drink during the night."

The brook was a hundred yards away, out in the darkness--and this was
Lonesome Woods. Bobbie said he never took a drink during the night.

"Aw!" cried Tim. "Let's go down there and fill them up."

He led the way. Bobbie decided that he might need a drink after all.

Twenty minutes later they were all in the tents. Out at the dying
camp-fire the bugler sounded "taps." As the mournful notes echoed, more
than one scout, under his blanket, felt goose-flesh.

Ordinarily, in camp, the first night is one of restlessness. But Chester
troop was tired. For a while voices sounded faintly. They grew fitful and
yawny. Finally they ceased. The camp was asleep under the stars.

And then the bugle blew again. Reveille! The scouts tumbled out to a new
world. The darkness was gone. Lonesome Woods was no longer spooky. The
whole world smelled clean, and green, and damp, and sweet.

Breakfast was rushed. The Foxes were the first to get away from camp. The
Wolves were next. They finished stringing their wire, adjusted a sender,
and came back to install the receiver. As soon as everything was ready,
Wally went off to the end of the line to send to Andy Ford.

The Foxes were the next to get rigged. The Eagles rushed in almost on
their heels. Morse and semaphore teams practiced frantically. Over
e