78

TED MARSH ON AN IMPORTANT MISSION

CHAPTER I

TED DECIDES TO ACCEPT

"Ted, oh Ted."

The speaker's hail was not altogether unexpected. The boy called Ted
turned about and met Captain Wilson half way.

The familiar figure of the boy proves to be Ted Marsh who had come out
to Western Canada with his friends, John Dean and Mrs. Dean. After a
number of months on the Double X Ranch, months which the boy had found
both exhilarating and tremendously to his liking, he had been sent to
Wayland Academy. To those of us who have read Ted Marsh the Boy Scout,
the following facts are familiar. A brief resume, however, is set
forth herewith for those readers who are new so that they can safely
gather the threads of our story.

Ted Marsh, a likeable newsboy, living in Chicago, makes the
acquaintance of John Dean, a Canadian rancher. Ted takes him to the
Settlement to which he belongs. Dean's interest in the boy grows. Then
as the boy begins to show the man the Chicago that he knows, there is
the startling clamor of fire engines and all the evidence of a nearby
fire. It is in the tenement in which Ted lives. The boy cannot be held
back. He rushes into the building to try to save his mother.
Fortunately, his mother has already left the burning building. The boy
is caught within and only makes his escape by jumping from the window
on high into the firemen's waiting net below.

After a stay in the hospital John Dean and his wife take the boy West
with the consent of his mother who unselfishly lets him go because
opportunity, so she feels, is there. Ted's father had left home just
before Ted was born.

[Illustration: CAUTIOUSLY HE PROWLED ABOUT]

Strong interest centers around the doings of Ted and his new-found
friends both at the ranch and at the academy. Adventures are many. The
boy is found to be cool in emergencies. He has qualities which bring
respect and liking. The end of the story finds him suggested for an
important mission to Chicago--and his youth is considered of great
advantage by the gentlemen who wish to send him. The opening of the
present story finds Captain Wilson hailing Ted, ready to broach the
subject and find out if the boy is willing or unwilling to undertake
the mission:

The boy saluted. He stood at attention while the captain studied him
for a few moments.

"Ted, boy, I come to you on very important business. Not as Scout to
Scout, but as man to man. For you can safely refuse to