e August air that made them all disinclined
to break camp and move on.

"I wish we could stay here all day, and move on to-morrow," murmured
Hazy, thus voicing the thought of some of the others.

"And then blame the tramps for loafing!" exclaimed Dick.

"Do we look as though we had loafed this summer?" challenged Dalzell.

"No; but one or two of you would have done a good deal of it if
you hadn't been afraid of the contempt of the others," smiled
Prescott.

"Honestly, now," demanded Hazy, "wouldn't you enjoy just staying
here and lounging today, Dick Prescott?"

"I would," Dick assented.

"There, now!"

"But that isn't what we left home to do, so we won't do it."

"Eh?" queried Hazy.

"Attention, Lazybones Squad!" called Prescott, springing up.
"Hazy, harness the horse and hitch him to the wagon. Tom, Dave
and Greg, take down the tent. I'll pack the bedding. Dan, load
the kitchen stuff on the wagon."

This occupied a few minutes.

"Now, all hands turn to and load on the floor planks, bedding
and the tent," called Dick.

This, too, was quickly accomplished, though all six were now perspiring.

"Greg, I believe it's your turn to drive first to-day," Prescott
announced. "Up with you! Forward---march!"

Dick led the way out of camp, at a brisk four-mile-an-hour stride.
The long hike was started, at last. After that there was no
grumbling, even during the hourly halt of ten minutes.

The noon halt found them with eleven and a half miles covered
out of the twenty. Five o'clock brought Dick & Co. to the outskirts
of Fenton, a town of some twenty-five hundred inhabitants.

"Whoa!" called Tom, reining up half a mile from the town. "There
are woods here, Dick. If we go any closer to Fenton, we'll either
have to keep on traveling to the other side of the town, or ask
the authorities for permission to camp on the common. Don't you
believe we had better stop here?"

"These are the woods that Dave and I had just picked out," Prescott
replied. "We were going to keep on traveling until we found out
who owns the woods. This isn't quite in the wilderness, Tom,
and we must begin again to seek permission to make our camp from
owners of property."

"If these are the woods," grunted Tom, "there can be no use in
going farther. You and Dave trot on ahead, and bring us back
word."

"All right," sang out the young leader, "but don't drive onto
the ground, or unpack, until we are back with word about the o