t.

'Lemme see,' murmured Chippy again. 'Here's a river; that's about
seven mile again, as fur as I can mek' out.'

Dick measured the distance. 'Just about seven miles,' he said.

'Wot d'yer say to campin' pretty handy to it to-night?' went on Chippy.

'So that you can try your hand on the fish, eh?' laughed Dick.

Chippy nodded.

'All right,' said Dick, 'we'll strike out for it. We shall have to do
about two miles along a main, then we can branch off again, and get up
to the river in very quiet country. See, there's hardly a house marked
on the map.'

'All the better for mekin' a camp,' said Chippy; and Dick agreed.

When they had finished their meal they lay in the sunshine, chatting
and watching the fire die away. Before they left they took care that
every ember was extinguished, so that no harm could come to the place
where they had made their halt.

It was about two o'clock when they resumed their journey, and they
moved at an easy pace, with the aim of reaching their camping-ground
towards five. That would give them ample time to make their
preparations for the night.

Until four o'clock the march was quite uneventful, then Chippy had an
adventure with a baker's cart. They were passing through a village
whose street was spanned at one end by a railway bridge. Near the
bridge stood a cottage lying well back from the road, and as the scouts
passed, a baker drove up, and went to the cottage with his basket on
his arm.

While he was at the door, a train whizzed up and thundered over the
bridge, and the horse took fright and dashed away, galloping up behind
the two boys. Both of the latter began to run with all their might in
the same direction as the horse, which soon caught them up. He was
about to pass them on Chippy's side when the Raven flung aside his
staff, and seized the shaft with his right hand, and thus was enabled
for a few yards to keep an equal speed with the horse. Then Chippy
gripped the near rein with his left hand and tugged with all his might.
The terrified creature was not yet too wild with fear to fail to answer
to the pull on the bit, and swung round to the left. In this way the
scout managed to jam the frightened brute's head into the tall bank,
and thus pulled it up. In dashed Dick and seized the other rein, and
between them the scouts held the horse until the baker ran up and
helped them to secure it.

The baker was profuse in his thanks--above all, when he had looke