FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76  
77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   >>   >|  
n, when competing with the other troops of the county. Then came Bluff with his busy drum, and Bobolink holding his bugle ready to give the signal for the start. After that the scouts came, two and two, each in his appointed place, and the leaders of the second and third patrols heading their commands. Paul was of course compelled to act in the place of Mr. Gordon, so that temporarily Jack served in Paul's stead with the Red Fox Patrol. Amid great cheering and waving of hats and handkerchiefs, the troop finally put their best foot forward as one man, and headed away up the road that would, after many miles of weary marching, take them to their distant goal. At the rear came the wagon, upon which were piled the tents, blankets, and provisions for the two weeks' stay in camp. When the worried parents of the boys saw the large amount of eatables they began to lose their fears about hunger attacking the little troop. But then, a score of healthy lads can make way with an astonishing amount of food in that time; yet Paul had also counted on securing a supply from some neighboring farmers to help out the regular rations. To the inspiring music of drum and bugle they marched away from Stanhope. A bend in the road hid their homes from view, and only the steeple of the church could be seen. Perhaps more than one boy felt a queer sensation in his throat as he realized now what it meant to leave home, tramp out into the wilderness. But if this were so they made no sign. The wistful look several cast behind changed into one of manly determination, as they kept pace with their comrades, and faced the future with new hopes. Paul soon moderated the pace. He was wise enough to know that at this rate some of the boys would early complain of being tired or footsore, since they were hardly yet in condition to "do stunts" in the way of travel. Two miles out of town they came to a cold spring up among the rocks at which many wishful eyes were turned, so the acting scoutmaster gave the order to halt, and break ranks. "We'll stop here for half an hour, and get refreshed," he said, as they clustered around him; "because, now that we've left our base of supplies and cut loose from all our homes we must go carefully. The chain is only as strong as the weakest link, you know, fellows. And several of our number are not used to long tramps." After drinking their fill of the cool and refreshing water the scouts lounged aroun
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   52   53   54   55   56   57   58   59   60   61   62   63   64   65   66   67   68   69   70   71   72   73   74   75   76  
77   78   79   80   81   82   83   84   85   86   87   88   89   90   91   92   93   94   95   96   97   98   99   100   101   >>   >|  



Top keywords:

amount

 

scouts

 

realized

 
footsore
 
sensation
 

complain

 
throat
 

changed

 

determination

 

wistful


moderated
 

comrades

 

wilderness

 

future

 

carefully

 
strong
 

weakest

 

supplies

 

fellows

 
refreshing

lounged

 
drinking
 

tramps

 

number

 

wishful

 

turned

 

scoutmaster

 
acting
 

spring

 

stunts


travel

 

refreshed

 

clustered

 

condition

 

cheering

 

waving

 

finally

 

handkerchiefs

 

Patrol

 

served


distant

 

marching

 

forward

 

headed

 

temporarily

 

Bobolink

 
holding
 

county

 

competing

 

troops