lked.
William especially seemed light hearted; and since nothing like order
was maintained during the steady tramp, he enlivened the way with his
songs and squibs.

It was different with Paul. Pretty much all the responsibility weighed
upon his young shoulders, since Mr. Gordon trusted to him to carry the
troop to the place selected for the camp, wherever that might be.

He had scores of things to think of, and must always be on the alert to
keep his finger on the pulse of the entire score of lads.

When they made their noon halt they had reached another spring known to
Paul, though some little distance away from the road.

Breaking ranks, they followed the directions of their leader and made
for the water, each boy eager to get at the contents of his knapsack,
wherein loving hands had so carefully stowed such dainties as the son of
the house was known to favor.

"Don't we have a fire, and some cooked grub, Paul?" demanded William,
eagerly, as he hovered about the wagon, ready to pounce upon the kettles
and pans that had been brought along to serve as cooking receptacles.

"Not here," replied the leader, smiling at the look of disappointment
visible on William's face, which he could twist about in the most
comical way ever seen outside of a clown's work in the circus. "To-night
we'll make our first regular camp, you know, and that will be time
enough to break in."

"Oh! I'm wise now to the idea. You want the boys to get rid of a lot of
the sweet stuff they've loaded in their grips. And I reckon you're just
about right. The sooner they get down to plain grub, the better. Cakes
and such are good enough at home, but give me the bacon, the flapjacks,
the hominy, the fried fish and camp fare when I'm in the woods."

William talked big, but Paul happened to know that pretty much all his
information with regard to what should be done during an outing of this
sort had been gleaned from books, though he could cook quite well. His
brother Wallace was just the opposite, and knew from actual experience
what a camper should, and should not, do.

A rest of an hour was taken, during which time the scouts lightened
their bulging knapsacks considerably. Indeed, Paul had high hopes that
by the time another day had passed the supply of crullers and similar
dainties would have vanished completely.

During the afternoon they did not try to hurry. There were several
reasons for this. Already a number of the boys began to complain