y of
sending a letter north.

The next hour was occupied in making camp. Then the Stars and Stripes
and the Eagle banner went up. Donald had no Wolf banner with him, but
above his tent he hung up something that resembled a wolf's head,
painted on a bit of canvas.

"Looks more like a chicken than a wolf," scornfully sniffed Tubby when
he saw it.

"You couldn't think of anything but something good to eat, could you?"
was Donald's crushing reply.

By the time camp had been made and everything placed neatly in order,
Andy Bowles, on Ensign Hargreaves' order, sounded the dinner call.

"That's the call that Tubby never forgets," laughed Rob, as the stout
lad cantered off in the direction of the combination dining hall and
cook house above mentioned.

They found a bare, pine table, scrubbed scrupulously clean and set with
metal plates and cups. Lieutenant Hargreaves showed each boy to his
seat, while he and the inventor sat at opposite ends of the board. The
sailors, and the machinist who had impressed Rob so unfavorably, ate
later.

The cook, a stout, good-natured looking negro, came bustling in with a
huge bucket-like pan full of steaming soup. Tubby's eyes glistened as
he saw it, and soon he was piling in prodigious quantities of it. The
soup was followed by salt beef, potatoes, and other vegetables, and then
came a big wedge of cocoanut pie.

"We get fresh meat fairly often," explained Mr. Barr, "but the launch
has not been to the mainland recently, so we have to get along on what
sailors call 'Willie'."

"Isn't there game of any kind hereabouts?" asked Rob.

"Oh, yes. There are several shore birds of different varieties, but we
have really been too busy of late to go after them. Now that you boys
have come, however, you can take out my shot guns--I have three of
them--and see what you can do as hunters."

"Are the shore birds good eating?" inquired Tubby with his mouth full of
pie.

"Yes, Master Hopkins. Epicures, in fact, declare that there is no better
dish than roasted plovers."

"I'll take one of the guns," declared Tubby, his eyes glistening, as,
even his appetite satisfied for the while, he sank back in his chair.

As they filed out of the dining hall the negro cook announced to the
sailors and the mechanic, by means of a big bell, that it was time for
them to eat.

Rob, on his way to the camp, happened to pass by Luke Barton. He greeted
the latter with a cheery nod.

"Going to eat, Barton?" h