me; and seeing that they were not in danger themselves, could
afford to lend a hand in order to save the garments of the unlucky Jones
boy.

"Now your suit's a fine sight!" ejaculated Step Hen.

"Perfectly dreadful!" remarked Smithy, with a shudder; for to the mind
of this member of the patrol, with his ideas of what neatness stood for,
no punishment could have exceeded such a catastrophe as the one that had
overtaken Davy.

But after finding that his neck had not been dislocated by his fall; and
that, while there would be a few holes here and there about his clothes,
they were still fairly presentable, Davy only grinned with his customary
good nature.

"You certain sure _are_ the limit;" declared Bumpus, surveying the other
with a frown on his rosy face. "Better grow a tail, and be done with it.
Then you could take your monkey-shines to the woods, where they'd be
appreciated."

"Now that's what I call the unkindest cut of all," replied Davy. "I
leave it to the crowd if I wasn't only obeyin' orders? Didn't you call
out to me to come down? Well, didn't I?"

"Huh! but you needn't a spilt our fire that way," grumbled Bumpus, who
however was secretly just as much amused over the affair as any of the
rest. "When I say 'come down' you needn't think I mean for you to obey
as fast as that. Reckon you must a tried some dodge that wasn't as easy
as it looked, and you lost your grip."

"Here's what did it for me," said Davy, stooping, and picking up a piece
of broken limb, which Thad remembered seeing fall at the same time the
boy scattered the embers of the fire. "Rotten as punk, and went back on
me. But don't you believe for a minute because I was hangin' head down
right then, I struck that way. Easiest thing in the world to turn a
flip-flap in the air. I sat down in that fire; that's why my pants got
the worst of the burns. And say, do I limp when I walk, because I'm
feeling a little sore?"

"Not much more'n usual," remarked Bumpus, cheerfully.

This ridiculous adventure on the part of Davy set them all to talking
again. Of course previous efforts in the same line, and, carried out by
the same artist, had to be hauled out of their concealment, and made to
do duty again, with sundry additions; for what story can there be but
what is strengthened every time it is told?

So many strange things were taking place all around them that it was
little wonder the boys declared they did not feel a bit sleepy, even
when the pa