gerness, as his face indicated. Needless to say this was
Carl Oskamp, who had so much at stake in the matter.

"There's just this about it, Josh," said Tom, gravely, "suppose after
we arrived safely home from this splendid hike, the first thing we
heard was that one or two of that crowd had been lost in the Great Bog
up here, and it was feared they must have found a grave in the mud
flats. How would we feel about it, knowing that we had had the chance
given to us to stretch out a helping hand them, and had failed?"

Josh turned red in the face. Then he made a sudden gesture which meant
he was ready to throw up his hands.

"Huh! guess you know best," he replied, in a husky voice; "I didn't
think of it that way. I'd sure hate to have such a thing on my mind
nights. Let's start right away then."

That was the way with Josh; when he had anything unpleasant to do he
was always eager to get it accomplished. For that matter, however,
there were others among the scouts who wished to be astir, for the
words of the patrol leader had thrilled them.

"What if they have gotten lost in that awful mud bog, and right now are
stuck fast there, whooping for help?" suggested Felix.

Billy Button and Horace looked white with the very thought. As usual
George pretended to make light of the whole matter, though some of them
fancied much of his disbelief was assumed, for George had a reputation
to maintain.

"Oh! no danger of those Smart Alecks being caught so easy," he told
them; "they could slip through any sort of bog without getting stuck.
Like as not we'll only have our trouble for our pains."

"You can stay here at the cabin if you like, George," Tom told him.

That, however, was far from George's mind; if the others meant "to make
fools of themselves he guessed he could stand it too"; and when they
started forth George had his place in the very van. Josh often said
George's "bark was worse than his bite."

"Fortunately," said the old naturalist, "the Great Bog isn't more than
a mile away from here, and as I've spent many a happy hour there
observing the home life of the little creatures that live in its depths
the ground is familiar to me."

"But you still limp, I notice, sir," remarked Tom; "are you sure you
can make it to-day? Hadn't we better try it alone?"

"I wouldn't think of letting you," replied the other, hastily. "I shall
get along fairly well, never fear. This limp has become more a habit
with me than anything