d exciting their rivalry as to which had the larger lungs. When
he had them fully primed he said he had means of testing the matter, and
brought out the twin air mattresses. Eagerly then the guides lay flat on
their stomachs, and at the word started to blow like two-horse power
engines. The first test was declared a _tie_; and after that the guides
could hardly wait for night to come to try out their lungs against each
other.

And with this story in his mind the young scoutmaster determined to play
the two weak members of the Beaver Patrol against each other, having in
view the benefit that would result from such keen rivalry.

First he talked to Noodles about Eben's awakening talent in the line of
pedestrian feats; and soon had the stout boy affirming that he could
beat the best efforts of the bugler without more than half trying.

Then Paul found a chance to arouse the ambition of Eben in turn, by
hinting at what Noodles had boasted. Thus Paul presently had the two
lads jealously watching each other. They did not come to any open
rupture, because they were good fellows, and fast friends, but did Eben
happen to take a notion to go up a little in the line in order to speak
to one of the others, Noodles clung to him like a leech.

Indeed, Paul had to restrain the eager pair more than once, for they
were so determined to excel the record, each of the other, that they
gave evidences of even wanting to run.

By carefully nursing this spirit of emulation and rivalry the patrol
leader believed he was assisting the cause, without doing either of his
chums the slightest injury. It was a case of simply bringing out all
there was in a couple of lads who, as a rule, were prone to give up too
easily.

And so they kept tramping along the turnpike leading toward home,
jollying each other, and every now and then, when resting for a bit,
trying to remove some of the dreadful evidences of black mud from their
usually natty uniforms and leggins.

"P'raps they'll think it the biggest joke going," remarked Seth, "when
they get on to it that we've been in the Black Water Swamps, and I guess
Freddy's crowd'll laugh themselves sick, like a lot of ninnies, but just
wait till we tell what took us there, and show the card Mr. Anderson
gave us, with his message for St. Louis on the back. Then it seems to me
the laugh will be on them."

They took great consolation in remembering what a gallant piece of work
they had been enabled to carry