was a pair of wings."
Fritz was wonderfully good-natured, and they could not make him angry.
When other boys were apt to scowl and feel "grouchy," Fritz would come
up smilingly after each and every round, ready to take punishment
without limit.
And so they continued to walk along the road, chatting among themselves
as cheerily as footsore and weary scouts might be expected to do when
trying to encourage each other to further exertions.
Every step really meant a good deal to their success, for in the course
of ten minutes Paul declared that another mile had been duly covered.
When they saw another cow inside a fenced enclosure the boys tried by
every argument they could devise to tempt Fritz to try his hand once
more, but he steadfastly declined to accept the dare.
"Say what you like, fellers," he remarked firmly, "me and cows are on
the outs, for this trip anyway. It's somebody else's turn to afford
amusement for the bunch. I've sure done my duty by the crowd. Let me be,
won't you? Tackle Seth there, or Babe Adams. I happen to know that they
like milk just every bit as much as I do. Water's good enough for me,
right now; and here's the spring I've been looking for a long while."
At that they all hastened to discover some spots where it was possible
to lap up a sufficient supply of the clear fluid.
This cooling drink seemed to invigorate the boys, so that when they
started off again it was with a somewhat quicker step, and heads that
were held up straighter than of late.
It enabled them to reel off another mile without any great effort.
"Only one more, and then we've just got to let up on this thing," said
Paul.
"I really believe you're getting tired of it yourself, Mr. Scoutmaster?"
ventured one of the boys, eagerly; for if Paul would only confess to
this, they felt that they could stand their own weaknesses better.
"And that is no joke," laughed Paul, frankly. "You see, I haven't been
hardening my muscles as much lately as when the baseball season was in
full swing. But with two miles placed to our account, we shouldn't be
much worried about how things are coming out. Will we try for that last
mile, boys? It's for you to say!"
He received a unanimous shout of approval, which announced that the
others were of a united mind. And so they kept along the road though
some steps lagged painfully, and it was mainly through the exertions of
the mind that the body was whipped into obeying.
Finally Pau
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