ned into "water babies."
Boots and stockings had been left behind at the Stable, and now they got
rid of clothes as well. How cool the sea was! That first bathe seemed to
wash away all the heat and smoke and grubbiness of dear old London.

After the bathe came a splendid paddle among brown, sea-weedy rocks, and
the Cubs caught their first baby crabs and found their first shells, and
got just as wet as they liked.

But the sun was sinking down behind the grey line of sea, and the clock
there is inside every Cub was telling supper-time. So, with hands full
of sea-weed and shells, they made their way back to camp.

The camp-fire was burning merrily. "Godmother," in a large blue overall,
was stirring a steaming dixie of cocoa, and "Mother and Father" were
cutting up bread and cheese.

After supper there was time for a little play in the field. Then, as it
began to get dusk, a whistle-blast called the Cubs in for night prayers.
It was still quite light enough to read, so each Cub had a little
homemade book of Morning and Night Camp Prayers. Kneeling in a quiet
corner of the field, with just the evening sky overhead, with a pale
star or two beginning to appear, it was easy to feel God near and to
pray. The camp prayers started with "A prayer that we may pray well." It
was a very old prayer, really, but it seemed just to fit the Cubs, and
help them to _do their best_ in their prayers as in all other things.
The prayer was this: "Open Thou, O Lord, my mouth to bless Thy Holy
Name; cleanse also my heart from wandering thoughts, so that I may
worthily, devoutly, and attentively recite these prayers, and deserve to
be heard in the sight of Thy Divine Majesty. Through Christ Our Lord.
Amen." Then followed the "Our Father" and some short prayers. And after
that the Cubs said altogether: "I confess to Almighty God that I have
sinned against Him in thought, word, and deed." Then Akela read out very
slowly the following questions, and each Cub answered them in his
heart--not out loud, but silently, for God only to hear:

"Have I done my best to pray well when saying my private prayers and at
camp prayers?

"Have I really meant to please God to-day?

"Have I done my best in my orderly duties, and in other things I have
had to do?

"Have I given in to other people quickly and cheerfully when given an
order?

"Have I spoken as I should not?

"Have I been disobedient?

"Have I been unkind to another boy--selfish? quarrelsome?