IN CAMP
The light which Pee-wee had seen across the water was not on a boat as
he had supposed. It was on a small island the very name of which would
have delighted his heart, for it was called Frying-pan Island, because
of its rough similarity of form to that delightful accessory of camp
life. If Scout Harris could have eaten a waffle out of such a frying-pan
he would have felt that he had not lived in vain.
This frying-pan, instead of being filled with fat, was filled with
woods, and a little to the west of the center, where an omelet might
have nestled in its smaller prototype, three tents were concealed in the
enshrouding foliage. Down at the end of the handle of this frying-pan
was good fishing, but it was marshy there, and sometimes after a heavy
rain the handle was completely sub-merged. From an airplane the three
white tents in the western side of the pan might have seemed like three
enormous poached eggs; that is, provided the aviator had an imagination.
It was upon the shore of this little island that the two young men who
had driven the automobile from Bridgeboro pulled their boat ashore about
ten minutes after they had all unknowingly locked Scout Harris in their
makeshift lakeside garage. Considering that they were cut-throats and
ruffians and all that sort of thing, their consciences seemed singularly
clear, for they laughed and chatted as they made their way along the few
yards of trail which led to their lair, or den, or haunt, or cave, or
whatever you care to call it.
They were greeted by a chorus of boys who jumped up from around the
camp-fire where they had been seated making demands upon them for news
and booty.
"How about it? Can we stay here?"
"What kept you so long?"
"Did you get the silver cup?"
"I bet you didn't find out?"
"I bet you ate supper in a restaurant."
"We made rice cakes."
"Did you get the cup?"
"Let's see it."
"They didn't get it"
"Yes they did."
"I bet they didn't."
"I bet they did."
"Look at the smiles on their faces."
"I bet we have the town hall wished on us."
"I bet it's the fire-house."
"I feel it in my bones we have to go to school."
"Let's see the cup."
"Did you eat?"
"What is this, a questionnaire?" asked one of the arrivals, the one who
had driven the car.
"Let's hear the worst."
"Break it gently."
"We thought your new junk wagon broke down."
"Don't say anything against his new junk Wagon or he'll never tell us
anything."
"Did you put the baby to bed?"
"Yes and locked him in."
"What kept you so late?"
"We got mixed up with a Bandit of Harrowing Highway."
"Who's he?"
"He's a villyan."
"A which?"
"A movie play."
"That's a nice thing for two scoutmasters to go and see. Your two troops
are ashamed of you."
"If our two troops don't shut up--"
"We'll shut up--come on, _altogether_!"
Followed a welcome silence.
"We've gone to a lot of trouble today for you kids," said one of the
scoutmasters. "We've got the cup but we had to wait a couple of hours
for it. The merchants in the great metropolis of Bridgeboro are so slow
that a turtle would be arrested for speeding there. Poke up the fire,
Nick, we're cold, and I'll tell you all about our adventures. We've made
a day of it, huh?"
The scout whom he called Nick jogged up the waning blaze while others
brought a fresh log, and soon the camp-fire was roaring a warming,
hearty welcome home to the weary scoutmasters. One of these (who was
evidently young enough to be addressed by his Christian name, for they
called him Ned) sat on an old grocery box and related the happenings of
the day, while the others sprawled about, listening. Occasionally his
fellow scoutmaster (Safety First they called him) contributed a few
words.
"Well, the first thing we did when we got ashore was to--"
"Get out of the boat?" a scout asked. There was surely not much
constraint between scouts and scoutmasters in this outfit.
"We went up to town and saw the school board; at least we saw Mr. Cram.
He says everything's upside down and they don't know what they'll
do--says there won't be any school for a month anyway. (Cries of
despair.) They can't use the town hall and they can't use the fire-house
and they're talking of using the old Wilder mansion. We told him if
there wasn't going to be any school till the middle of October or so,
we'd like to bunk right here on the island and study nature. He said,
'Go to it.' So there's no school for a month (murmurs of disappointment)
and we've got to chip in and get some more groceries.
"We squared things with your parents and most of them are glad to get
rid of you. How about that, Safety First? Corby's sister is giving a
party and hopes he'll stay away. Let's see now; oh yes, we bought some
fishing tackle.
"Then we got some gas and started for Bridgeboro after the cup. We went
after that cup like Sir Thomas Lipton. The jewelry man didn't have the
engraving finished so we dropped in at a movie show and saw a fellow
with a lot of pistols. How many pistols were there, First Aid? We
counted them off coming back in the machine, there were seventy. Crazy
stuff. That's the kind of stuff you kids fall for. Well, after the
pistol shooting was over we got the cup and started back and here we
are. Any questions?"
"Let's see the cup."
We left it in the machine. We'll get it in the morning. Now look here,
you scouts. I want every last one of you to try for that cup. There are
half a dozen of you that need to wake up. There are a few dead ones
here; Harry, the crack shot--yes you--I'm looking right at you--I want
you to can all this stuff about killing animals and get busy and do the
best scout stunt of the season and win that cup. Understand? I was
saying to Safety First on the way home that a fellow gets more fun
stealing up on an animal and piking him with a camera than he does
poking around with an old air gun that he saw advertised in _Boy's
Life_. That's what! I'm talking to you straight.
"Now here's a silver cup and it looks pretty swell all engraved with our
patrol names and we drove way to Bridgeboro to get it. That cup's going
to stand on the stump of that tree there--where the chipmunk hangs out.
And the day we leave this island it's going to the scout that has done
the best scout stunt. Tracking, signalling, good turn, cooking, it makes
no difference what. The scout that does the _biggest thing_, he gets the
cup. We two scoutmasters and Mr. Wade are going to be the committee. Now
you'd better all turn in and hurry up about it, and Ralph Gordon is not
to snore; they're complaining about it over in town."
"Can we do any kind of stunts we want to?" asked the tall scout whom
they call Nick.
"Any kind at all that's good scouting; that's the only rule."
"All right, then I'm going to start to-night," said Nick; "I'm going to
row across and get that cup out of the car so we all can see it. Let's
have the key, will you?"
At this there was a general laugh mingled with shouts from a dozen or so
volunteers:
"I'll go with you!"
"Take me?"
"I'm in on that!"
"I was just going to suggest it!"
"Yes you were--not!"
"Wait till morning," said Scoutmaster Ned.
"It can't be done," said Nick in a funny, sober way; "a scout is
supposed to have his sleep, that's the most important rule of all, you
said so yourself. I can't sleep till I've had a squint at that cup. Come
on Fido, let's row over."
The scout called Fido had won his name because of his doglike
persistence in following trails. "That's me," he said, "I was just going
to propose it when you took the words out of my mouth."
"I'd like to see a photograph of anybody taking anything out of _your_
mouth," said Scoutmaster Ned. "Go ahead, the two of you; I wish your
people would send you both to a private school that opens up to-morrow.
Go on, get out of here. And don't wake us up when you come back."
"Thank you kindly," said Fido.
"The pleasure is mine," said Scoutmaster Ned.