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The Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts
GREAT HIKE
* * * * *
THE HICKORY RIDGE BOY SCOUTS
A SERIES OF BOOKS FOR BOYS
By Capt. Alan Douglas, Scout-master
The Campfires of the Wolf Patrol
Their first camping experience affords the scouts
splendid opportunities to use their recently acquired
knowledge in a practical way. Elmer Chenowith, a lad
from the northwest woods, astonishes everyone by his
familiarity with camp life. A clean, wholesome story
every boy should read.
Woodcraft; or, How a Patrol Leader Made Good
This tale presents many stirring situations in which
the boys are called upon to exercise ingenuity and
unselfishness. A story filled with healthful
excitement.
Pathfinder; or, The Missing Tenderfoot
Some mysteries are cleared up in a most unexpected
way, greatly to the credit of our young friends. A
variety of incidents follow fast, one after the other.
Fast Nine; or, a Challenge from Fairfield
They show the same team-work here as when in camp. The
description of the final game with the team of a rival
town, and the outcome thereof, form a stirring
narrative. One of the best baseball stories of recent
years.
Great Hike; or, The Pride of The Khaki Troop
After weeks of preparation the scouts start out on
their greatest undertaking. Their march takes them far
from home, and the good-natured rivalry of the
different patrols furnishes many interesting and
amusing situations.
Endurance Test; or, How Clear Grit Won the Day
Few stories "get" us more than illustrations of pluck
in the face of apparent failure. Our heroes show the
stuff they are made of and surprise their most ardent
admirers. One of the best stories Captain Douglas has
written.
Under Canvas; or, The Hunt for the Cartaret Ghost
It was hard to disbelieve the evidence of their eyes
but the boys by the exercise of common-sense solved a
mystery which had long puzzled older heads.
Storm-bound; or, a Vacation Among the Snow Drifts
The boys start out on the wrong track, but their scout
training comes to the rescue and their experience
proves beneficial to all concerned.
Boy Scout Nature Lore to be Found in The Hickory Ridge Boy Scout Series,
all illustrated:--
Wild Animals of the United States--Tracking--Trees and
Wild Flowers of the United States--Reptiles of the
United States--Fishes of the United States--Insects of
the United States and Birds of the United States.
_Cloth Binding_ _Cover Illustrations in Four Colors_
_40c. Per Volume_
THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
201 EAST 12th STREET NEW YORK
* * * * *
GREAT HIKE
Or
The Pride of the Khaki Troop
* * * * *
COMPLETE ROSTER, WHEN THE PATROLS WERE FILLED, OF
THE HICKORY RIDGE TROOP OF BOY SCOUTS
MR. RODERIC GARRABRANT, SCOUT MASTER
* * * * *
THE WOLF PATROL
ELMER CHENOWITH, Patrol Leader, and also
Assistant Scout Master
MARK CUMMINGS
TED (THEODORE) BURGOYNE
TOBY (TOBIAS) ELLSWORTH JONES
"LIL ARTHA" (ARTHUR) STANSBURY
CHATZ (CHARLES) MAXFIELD
PHIL (PHILIP) DALE
GEORGE ROBBINS
THE BEAVER PATROL
Matty (Matthew) Eggleston, Patrol Leader
"RED" (OSCAR) HUGGINS
TY (TYRUS) COLLINS
JASPER MERRIWEATHER
TOM CROPSEY
LARRY (LAWRENCE) BILLINGS
HEN (HENRY) CONDIT
LANDY (PHILANDER) SMITH
THE EAGLE PATROL
JACK ARMITAGE, Patrol Leader
NAT (NATHAN) SCOTT
(OTHERS TO BE ENLISTED UNTIL THIS PATROL HAS
REACHED ITS LEGITIMATE NUMBER)
* * * * *
[Illustration: . . . and presently they followed on their motor
cycles.]
The Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts
GREAT HIKE
Or
The Pride of the Khaki Troop
by
CAPTAIN ALAN DOUGLAS
Scout Master
[Illustration]
The New York Book Company
New York
Copyright, 1913, by
The New York Book Company
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I.--THE TALK IN AN APPLE TREE 17
II.--JASPER'S IDEA TAKES ROOT 25
III.--AS THE CLOCK IN THE TOWER BOOMED SIX 33
IV.--SIGNS OF TROUBLE 41
V.--THE MOTORCYCLE SQUAD 49
VI.--GETTING IN A RUT 57
VII.--IN HOT PURSUIT 65
VIII.--TWENTY-SEVEN MILES FROM HICKORY RIDGE AND HOME 73
IX.--NEARING THE CRISIS 81
X.--FOUND AT LAST 89
XI.--THE HOWL OF THE WOLF SIGNAL 97
XII.--THE AMBUSH 105
XIII.--FRIENDS IN TIME OF NEED 113
XIV.--HOW THE PLOT FAILED 121
XV.--VICTORY--SISS! BOOM! HURRAH! 129
XVI.--"THE FINEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO FAIRFIELD!" 137
GREAT HIKE
OR
THE PRIDE OF THE KHAKI TROOP
THE HICKORY RIDGE BOY SCOUTS
GREAT HIKE;
OR,
THE PRIDE OF THE KHAKI TROOP.
CHAPTER I.
THE TALK IN AN APPLE TREE.
A NUMBER of active boys were perched high among the heavily laden
branches of a big fall pippin apple tree, back of the old Philander
Smith house, located just outside the limits of the thriving town of
Hickory Ridge.
"Take care, Landy!" called out Chatz Maxfield, whose soft, mellow voice
told of his Southern birth; "that long ladder might chance to slip, suh,
and it would be a long ways to the ground!"
"Oh, shucks! I've got the upper end wedged fast in the crotch along the
outside of this limb, Chatz. And believe me, I'm getting my basket full
of the biggest yellow pippins you ever saw. Who cares for expenses,
anyhow?"
Landy, whose father owned the property, was very much inclined to be
fat; though he would never admit the fact; and was forever declaring he
had a new method of exercise that would reduce him to a "living
skeleton," sooner or later.
Besides Chatz Maxfield, whose real name, of course, was Charles, the
busy bees in the tree who were assisting their chum pick the ripe apples
on this late August day consisted of three fellows, all members of the
Hickory Ridge troop of Boy Scouts; and well known to every lad who has
read the preceding volumes in this series.
First there was Ty Collins. Every boy in town would know Ty as far away
as they could see him; for, when not going to school, winter and summer
he clung to an old red sweater that he seemed to love above all the
garments he possessed.
Then came a small fellow, Jasper Merriweather by name, whose one
ambition it was to get out of the "runt" class. Jasper was never weary
of asking some one to take his measure, and compare it with past
records; but thus far he had not made much progress toward reaching the
ordinary height of a lad of fifteen. Still, he clung to hope and tried
to fill his position as Number Four in the Beaver Patrol, to the best of
his ability.
Last of all, but by no means least, was Ted Burgoyne. Ted had the
misfortune to lisp when he grew the least bit excited; though no one
ever knew him to acknowledge the fact, and indeed, if accused, he would
grow very indignant, even while others could catch the fatal slip in his
warm denial.
They called him "Dr. Ted," for the very good reason that he had his
heart set on medicine and surgery, and often found himself in great
demand to practice on his fellow scouts. Outside of a few rather wild
theories, and a boy-like desire to have a little fun out of things, Ted
was quite practical. He was held much in respect by the twenty odd boys
constituting the khaki troop.
The Hickory Ridge troop had passed the experimental stage of progress,
and had become an established fact. Three patrols, of eight boys each,
were complete, and there were candidates to start a fourth, if they
could meet the requirements and feel capable of subscribing to the
twelve cardinal principles that every true scout has to try to live up
to.
Lately a rival troop had sprung up in Fairfield, led by one Matt Tubbs.
Formerly Matt had only been known as a great bully, and those who
trained with him had served under his banner simply through fear,
without a grain of respect.
But Matt had, strange to say, seen a great light. He had watched the
boys of the khaki troop in their open-air tests. Something in the
business seemed to appeal strongly to him; and then had come the
determination to start a troop in his town.
Of course he ran up against a snag in the beginning, for no boy with the
loose principles Matt held at that time could ever be accepted as a
scout. He studied the matter, watched the Hickory Ridge lads some more,
and then came the great awakening.
And now Matt Tubbs was on the right road. He controlled his followers
just as thoroughly as before, but generally in a different manner. They
respected him too. Still, once in a while the old spirit cropped out;
and it was told how, when one of his cronies, thinking to take advantage
of this new mantle of meekness, boldly challenged Matt to a fight, the
new leader of the Fairfield troop gave him the best kind of a whipping;
after which he helped bind up his scratches, and stop the flow of blood
from his nose.
But the insurrection had been nipped in the bud: and they did say that
Matt tried to atone for his breaking of the rules of the organization by
being unusually patient with those under him who had difficulty in
keeping up with the reform pace he set.
It was pretty generally understood all through the region that Matt
Tubbs might never have started to climb the ladder only for the boyish
sympathy which he received from Elmer Chenowith, the leader of the
Hickory Ridge troop, and assistant to the scout master, Mr. Garrabrant.
And the reformation of the worst boy in Fairfield and Cramertown long
astonished the good people of those communities. When they awakened to
the truth that it was no myth, but apparently an accomplished fact, they
were quick to give most of the credit to the discipline of the new
organization.
And the Fairfield troop from that time on had never lacked for backing
from the parents of those boys connected with the same.
The fellows in the apple tree had been talking about these things as
they helped Landy pick the fruit, a task that had been set for him by
his father, and which must be fulfilled ere he could get off for play
that day.
Of course they also discussed the great baseball game that had recently
been played between the rival troops, in which Hickory Ridge came out
victor, after a very strenuous afternoon's work.
"The way Lil Artha circles the bases gets me," declared Ty Collins, as
he munched on a particularly fine specimen of fruit he had struck, and
which tempted him beyond his capacity to decline, though it was possibly
the seventh he had eaten within the hour.
"Oh, I don't know," remarked Ted, swinging his legs from the limb he
straddled. "Most persons theem to think there's no one tho fatht as Lil
Artha. Now, I admit in the thtart that he can cover the ground at a
pretty rapid rate; but nobody knowth jutht how long he could hold out on
a long hike. I've got my own ideath on that thubject, fellows."
"Sure you have, and so have a lot of others in the troop, suh," declared
Chatz. "Might I ask who you think would have the best chance in an
endurance hike that would last, say for twenty-four hours straight?"
"Why, Elmer would, for a thtarter," replied the other, quickly; "and if
that ain't enough, what'th the matter with Ty Collinth himthelf? Theemth
to me you'd hold out, and give long-legged Lil Artha a run for hith
money."
"Me for Matty Eggleston!" declared Jasper, eagerly; for the boy in
question was leader of the patrol to which Jasper belonged, and in his
eyes seemed a marvel second only to Elmer himself.
"If Lil Artha fell down on the long run, I kind of think Red Huggins
might pull in a victor," Ty went on. "That fellow is just chock-full of
grit. When he shuts his teeth, and starts in, there's no telling where
he'll stop."
"How about George Robbinth, your couthin, Matty?" asked Ted. "I've theen
him walk half a dozen fellowth until they admitted they weren't in the
thame clath? Perhaps now he might have a chance to win in a long tetht."
"Oh, George is a good one, all right," declared Landy. "Our family is
noted for producing marvels. You just wait a little while longer, till I
trim my weight down a few more pounds, and I'll show you something worth
while. Huh, if there was a long-distance hike right now, d'ye know I'd
be strongly tempted to enter. You never can tell. Appearances are
sometimes mighty deceiving, boys."
"There's another swift one in our bunch, fellows," called out little
Jasper, who never could hope to enter any of these competitions until
Nature was kinder to him, and began to add a few inches to his stature.
"Who's that, Jasper?" demanded Ty, perched high up in the immense tree,
and lowering his basket when filled with an ingenious tackle he had
contrived so that he need not climb down with a bulky load; though twice
he had managed to upset the whole picking, to the disgust of Landy who
feared the apples would be too badly bruised to find a market, as his
father intended.
"What d'ye say to Jack Armitage?" the small scout went on. "Ever seen
him get around and steal bases, no matter what the catcher was doing?
He's a screamer, that's what! But of course I ain't sure how Jack would
hold out on a twenty-four-hour walk. He's full of staying power though,
and might surprise some fellows who have been reckoned at the top of the
heap."
"Well, you fellows have about put all the available candidates on the
list," declared Ty, laughing because he himself figured in the same.
"Elmer is out of the running because he got a thorn in his foot a day or
two ago, and is limping to beat the band. His best chum, Mark Cummings,
might enter, but it happens he's out of town and may not be back for a
week. But what's all this talk going to amount to, anyhow?"
"We ought to have thith important question thettled, boyth!" declared
Ted.
"There's been a heap of hot air circulating for a month past about who
is the best all-round walker in the troop," remarked Jasper; "and seems
to me that matter ought to be threshed out, once and for all!"
"Hurrah, that's the talk, Jasper!" cried Chatz, throwing an apple at the
other.
"Bully boy!" called Ty. "Go on and make a suggestion, Jasper. You've got
something in your noodle after all. Keep it up, my boy, and success to
you."
"That's right, Jasper," said Landy, stretching around to pick several
tempting yellow beauties that seemed just beyond the reach of his rather
short arm. "Tell us what you've been thinking about. Is it a big hike
for the best walkers and runners of the celebrated Hickory Ridge
troop?"
Jasper swelled with importance. It was not often he found himself in the
lime light, and his opinion in demand. The experience seemed delightful,
and he was not in too great a hurry to satisfy the demand for
information; since once they had his views the discussion must become
general, and he would only stand on an equal footing with the rest.
"Well, to tell the truth I was thinking about suggesting a great hike,
with, say a limit of half a dozen fellows connected with the troop as
contestants. Perhaps you noticed that I mentioned a twenty-four-hour
consecutive tramp as the basis of the test. Each fellow could be bound
by a solemn promise not to accept a lift on the way, under penalty of
displacement. And several others, like Elmer for instance, might keep
tabs on the bunch by following them on their wheels."
"Listen to him, will you? Hasn't Jasper got it down pat?" cried Landy,
again exerting himself to the utmost to gather in another lot of
unusually tempting pippins.
"He's going to fill a long-felt want," declared Chatz. "We need an
organizer, some one who could take the responsibility of fixing up these
meets from the over-burdened shoulders of Elmer. And, suh, I suspect
Jasper is going to develop into a master of ceremonies."
"Then you rather like the idea, fellows?" asked the small scout, pleased
beyond measure.
"It's just the thing," declared Ty.
"We'll take the thame up at wunth, and have the affair arranged in a
jiffy," Ted announced.
"Hey, take care there, Landy, your ladder's slipping! Quick, grab hold
of something, or you're a goner!" shouted Ty, suddenly.
Landy tried to wriggle himself back again, but his stretch had been
fatal to all chances for maintaining his position. The top of the long
ladder lost its grip in the swaying crotch and slid from under him.
There was a rattle of apples thudding down on the ground twenty feet
below; but Landy had, on the spur of the moment, seized hold of the
outer branches, so that there he hung, swinging back and forth; afraid
to let go, and yet incapable of long maintaining his frantic grip.