TELLS YOU HOW TO GET TO TEMPLE CAMP
Gee whiz, I wouldn't say anything against the Elks, that's sure,
because they're all peachy scouts when you come right down to it, but I
have to admit that they're crazy about stunts. They have more merit
badges in their patrol than there are in the Ravens and Silver Foxes
put together. Hunt Ward's sleeve looks like one of those Indian totem
poles, there are so many badges on it. Anyway, I should worry, we have
twenty-two badges in our patrol, and more good turns in the troop book
than either of the other patrols. That's what counts, too--good turns.
The trouble with the Elks was that every time they got a new fellow, he
must take a header for some badge or other and most always he would
have two or three stunt badges (that's merit badges, you know) waiting
for him when he passed his first class tests. "Begin at the beginning,"
that's what Mr. Ellsworth always said, and he says it's more important
to know the scout oath and follow it, than it is to get the eagle,
award. Connie's a good patrol leader all right; gee, nobody can say he
isn't, but he's crazy about stunts and merit badges. He always seemed
to think that that was all there was to scouting. But believe me,
there's many a girl wears a sailor hat who screams when she gets in a
boat. Anyway, I'm not going to be knocking anybody.
Well, the next day in the middle of the night--I mean the next night
early in the morning--I mean when it was just getting light, after the
night after the next day--we got to Catskill Landing, and oh, boy!
wasn't I glad! We tied the houseboat to an old pier maybe a couple of
hundred yards above the regular landing, and had a good swim and then
breakfast before we started up to camp. Mr. Ellsworth let Skinny go in,
but he told him to be careful not to disobey his leaders or he'd have
to come out.
Jimmy, it was funny to see that kid. I don't know how to tell you about
it, but he seemed to kind of swim different from the other fellows, and
he couldn't help getting excited. They threw pieces of stick for him to
get, and he would swim out and bring them in in his mouth just like a
dog, and then wait for more, all anxious like. One thing about Skinny I
noticed, and that was that all the fellows, even in his own patrol, got
a lot of fun out of him, making him do things, but nobody exactly
seemed to make friends with him. Anyway, I guess he didn't care, he was
always so crazy about what he was doing. Even a lot of summer people
stood around on the shore, watching him in the water and saying he was
a wonder. I guess they didn't know what to do with themselves, hey?
Mostly that's the way it is with summer people.
I flopped some flapjacks for breakfast and El Sawyer (he's a Raven)
hung one of them around his neck for a souvenir. He's a fresh kid.
Maybe you think it's easy to flop flapjacks--I should worry.
Oh, boy, now comes the best part of this whole story. As soon as we
could get our stuff into the duffel bags and the boat all tied fast, we
started out on our hike for Temple Camp. You can bet I always like to
hike, but early in the morning, oh, it's simply great. Some fellows can
drink sodas early in the morning but I can't, but anyway, early hikes
are my middle name. You know, just when the sun is coming up, all red
like, and peeking over the hill, just as if it was stalking.
Oh, boy, if scouts could only sneak up as quiet as all that!
Now the way you get to Temple Camp is to hike up through Catskill
village till you get to the old turnpike road, and then go straight
along that till you come to a big boarding house, where there are a lot
of people sitting on the porch waiting for breakfast or dinner or
supper, or time to go to bed. Then you hit the road up through the
woods till you come to a turtle. I guess he isn't there now, but
anyway, he was there last year. Then you cut up through the woods and
follow the scouts' signs, and you'll come out at Leeds--that's a
village. You'll see all the summer people waiting for their mail at the
post office. Some of them will say, "Oh, there go some boy scouts,
aren't they cute?" They always say that. There's a stationery store
there too, where you can buy fishhooks and marshmallows, and other
things to eat. I don't mean you eat fishhooks.
Anyway, you go down Main Street till you come to a smell like rotten
wood and then you turn in where the willow trees are and you come to an
old sawmill. If you holloa from there, they can hear you at camp. Then
you cut through the woods and follow the trail till all of a sudden you
come plunk out on the edge of the lake and it's all surrounded by
woods. That's Black Lake, and believe me, black is my favorite color
when it comes to lakes. Then you go across in the boats to Temple Camp.
Mr. John Temple started Temple Camp. He's rich and owns a lot of
railroads and things. He used to be mad at the scouts, but after a
while when he saw what kind of fellows scouts are, he got glad at them
and started Temple Camp. He's awful grouchy when you first see him, but
you should worry about that. Once, when he was out west about some
railroads, he saw Jeb Rushmore, who was a trapper and all that, and he
was getting old, so Mr. Temple made him come to Temple Camp to be camp
manager and live there. Oh, boy, you're going to see him in just a
minute and I can hardly wait.