TELLS ABOUT A NEW CAMP
"That you, kiddo?" he called.
"Bert!" I said.
"Give us a lift over, will you?"
I just said, "What--is it you--Bert? Say yes, Say it's you."
"Well, then, it's me," he said; "hold her steady, my leg is stiff. All
right, shall I push off?"
He stood there in the boat and he was lame and his left hand was
hanging in his scout scarf that was made into a sling. In the lantern
light I could see the yellow and black stripes. And he pushed against
the stone with the stick that he had in his free hand, and started the
boat off.
All I could say was just "Bert!" And I held the lantern close to him as
he sat down. There was a long cut on his face and he didn't have any
hat or jacket on and his trousers were all torn and dirty.
"Where--did--you--where is Skinny?" I asked him.
"Ever see a tiger use a crutch before?" he said. "I'm a punk tiger--
what d'ye say."
"Royal--Royal Bengal," Westy said.
"The kid is down near the Hudson shore," Bert said, in that easy way he
had; "he's at Camp McCord. He's come up in the world since you saw
him."
"Bert," I said, "tell me--tell us--quick."
"Not much to tell," he said, "except Skinny and I are both on the job.
We're in the hands of the Gold Dust Twins."
"The which?" I blurted out.
"That's them," he said, "and if you ever want to guy those fellows
you'd better not do it when I'm around. They're fourteen karat gold
dust, that's what. Skinny walked around to their camp this morning, to
ask them not to believe that he took the money."
"Poor little codger," Westy said.
"Oh, he isn't so poor," Bert said. "He's in soft with that pair. He
went around and asked them _please_ not to believe it--_please_. Do you
get that? _Please_. He asked them not to take the money if anyone gave
it to them, because it _really wasn't theirs_. That's him. They kept
him to lunch and told him they believed him and that nobody could cram
any money down their throats with a ramrod. Hey? What do you think of
that?"
"They may be green campers, but they're the whitest green campers I
ever heard of," I said.
"You said it," Bert shouted. "They told Skinny to stay right there with
them and never mind about the fellows over at camp. They told him he
could have the tent and the flag and the canoe instead of the cross,
and to just stay and make himself at home. When they started for the
races down below Catskill, they left him sitting in the canoe--happy--
with a capital H.
"After that you know what happened. Skinny and the canoe and the whole
shebang went pell-mell through the valley. Lucky the twins weren't
there. When I got to Catskill with Skinny, who should we meet but the
twins and I told them everything that happened--how you and I rescued
Skinny and all that."
I said, "How on earth did you get to Catskill with him?"
"Well, what do you think those twins did? You have three guesses. They
bought a tent in Catskill and a lot of canned stuff. One of them
telegraphed his father for more stuff--and money, I guess. And we're
camping out in a nice little grove right near the Hudson. Good fishing
and a row across whenever you want an ice cream soda. Ought to appeal
to _you_, hey? You notice I say we? That's us. Camp McCord is the name
of the place and--"
"But how about rescuing Skinny?" I asked him; "how did you get him to
Catskill? How about--"
"Shut up!" he said. "Camp McCord is the name of the place and there
Skinny's going to stay till the Elk Patrol of the Bridgeboro Troop
marches down in a body and hands him the gold cross. Those are the Gold
Dust Twins' orders."
"But Bert," I said, "that isn't the way they present the cross. You
have to have a special meeting and the scoutmaster--"
"Scoutmaster be hanged," he said; "the Elk Patrol is going to march
down to Camp McCord and hand the gold cross to Skinny. We're just
waiting for a letter. Scout Bennett is going to do the handing. We
haven't made up our minds yet whether we'll have him kneel down or
not."