"WELL DONE, BEAVER PATROL!"
They had struck along the road leading from Scranton, and reached the
well-known Jerusalem pike, of which mention has been frequently made in
previous stories of this series.
As they passed the Stebbens and the Swartz farms the scouts gave a cheer
that brought a waving of handkerchiefs from the windows of the houses,
which were in plain sight of the road.
Far down in the west the glowing sun was sinking; but Paul had
calculated well, and he knew that, barring accidents, they could easily
make the town before the king of day passed from sight.
Once they had halted for a few minutes' rest, the last they expected to
enjoy, and Paul had taken advantage of the opportunity to start a smoky
fire; after which he and Seth, the signal sender of the patrol, used the
latter's blanket to send a series of dense smoke clouds soaring upward
at certain intervals.
One of the boys who expected to join the second patrol in the early
fall, Steve Slimmons, would be on the lookout for this signal that would
announce the coming of the weary column; and when he caught sight of the
smoke waves it would be his duty to announce that, after all, the scouts
had not fallen down in their brave attempt to win that glorious trophy;
but were coming right along, and hoped to be on hand in due time.
Well, there would be a good many suppers delayed in and around Beverly
on that night, some of the scouts told each other.
They could easily picture the green swarming with people, all watching
up the road for the patrol to turn the bend, and come in sight, with
unbroken ranks, having fulfilled the conditions of the hike to the
letter.
There was no longer any need for Paul to excite the slumbering ambitions
of either Eben or Noodles. Why, after they passed the crossroads where
the ruins of the old blacksmith shop lay, in which they had held their
first meetings, but which had been mysteriously burned down, some
thought by mischievous and envious town boys--after they had gone by
this well-known spot, and sighted the Scroggins farm beyond, every
fellow had actually forgotten such a thing as fatigue. They held
themselves up straight, and walked with a springy step that would go far
toward indicating that a hundred miles in four days was only play for
such seasoned veterans.
And now the outlying houses of the home town began to loom up. Why, to
several of the boys it really seemed as though they must have been away
for weeks. They eagerly pointed out various objects that were familiar
in their eyes, just as if they had feared the whole map of the town
might have been altered since they marched away on their little four day
tramp.
Seth in particular was greatly amused by hearing this kind of talk. He
had been away from home so much that the novelty of the sensation of
coming back did not appeal to him, as it may have done to Eben and
Jotham for instance.
"You fellers," said Seth, chuckling while he spoke, "make me think of
the little kid that took a notion to run away from home, and wandered
around all day. When night came along he just couldn't stand it any
longer, and crept home. His folks knew what was up, and they settled on
punishing him by not noticing him, or saying a thing about his being
gone. The kid tried to ketch the attention of maw, but she was sewing,
and kept right along, just like he'd been around all day. Then he tried
dad; but he read his paper, and smoked his pipe, and never paid the
least attention. That boy just couldn't understand it. There he'd been
away from home a whole year it seemed to him, since morning, and yet
nobody seemed to bother the least bit, or make a fuss over him. And when
he couldn't get a rise from anybody, he saw the family pussy sittin' by
the fire. 'Oh!' he says, says he, 'I see you've still got the same old
cat you had when I went away!'"
Even Eben and Noodles laughed at that. They knew the joke was on them;
but just at that moment both were feeling too happy to take offense at
anything.
"There's the church steeple!" cried Babe.
"Yes, you're so tall you c'n see things long before the rest of us do,"
declared Jotham, not maliciously, but with the utmost good humor, for
he knew that in a very short time now he would see his dear little
mother, proudly watching him march past; and perhaps also discover a
tiny web of a handkerchief waving from the pretty hand of a certain
little girl he knew; and the thought made Jotham very happy.
"Listen! ain't that boys shouting?" demanded Seth.
"Just what it is now," replied Andy. "They've got scouts at the bend of
the road, and know we're coming."
"We've done what we set out to do, fellers!" cried Seth, gloatingly.
"And the trophy belongs to us; for right now we're in Beverly town, and
there's the blessed old sun still half an hour high," Fritz observed
with pardonable pride in his voice.
"And think of us getting that balloon man safe out of the Black Water
Swamps; yes, and going to the middle of the patch, something that they
say nobody ever did before! That's going to be a big feather in our
caps, believe me," Seth went on to say, as he took a glance down at his
stained khaki trousers and leggins.
Paul gave his little command one last look over, for they were now at
the bend, and in another minute would come under the eyes of the dense
crowd which, from all the signs that came to his ears, he felt sure had
gathered to welcome the marching patrol home again after their long
hike.
Then the curve in the road was reached; a dozen more steps and they
turned it, to see the green fairly black with people, who waved their
hats and handkerchiefs, and shouted, until it seemed to the proud scouts
that the very foundations of the heavens must tremble under the roaring
sound.
Chief Henshall was there, together with several of his men, keeping an
avenue open along which the khaki-clad boys were to march, to a spot in
front of the grand stand, where the generous donor of the trophy,
together with a committee of prominent citizens of Beverly, waited to
receive them.
It was perhaps the proudest moment in the lives of those eight boys when
Paul, replying to the little speech which accompanied the passing of the
silver cup, thanked Mr. Sargeant and the committee for the great
interest taken in the formation of Beverly Troop; and in a few words
explained just why he and his comrades came so near being unable to
fulfill the obligations governing the hike.
When Mr. Sargeant read aloud the message which the wrecked balloonist
was wiring to St. Louis, in which he declared that he owed his very life
to the daring of the Boy Scouts, who had penetrated to the very center
of the Black Water Swamps in order to rescue him, such a din of cheering
as broke out had never been heard in Beverly since that
never-to-be-forgotten day when the baseball nine came up from behind in
the ninth inning, and clinched the victory that gave them the high
school championship of the county for that year.
But the boys now began to realize that they were, as Seth expressed it,
"some tired," and they only too willingly allowed their folks to carry
them off home, to get washed up, and partake of a good meal. But no
matter what each scout may have secretly thought when he sat down to a
white tablecloth, with silver, and china, and polished glass around him,
he stoutly avowed that nothing could equal the delight of a camp-fire,
tin cups and platters, and simple camp fare, flanked by an appetite that
was keener than anything ever known at home.
This work of four days was likely to long remain the banner achievement
of the Beaver Patrol lads; but the vacation period still held out a few
weeks further enjoyment, and it may be readily understood that such
wide-awake fellows would be sure to hatch up more or less excitement
before the call came to go back to school duties.
That this proved to be the case can be understood from the fact that
another volume follows this story, bearing the significant title of "The
Boy Scouts' Woodcraft Lesson; or, Proving Their Mettle in the Field."
And the young reader who has become interested in the various doings of
the scouts belonging to the Beaver Patrol can find in the pages of that
book further accounts of what Acting Scoutmaster Paul Prentice and his
seven valorous chums started out to accomplish, in order to prove that
the education of a Boy Scout brings out the best there is in him, under
any and all conditions.
The End
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Transcriber's Notes:
1. Punctuation has been normalized to contemporary standards.
2. corrections to typographic errors in original:
Table of Contents listed Chapter VIII on page 17, corrected to 71.
p. 11 "samee" to "same" ("But all the same, I want")
p. 26 "sup-up" to "sun-up" ("since sun-up")
p. 29 "fresk" to "fresh" ("hankering after fresh milk")
p. 41 "superflous" to "superfluous" ("superfluous burdens")
p. 48 "promises" to "promised" ("promised to be a most fortunate thing")
p. 73 "mortagge" to "mortgage" ("meant to pay off my mortgage")
p. 79 "befel" to "befell" ("seldom if ever befell ordinary lads")
p. 81 "alway" to "always" ("as the papers always make out")
p. 85 "trememduous" to "tremendous" ("tremendous cheer")
p. 101 "or" to "of" ("habit of relying")
p. 112 "susprised" to "surprised" ("not very much surprised")
p. 143 "commisseration" to "commiseration" ("glance of commiseration")
p. 146 "Jersualem" to "Jerusalem" ("well-known Jerusalem pike")
p. 149 "price" to "pride" ("with pardonable pride in his voice")
First advertising page ("Boys Copyrighted Books"):
"Tayne" to "Jayne" ("Lieut. R. H. Jayne.")
Fourth advertising page ("Donohue's Plays"):
"eveything" to "everything" ("everything that is fresh")