The skies cleared during the night, and the day which succeeded was
perfect. Not a cloud rift obscured the sun, while the air was
crystalline, free from moisture and with enough coolness to be
invigorating to the last degree. It Would not be pleasant for some hours
to stroll through the woods because of their wetness, but a trifle like
that did not check the exuberant youngsters, who began dividing into
small parties as before,—some to delve into bird lore, some to study
trees and others to fish. Breakfast was prepared out doors, for the food
could not help tasting better than if cooked in the bungalow.
Mike Murphy, Alvin Landon and Chester Haynes, because of their former
association in many adventures, still chummed. While they were on the
most amicable terms with all the other Boy Scouts, they naturally drew
more closely toward one another. It was creditable to the lads that
every little company invited Isaac Rothstein to become a member of it
for the time. The lad was more quiet and reserved than usual, but he
appreciated this special kindness shown him. He accepted the invitation
of the Eagle Patrol, which was his own and with whose members he was
more intimately acquainted.
The breakfast having been eaten and the morning chores finished, the
troop gathered on the beach in front of the clubhouse, where Scout
Master Hall called out:
“We are going to have visitors; all must stay and give them a welcome.”
They saw a canoe paddled by one man, with a woman sitting in the middle,
while in the bow sat a little girl waving her hand at the group of boys.
“It’s Sunbeam!” exclaimed the delighted Mike, “and her father and
mither. That explains why the sun shines brighter this morning than iver
befoore, as the folks used to say whin thay obsarved me strolling down
the road.”
There could be no mistake as to the identity of the callers. The doctor
smiled as he deftly plied the paddle and the boat headed straight for
the small landing.
“Hello, Cousin Mike! Are you glad to see me?” shouted an infantile
voice.
Mike yanked off his hat and waved it.
“If ye hev any doubt of the same I’ll not wait fur ye to come ashore,
but will swim out and shake hands wid ye,” was his cheery reply as he
made a pretense of stepping into the water.
“Don’t do that; I’ll be there in a minute.”
Alvin and Chester seized the bow of the frail craft and drew it slightly
up the beach. While they were doing this, Sunbeam made a leap and would
have fallen into the lake, had not the watchful Mike caught her. Her
mother sharply chided her and her “cousin” was ready with an excuse.
“She obsarved me waiting fur her and catched me wink, which asked her to
jump.”
The doctor and his wife shook hands with the three youths that had
called upon them, and Alvin introduced them to Scout Master Hall and the
Boy Patrols, who promptly drew up in line and saluted the visitors.
“You are as welcome as the flowers in spring,” said Mr. Hall; “and must
not think of leaving until after dinner at least and not then unless you
must.”
“You are kind,” said Mrs. Spellman, smiling into the bright faces, “but
we have stopped this time merely to leave Ruth for the day, unless she
will be in the way of the boys.”
“Do ye hear _that_?” asked the aggrieved Mike; “it’s our intuition to
kaap her a waak at least and longer if her folks will consint.”
“This time she is to spend the day.”
“A day is twenty-four hours long,” insinuated the Scout Master.
“But a work day is half or less than half of that,” insisted the mother.
“This isn’t going to be a _work_ day but a _play_ day, as Jerry Donovan
said after the bull had chased him a mile and was gaining on him all the
time.”
“I guess we shall have to compromise, wife,” remarked the husband, “and
leave Stubby here until to-morrow.”
“I am afraid there is no way of escaping it; Mike, you hear the
agreement; you and Alvin and Chester must bring Ruth home to-morrow at
this hour.”
“Ye hev me promise,” and the other two bowed their heads.
“We are on our way to meet Uncle Elk, as I believe you call him,” added
the physician; “he should drop in on us but, as has been said, we can
afford to waive ceremony when in the backwoods. Mrs. Spellman has never
seen him—nor have I for that matter—and we want to make his
acquaintance.”
“You will find him one of nature’s noblemen; we are likely to see him
here at any time.”
The leader looked toward the margin of the woods, as if he expected the
coming of their Instructor in Woodcraft, but he did not appear. The
mother gave a few words of advice to her child, who did not seem to hear
or at least to understand one of them, and then was assisted into the
canoe, followed by her husband and the couple took their departure,
heading eastward.
Before leaving, the physician repeated his proffer of services should
any of the party find himself in need of them. The Scouts cheered him
and his wife as they glided along the shore of the lake, the daughter
withdrawing her attention from her new friends long enough to blow
kisses to her parents.
Cousin Mike naturally took charge of Sunbeam, who as naturally gave
herself over to his care, although the others postponed their departure
to their fields of exploration and amusement for the sake of enjoying
her company for the time.
When Corporal George Robe came forward to speak to the child, Mike waved
him off.
“Howld on, me bye; ye haven’t been properly inthrodooced to the young
leddy, who is Queen of Gosling Lake.”
The good-natured corporal looked inquiringly into the grave face of the
guardian.
“If ye hev no objection, Sunbeam,” said Mike, in his loftiest manner, “I
take the liberty of presinting Corporal Robe of the Wolf Patrol to yer
leddyship. He isn’t half as purty as he thinks he is, which is the
difference between him and mesilf.”
The smiling corporal offered his hand to Ruth, who looked shyly up at
him and startled every one by the abrupt question: “Can you stand on
your head?”
“Of course he can,” Mike hastened to answer; “he prefers to stand on his
head instid of his feet; whin he slaaps at night he always rists his
shoes aginst the ceiling with his head on the flure, which is that soft
it sarves fur a piller. Corporal, stand on yer head fur the Queen.”
The lad tried to back out, but all the others were vociferously
insistent and he was wise enough to make a virtue of necessity.
“I’ll do anything for you,” said he cheerfully; “give me room, boys.”
All stepped back, leaving an open space on the beach for Robe to exhibit
his acrobatic skill. He laid aside his hat, examined the ground for a
few seconds, walked a pace or two and then, amid the hush, leaned over
with the palms of his hands on the earth. He rested the crown of his
head against the ground, his body being curved like a horseshoe, and
then gently pushed upward with his toes.
At first he did not rise far enough, and dropped back again, but he kept
up the effort, coming nearer and nearer the perpendicular, but still
falling a little short.
“Put more power in yer legs,” called Mike, “and don’t be so top-heavy.”
“You are not half trying!” shouted several of the spectators; “there
isn’t so much of you to lift from the ground.”
Spurred by the taunts, the corporal made so vigorous an effort that he
went too far and landed on his back with a thump that made him grunt.
Sunbeam clapped her hands and all laughed. The corporal did not crack so
much as a smile, but instantly renewed his efforts with the resolution
to do or die. Paying no heed to the vehement suggestions, he solved the
problem by clutching the grass with each hand and holding fast. Thus
when his legs pointed skyward, he was able to preserve his balance and
maintain a wabbling verticality. He wavered for a time but finally got
the right pose and cracked the heels of his shoes together in triumph.
Then proudly bounding to his feet and clapping on his hat he called to
Mike:
“Now, let’s see _you_ do better than that.”
“I could do the same wid me eyes shet and me hands tied behind me, but
it would not be fitting to me dignity; I’m superintendent and give
orders. What would the Queen like to hev done nixt?”
She was puzzled for a moment.
“Can you run fast?” she asked.
“I’m the champion of Gosling Lake; I run so fast that out of pity fur
these lumbering coal carts I save their feelings by refusing to run wid
’em. Would ye like to obsarve a fut race?”
“Yes,—oh yes; I’ll run with you all.”
The thought had come to the girl like an inspiration, as she showed by
her favorite act of clapping her hands and laughing.
The whole party were filled with delight.
“I must tell you that I can run awful fast,” warned Sunbeam, as
preparations were begun for the test of speed; “I beat my father and
mother every time we race.”
“Ye don’t till me!” exclaimed Mike as if frightened; “we’ll hev to do
our darnedst, and angels could do no more; but, Sunbeam,” he added
impressively, “ye mustn’t let up, but show us no mercy.”
“I’ll try,” she said with a shake of her head.
The preparations were simple and soon completed. Scout Master Hall was
requested to act as umpire and complied. The beach sloped gently with a
varying width of a rod or more. In order to give play to legs and arms,
Mike arranged the contestants in two lines, one behind the other. Then
he gravely paced off a distance of about a hundred yards, drawing a deep
line in the earth by a sweep of the toe of his shoe, to mark the
terminus of the course. Umpire Hall stationed himself a short distance
back of this, so as not to be in the way of the runners. Mike next
placed Sunbeam in front of the two lines and gave his final orders.
“Mr. Hall will count one-two-three, and at the last word all will start
and run like blazes fur the line I marked wid me toe. Ye must overtake
and pass Sunbeam in order to win the race, and I wish to add—”
Here he stepped to the eager forms and lowered his voice so that Ruth
could not hear his words——
“It is onnecessary on me part to warn ye that if by any trickery,
desaat, chicanery, or unfair maans, one of ye should overtake the Queen,
the aforesaid villain will have only two minutes to live. Mind, this is
to be an honest race, as Tom Mugges said whin he chased a railroad
train.”
A general nodding of heads showed that all “caught on.”
One of the necessities when a lad engages in a desperate foot race is
first to spit on his hands and rub the palms together. Every Boy Scout
went through that preliminary, grunted, inched forward, crowded his
companions on the right and left, spoke sharp words of reproach and
intently watched the distant umpire for the word. Since he was master of
ceremonies, Mike took no part in the contest, but stepped aside and
watched proceedings, so as to make sure his warning was heeded.
“Patrol Leader Chase, I obsarve that ye are grinning, showing the same
waakness that the girls do whin they see me approaching. Iron out yer
face.”
The Patrol Leader did his best to obey, but could not quite succeed.
“Captain Landon, ye have turned the toe of yer right fut in, which is
against the rules; p’int the same outward, and save me the necissity of
mashing it. Second Mate Haynes, I saw ye take off yer hat jest now and
scratch yer hid; don’t do it agin, though of course it’s solid. Corporal
Robe, ye still seem to think ye are standing on yer head. Bear in mind
that ye’re right side up and it depinds upon yersilf how long ye stay
so.”
Mike made clear the understanding to Sunbeam, who laughingly nodded
several times, glanced over her shoulder and was in a tremor of
excitement. Then he waved his hand to the umpire who from his station a
hundred yards away was watching proceedings.
“Are you ready?” called Scout Master Hall.
“Riddy,” replied Mike.
In a loud voice the umpire shouted—
“One—two—three!”
And immediately the race was on. Sunbeam came flying like a bird down
the course, her small feet twinkling as they doubled swiftly under her,
her hair streaming straight away, while she struck a speed which in the
circumstances was remarkable.
And how those Boy Scouts did exert themselves! Every one grunted; most
of the eyes seemed to be popping out of their heads; a good many held
their breath or tried to do so, and all appeared to be putting forth the
most strenuous exertions to overtake the fawn-like figure darting down
the course, continually glancing behind her, and not forgetting to
scream with delight, for she was certainly holding her own, and strive
as much as they might, there wasn’t a lad that seemed able to lessen the
distance between himself and the little one.
Somehow or other, the stocky form of Corporal Robe drew slightly ahead
of the others. This was strange, for, with the exception of Mike Murphy,
he was the slowest sprinter in the whole troop. The director was able to
keep pace beside the boys, and observing the shameful trickery of the
corporal, shook his fist at him.
Just then Robe stubbed his toe—or seemed to do so—tumbled on his hands
and knees and rolled over. Kenneth Henke right behind him, knew no
better than to dive in a heap over him; Ernest Oberlander and Colgate
Craig then mixed in, and after them came Kenneth Mitchell, Alvin Landon,
Bobby Snow, Hubert Wood, Bobby Rice, Chester Haynes, Harold Hopkins and
so many others that it isn’t worth while to mention their names. In
fact, it looked as if it were a football game in which the corporal was
heading for the goal posts when he was downed and all the rest of the
players piled on top of him.
By the time the mass could disentangle itself and the dazed runners
resume their wild dash for victory, Sunbeam bounded across the line,
whirled about and, jumping up and down, clapped her hands and of course
screamed with joy.
Scout Master Hall stood like a sphinx until the rabble came plunging
down the track and drew up in a disorderly crowd in front of him. Then
he raised his hand for silence and called out in a loud voice:
“Sunbeam wins! You boys ought to be ashamed of yourselves.”
The youths tried hard to look as if they were dejected over their
disgrace. Several gouged their eyes; others muttered their discontent,
and Chester Haynes had the audacity to declare loud enough for all to
hear:
“Looks very much as if the ‘empire’ had money on the race.”
Scout Master Hall must have heard the insulting words, but, if so, he
showed no evidence of it. Then the defeated runners recovered from their
humiliation sufficiently to crowd around the victor and congratulate her
on her success.
“It’s larned ’em a lesson,” said Mike, “which the same is not to be so
cocksure of their smartness whin they haven’t got any smartness to be
cocksure of. But for this desarved defeat some of ’em would have the
imperdence to challenge _me_ to a foot race.”
The Boy Scouts were so charmed by the sweet innocence of the “Queen”
that all remained at home for the remainder of the forenoon. Alvin drew
funny pictures for her on large sheets of paper; Chester showed no
little ingenuity in cutting out dolls and odd figures; most of the other
boys went through scandalous antics for the sole purpose of winning her
applause, while Mike sang some of the lullabies and folk songs he had
learned in Ireland. When he did this, everything else was hushed and all
became listeners, for the charm of that wonderful voice was
irresistible.
At the dinner table the guest was set in a chair elevated for the
occasion, and presided like a veritable queen. Every hearer bowed his
head when she folded her hands, closed her eyes, looked upward and said:
“O Lord, who giveth all things good,
To whom the ravens look for food,
Deign to look on us from heaven,
And bless the food that thou hast given.”
There was a general scattering of the boys in the afternoon, though
Mike, Alvin, Chester and Mr. Hall remained behind with their visitor, it
not being thought prudent to take her on a ramble in the woods, while
they were so damp.
It was a rare treat in the evening, when by the light of the fire and
the lamp overhead, all the company gave themselves up to amusing and
being amused by their Queen, Scout Master Hall pleased the lads no less
than the girl by his fairy stories, and again Mike sang with inimitable
sweetness. Thus it went on until the “sandman” called on Sunbeam and she
drowsily said she guessed it was time for her to sleep. The most
luxurious couch in the bungalow was set apart for her; the leader and
Mike gave what slight help she needed in preparing for bed, and she said
her prayers at the knee of the Irish youth, who tenderly laid his hand
on the silken mass of hair and murmured:
“Of such is the kingdom of heaven.”