"ROY."
He looked up into Tom"s almost expressionless countenance.
"Who--told--you to deliver it--Tom?"
"I told myself. You said you"d call the whole thing off for two cents.
But you ought not to expect me to pay the two cents----"
"Didn"t I put a stamp on it?" said Roy, looking at the envelope.
"If you want to put a stamp on it now," said Tom, "I"ll go and mail it for you--but I--I didn"t feel I cared to trust you for two cents--over night."
Through glistening eyes Roy looked straight at Tom, but found no response in that dogged countenance. But he knew Tom, and knew what to expect from him. "You old grouch," he shouted, running his hand through Tom"s already tousled and rebellious hair. "Why don"t you laugh? So you wouldn"t trust me for two cents, you old Elk skinflint, wouldn"t you.
Well, then, the letter doesn"t get mailed, that"s all, for I happen to have only one stamp left and that"s going to Pee-wee Harris. Come on, get your wits to work now, and we"ll send him the invitation in the form of a verse, what d"you say?"
He gave Tom such a push that even he couldn"t help laughing as he staggered against the tent-pole.
"I"m no good at writing verse," said he.
"Oh, but we"ll jolly the life out of that kid when we get him away,"
said Roy.
It is a wise precept that where ignorance is bliss, "tis folly to be wise. Pee-wee Harris never dreamed of the discussion that had taken place as to his going, and he accepted the invitation with a glad heart.
On the momentous morning when the trio set forth upon their journey, Mary Temple, as glad as they, stood upon the steps at Grantley Square and waved them a last good-bye.
"Don"t forget," she called, "we"re coming up in the car in August to visit you and see the camp and that dreadful Jeb or Job or Jib or whatever you call him, who smokes a corn-cob pipe--ugh!"
The last they saw of her was a girlish shrug of disgust at that strange personage out of the West about whom (largely for her benefit) Roy and others had circulated the most outlandish tales. Jeb Rushmore was already ensconced in the unfinished camp, and from the few letters which had come from him it was judged that his excursion east had not spoiled him. One of these missives had been addressed to _Mister John Temple_ and must have been a refreshing variation from the routine mail which awaited Mr. Temple each morning at the big granite bank. It read:
"Thar"s a crittur come here to paint names o" animiles on the cabin doors. I told him friendly sich wuzn"t wanted, likewise no numbers.
He see it were best ter go. Bein" you put up th" money I would say polite and likewise explain ez how the skins uv animiles is propper fur signs an" not numbers bein" ez cabins is not railroad cars."
This is a fair sample of the letters which were received by Mr. Temple, by Mr. Ellsworth, and even at National Scout Headquarters, which Jeb Rushmore called "the main ranch."
The idea of putting the skin of a silver fox, for instance, on the patrol"s cabin instead of a painted caricature of that animal, took the boys by storm, and to them at least Jeb Rushmore became a very real character long before they ever met him. They felt that Jeb Rushmore had the right idea and they were thrilled at the tragic possibilities of that ominous sentence, "He see it were best to go."
The whole troop was down at the boathouse to see the boys off. Tom and Roy wore old khaki trousers and faded shirts which had seen service in many a rough hike; their scarred duffel bags bore unmistakable signs of hard usage, but Pee-wee was resplendent in his full regalia, with his monogram burned in a complicated design into the polished leather of his brand new duffel bag. His "trousseau," as the boys called it, was indeed as complete and accurate as was possible. Even the scout smile, which is not the least part of the scout make-up, was carried to a conspicuous extreme; he smiled all over; he was one vast smile.
"Don"t fall off any mountains, Pee-wee."
"Be sure to take your smile off when you go to bed."
"If you get tired, you can jump on a train."
"Pee-wee, you look as if you were posing for animal crackers."
These were some of the flippant comments which were hurled at Pee-wee as the three, in Roy"s canoe, glided from the float and up the river on the first stage of what was destined to be an adventurous journey.
The river, along whose lower reaches Bridgeboro was situated, had its source within a mile or two of the Hudson in the vicinity of Nyack.
From the great city it was navigable by power craft as far as Bridgeboro and even above at full tide, but a mile or two above the boys" home town it narrowed to a mere creek, winding its erratic way through a beautiful country where intertwined and overarching boughs formed dim tunnels through which the canoeist pa.s.sed with no sound but the swishing of his own paddle. The boys had never before canoed to the river"s source, though it was one of the things they had always been meaning to do. It was a happy thought of Tom"s to make it a part of their journey now and strike into the roads along the Hudson in that way.
"Oh, crink.u.ms, I"m crazy to see Jeb Rushmore, aren"t you?" said Pee-wee.
"I never thought I"d have a chance to go like this, I sure didn"t! I never thought you"d want me."
"We couldn"t do without you, kiddo," said Roy, as he paddled. "We wouldn"t have any luck--you"re our lucky penny."
"Cracky, you could have knocked me down with a feather when I got that note. At first, I thought you must be jollying me--and even now it doesn"t seem real."
The boys laughed. "Well, here you are, kiddo," said Roy, "so you see it"s real enough."
"Do you suppose we"ll have any adventures?"
"Why, as the little boy said when he spilled the ink on the parlor carpet, "that remains to be seen." We won"t side-step any, you can be sure of that."
"There may be danger awaiting us," said Pee-wee.
"Well, I only hope it"ll wait till we get to it," Roy laughed. "What do you say, kiddo, shall we hit it up for Nyack to-night or camp along the river?"
They decided to paddle leisurely, ending their canoe trip next day.
About dusk they made their camp on a steep, wooded sh.o.r.e, and with the flame of their campfire reflected in the rippling water, Roy cooked supper.
Pee-wee was supremely happy. It is doubtful if he had ever before been so happy.
"There"s one thing," said Tom, as he held the bacon over the flame. "I"m going to do my first-cla.s.s stunts before we get there."
"And I"m going to do some tracking," said Roy; "here you go, Pee-wee, here"s a bacon sandwich--look out for the juice. This is what Daniel Boone used to eat." He handed Pee-wee a sizzling slice of bacon between two cakes of sweet chocolate!
"Mmmmmmm," said Pee-wee, "that"s scrumptious! Gee, I never knew chocolate and bacon went so good together."
"To-morrow for breakfast I"ll give you a boiled egg stuffed with caraway seeds," said Roy.
"Give him a Dan Beard omelet," said Tom.
"What"s that?" asked Pee-wee, his two hands and his mouth running with greasy chocolate.
"Salt codfish with whipped cream," answered Roy. "Think you"d like it?"
Pee-wee felt sure he would.
"And there"s one thing _I"m_ going to do," he said. "Tom"s going to finish his first-cla.s.s stunts and you"re going to do tracking. I"m going to----"
"Have another sandwich?" interrupted Roy.
"Sure. And there"s one thing I"m going to do. I"m going to test some good turns. Gee, there isn"t room enough to test "em indoors."
"Good for you," said Roy; "but you"d better trot down to the river now and wash your face. You look like the end man in a minstrel show. Then come on back and we"ll reel off some campfire yarns."
They sat late into the night, until their fire burned low and Roy realized, as he had never before realized, what good company Pee-wee was. They slept as only those know how to sleep who go camping, and early in the morning continued their journey along the upper and tortuous reaches of the narrowing river.