Boy Scouts on a Long Hike | Page 2

resort, and then to save some smaller fellow from being bullied.
On one occasion, which no one in Beverly would ever forget, Jotham
had proven that deep down in his heart he possessed true courage, and
grit. He had faced a big mad dog, with only a baseball bat in his hands,
and wound up the beast's career right on the main street of the town,
while everybody was fleeing in abject terror from contact with the
animal.
Because in so doing Jotham had really saved an old and nearly blind
veteran soldier from being bitten by the terrible brute, he had been
adjudged worthy to wear the beautiful silver merit badge which is sent
occasionally from Boy Scout Headquarters to those members of the
organization who have saved life at great peril to themselves.
But Jotham was not the only one who proudly sported a badge. In fact,
every one of the eight members of the Beaver Patrol wore a bronze
medal on the left side of his khaki jacket. This had come to them
because of certain services which the patrol had rendered at the time a

child had been carried away by a crazy woman, and was found, later on,
through the medium of their knowledge of woodcraft.
Of course there were two more boys connected with the patrol, who did
not happen to be present at the time we find them resting on their way
home after a rather strenuous afternoon in the open.
These were Paul Prentice, the patrol leader, and who served as acting
scout master when Mr. Alexander was unable to accompany them; and
"Babe" Adams, the newest recruit, a tenderfoot who was bent on
learning everything connected with the game.
They had gone home a little earlier than the rest, for reasons that had no
connection with the afternoon's sport, each of them having a pressing
engagement that could not be broken. "Babe" had been nick-named in
the spirit of contrariness that often marks the ways of boys; for he was
an unusually tall, thin fellow; and so far as any one knew, had never
shirked trouble, so that he could not be called timid in the least.
"No use hurrying, fellows," declared Seth, as he flung himself down on
a log that happened to be lying near the edge of a little precipice,
marking the abrupt end of the shelf which they had been following, so
that to descend further the scouts must pass around, and pick their way
down the hillside.
"That's so," added Jotham, following suit, and taking great care not to
knock his precious bugle in the least when making the shift; "for one,
I'm dead tired after such a hard afternoon. But all the same, I want you
to know that I'm in apple-pie condition for that long hike, or will be,
after a night's rest."
"What d'ye suppose made Mr. Sargeant offer a prize if the Beaver
Patrol could walk to Warwick by one road, and back along another, a
distance of just an even hundred miles, between sunrise of four days?"
and Fritz looked around at his five comrades as though inviting
suggestions.
"Because he's fond of boys, I reckon," remarked Andy. "They tell me

he lost two splendid little fellows, one by drowning, and the other
through being lost in the forest; and when he learned what sort of
things the scouts practice, he said he was in favor of encouraging them
to the limit."
"Well, we want to get busy, and show Mr. Sargeant that we're going to
give him a run for his money," said Seth.
"We've all seen the cup in the window of the jewelers in town, and it
sure is a beauty, and no mistake," added Jotham.
"Don't anybody allow himself to think we can't cover that hundred
miles inside the time limit. You know how Paul keeps telling us that
confidence is more'n half the battle," Fritz went on to say.
"You pet we want dot gup, undt we're yust bound to get der same,"
observed Noodles, who could talk quite as well as any of his mates, but
who liked to pretend every now and then, that he could only express
himself in "broken English," partly because it pleased him and at the
same time amused his mates.
"We're right glad to hear you say that, Noodles," declared Seth, with a
wink in the direction of the others; "because some of us have been
afraid the hike might be too much for you, and Eben."
"Now, there you go again, Seth," complained the bugler, "always
imagining that because I seldom blow my own horn----" but he got no
further than this, for there broke out a shout, from the rest of the boys.
"That's where you struck it right,