In Camp on the Big Sunflower | Page 4

s-s-s-s----" and finding that the word was going to prove too much for him Toby quickly puckered up his lips, gave a little whistle, and wound up by speaking the objectionable word as plainly as anyone could have done--"skedaddled?"
"Yes, ran away as fast as he could," Max continued. "I'm sure of that from the tracks he made, and only wonder how he could have done the same without you hearing him."
"Where are his tracks?" asked Steve.
"Yes, show 'em to us, Max," added Bandy-legs.
"Look here, and here, and here, then. You can see by the size that these footprints were made by a boy. And, yes, his shoes are just about falling to pieces in the bargain. He's got one tied with a piece of twine, wrapped several times around."
"Gosh! however do you know that, Max?" asked the astonished Bandy-legs.
"Why, once you learn how to read signs, it's as easy as falling off a log," laughed Max, as he proceeded to show them just how he figured things out.
"That's t-t-too bad," muttered Toby.
"Just why?" inquired Max.
"If he'd only had the n-n-nerve to step up, and m-m-make our acquaintance, there's that bully pair of m-m-moccasins, you know, I'd like to have g-g-given him. Always pinch my t-t-toes dreadful. Just f-f-fit him, I bet," declared Toby, who had a very warm heart.
"Well, it's too late now, because the fellow's far enough away by now," commented Max.
"Perhaps we might happen to run across him some other time?" suggested Steve, consolingly.
"Like as not," the other remarked, "and now, let's return to the camp, and think of what we'll have for supper. I'm as hungry as a bear, for one."
"Same here," declared Bandy-legs enthusiastically; for, though short of stature, he was known to have full stowage capacity when it came to disposing of appetizing food.
There was soon more or less of a bustle around the camp. Each one seemed willing to help, and from the orderly way in which they went about their several tasks it was evident that these campers had reduced things to something of a system.
And while the supper is in process of preparation it might be as well for us to learn a little more about these five lively lads.
They belonged in the town of Carson, which lay some fifteen miles to the south of the camp.
Always warm friends and chums, they had lately organized themselves into a little club, which they called the Outing Boys of Carson. The main object of this association was camping out, and having a good time generally. But Max and Owen had by degrees conceived ideas far in advance of these early plans.
It was on account of these ambitious projects that they had now come up into this wilderness where the boys of Carson were never known to penetrate before.
Max had a good home, and his cousin Owen, who was an orphan, lived with him.
Steve was the only son of the leading grocer in Carson, which fact more than once aroused the keen jealousy of Toby Jucklin, who, like Bandy-legs, never seemed able to get enough to eat.
Toby himself lived with an uncle, and perhaps this gentleman did not fully appreciate the enormous appetite of a growing boy, and failed to satisfy his needs. Besides, Nathan Jucklin was known all over that section as close-fisted, and capable of "squeezing a penny."
Then there was Bandy-legs. Of course he had a name by which he was known among his teachers at school and at home. It was Clarence; but to every boy in town he went by the significant name of Bandy-legs.
They had come up the narrow and tortuous Evergreen River in a couple of old boats, capable of carrying all the camp material; though so leaky that frequent baling out was necessary in order to keep things dry.
Sometimes they had been able to use the oars to advantage, and cover a mile or two in pretty good fashion.
Then, again, they were compelled to use poles in order to push the boats; or, else going ashore, drag them by means of long ropes, for the rapids were swift.
It had taken them from early morning to nearly dusk to cover these fifteen-odd miles; but now that the camp was established, the tent up, the fire crackling, and supper being prepared, they forgot their tired backs and muscles.
"Hey, Max!" called out Bandy-legs, turning around from where he was attending to the bubbling coffee.
"What is it?" asked the other, who had managed to arrange a temporary rude table, a slab of wood having been brought along for the purpose. "You forgot to tell us about it, don't you know?" the other went on. "Somehow, all the excitement about that silly kid in the bushes knocked it clean out of my head."
"It did now, f-f-for a fact," spoke up Toby. "So t-t-tell