In Camp on the Big Sunflower

In Camp on the Big Sunflower

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Title: In Camp on the Big Sunflower
Author: Lawrence J. Leslie
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ON THE BIG SUNFLOWER ***

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IN CAMP ON THE BIG SUNFLOWER
By
LAWRENCE J. LESLIE
[Illustration: MAKING PREPARATIONS FOR THE FEAST]
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I.
--AN ALARM IN THE CAMP
II.--TREASURE HUNTING
III.--WHAT OWEN KNEW
IV.--THE UNKNOWN SHELL GATHERERS
V.--A PUZZLER FOR MAX

VI.--THE FIRST CROP FROM THE RIVER
VII.--BANDY-LEGS WANTS TO KNOW
VIII.--A GREAT FIND
IX.--MAX WONDERS STILL MORE
X.--AT DEAD OF NIGHT
XI.--THE NEW COOK SPRINGS HIS SURPRISE
XII.--DANGER AHEAD ON THE TRAIL
XIII.--MAX PLAYS THE GOOD SAMARITAN
XIV.--SETTING THE MAN TRAP AGAIN
XV.--THE MYSTERY SOLVED--CONCLUSION

IN CAMP ON THE BIG SUNFLOWER.
CHAPTER I.
AN ALARM IN THE CAMP.
"Hey, Bandy-legs, what d'ye suppose ails Toby there?"
"He sure looks like he'd just seen a ghost, for a fact, Steve. Where are
Max and his cousin Owen just now?"
"Oh, they walked down along the river bank to look for signs of
fresh-water clams. So we'll just have to run things ourselves, Bandy.
Hello! there, Toby, what under the sun are you staring at?" and the boy
called Steve jumped to his feet as he called out.
It was night in the woods, with a cheery camp fire blazing close to

where the restless river fretted and scolded along its crooked course.
The boy called Toby, whose last name happened to be Jucklin, also
scrambled to his feet when thus hailed by his campmate, Steve Dowdy.
He was a broad-shouldered chap, unusually husky in build, and
apparently as strong as an ox; but all his life poor Toby had been
afflicted with an unfortunate impediment in his speech that gave him
no end of trouble.
When the third boy also stood erect it was plain to see how he came by
his name. His legs were bowed, and appeared too short for his body.
"Now open up and tell us what you saw, Toby," demanded Steve, who
was by nature inclined to be what his chums called "bossy."
"L-l-land's sake, didn't you s-s-see it, fellows?" asked the troubled one,
his voice trembling with the excitement under which he was laboring.
"Stick a pin in him, Steve," advised Bandy-legs; "that's the easiest way
to make him talk straight English, you know."
"Don't you dare try it, now, I tell you," warned the other, forgetting to
even stutter in his indignation. "I'm going to tell you about it just when
I'm good and ready. G-get that, now?"
"Please commence then, Toby," pleaded the shorter boy. "Was it a real
ghost you saw, or a snake? I'm terribly set against the crawlers, you
remember."
"S-shucks! 'Twan't no s-snake, Bandy; I give you my word for that. But
it had the awfulest glittering eyes you ever s-saw, boys."
"Wow! listen to that for a starter, will you?" cried Steve.
"Keep going, Toby; don't let up now," begged the boy with the crooked
legs.
"I just couldn't make out for sure, b-but b-back of the eyes I thought I
could see----"

"Oh, what?" asked Bandy-legs, feverishly.
"A long body just l-like that of a b-b-b----" Toby seemed to swell up as
he tried in vain to say the word he wanted, but it was apparently
hopeless.
"Why don't you whistle, Toby, you silly?" cried Steve.
"Yes, that always helps you out, you know," the short boy declared, as
he clapped a hand on the shoulder of the now red-faced stammerer.
Upon which Toby screwed up his rather comical face, puckered his lips,
and emitted a sharp whistle.
Strange