The Boy Scouts on Sturgeon Island | Page 9

time
when they were real tenderfeet, and could hardly distinguish between
the call of an owl and the braying of a donkey; but camping-out
experience had done away with all such ignorance as that.
"There, don't that make you feel foolish, Step Hen?" demanded
Bumpus.
"Me? Whatever put that silly notion into your head, Bumpus?"
"Why," the other went on to say reproachfully, "it was you that really
wanted to keep the poor old bird; and just listen to its mate mourning
for it, would you? I'd think you'd feel so sorry you'd want to unfasten
that chain right away, and give the owl its freedom."
"Not for Joseph, though I'll let you go and undo his chain if you feel
inclined that way," Step Hen observed, knowing full well that Bumpus
did not want to see the feathered captive set free quite that bad.
"Besides, how d'ye know that's a mate to my bird whooping it up back
there?"
"Well, if you want to find out, just you sleep with one eye open,"
Bumpus told him; "and take it from me you'll see that other owl come
winnowing around here, wanting to know why our new pet don't come
when she calls."
"Huh! mebbe I will,"' was all Step Hen would say about it; but
evidently the idea had appealed to him; and there was a chance that he
would indulge in very little rest that night, for trying to "keep one eye
open while he slept."

After supper was all over, and the boys lay around on their blankets,
they fell to talking of other days when they had been in company, and
met with a great many, surprising adventures.
Then Bumpus, who really had a very fine tenor voice, which he could
strain so as to sing soprano like a bird, was coaxed to favor them with a
number of selections, the others coming in heavy in each chorus.
Sometimes it was a popular ballad of the day that Bumpus gave them;
but more often a school chorus, or it might be some tender Scotch song
like "Comin' Through the Rye," "Annie Laurie," or "Twickenham
Ferry;" for boys can appreciate such sentiments more than most folks
believe; and especially when in an open air camp, with the breeze
sighing through the trees around them, or the waves murmuring as they
wash the sandy shore of a lake, and the moonlight throwing a magical
spell upon all their surroundings; for there is the seed of romance in the
heart of nearly every healthy lad.
So the evening wore on until some of them began to yawn frequently,
showing that they were ready to turn in. As one of them had said, this
might be the last time they would camp ashore during trip, because on
the morrow they anticipated, unless something unforeseen came up to
prevent it, going aboard their boat, and starting on the cruise upon the
big waters of Superior.
They had no tent on this occasion, but really that was not going to
prove any hardship to these bold lads, accustomed to spending many a
night in the woods, with only a blanket for a cover against the dew and
frost.
It was arranged to keep the fire going. This would serve in a double
capacity, for not only would they be kept warm through the cold part of
the night, but if there did happen to be any wild beasts around in that
section of the Lake Superior country, which both Allan and Thad rather
doubted, why, the glow of the blaze was apt to make them keep their
distance.
The last thing Giraffe remembered, as his heavy eyes persisted in

closing, was seeing Step Hen bob up his head to stare over toward the
low branch upon which the captive owl was fastened; as though he
might have arranged a program with himself and meant to do this thing
at stated intervals all through the night.
Giraffe chuckled at the idea of sacrificing good sleep in the interest of
knowledge; he was willing to simply ask some one who knew, and be
satisfied to accept their answer as conclusive.
An hour later and the camp seemed to be all quiet, for every one was
apparently sound asleep. Even Thad and Allan had known of no reason
why a watch should be maintained, for they felt sure there could hardly
be a human being within miles of the camp; and even if this were not
so, the chances were strongly in favor of its proving to be an honest
farmer, or some miner on his way to the workings further west.
The only sounds that could have been heard from time to time were an
occasional peevish fretful croak from the captive owl, as it continued