The Boy Scouts on the Trail

The Boy Scouts on the Trail, by
George Durston

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Title: The Boy Scouts on the Trail
Author: George Durston
Release Date: January 10, 2007 [EBook #20327]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL
By GEORGE DURSTON

[Illustration]
THE SAALFIELD PUBLISHING COMPANY
AKRON, OHIO
Made in U. S. A.
Copyright, MCMXXI By The Saalfield Publishing Co.
[Illustration]
[Illustration: They sent the message quickly, accurately.]

THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL
CHAPTER I
PLANS FOR THE HOLIDAYS
"Where are you going to spend the holidays, Frank?"
The speaker was Henri Martin, a French boy of the new type that has
sprung up in France since games like football and tennis began to be
generally encouraged. He asked the question of his schoolmate, Frank
Barnes, son of a French mother and an American father. Frank's name
was really Francois; his mother had that much to do with his naming.
But he was a typical American boy, none the less, and there was a
sharp contrast between his sturdy frame and that of the slighter French
boy who had become his best chum in the school both were attending
near Paris, at St. Denis.
"I don't really know, Harry," said Frank. "Not exactly, that is. My
Uncle Dick is coming over a little later, and I think we'll go to
Switzerland." His face clouded a little. "I--I haven't any real home to go
to, you know. My father and mother--"

"I know--I know, mon vieux," said Henri, with the quick sympathy of
his race. "But until your uncle comes--what then, hein?"
"Why, I'm to wait for him here, at the school," said Frank. "He's a very
busy man, you know, and it's hard for him to get away just any time he
wants to. He will get here, though, early in August, I think."
"But that won't do at all, Frank!" exclaimed Harry, impulsively. Like
many French boys, he spoke English perfectly and with practically no
trace of an accent. "To spend a week or two weeks here in the school,
all alone! No--I tell you what! I've an idea!"
"What is it?" asked Frank, a little amused at the horror with which his
friend heard of the notion of staying in school after the holidays had
begun.
"Why, come home with me until your uncle comes!" said Harry.
"That's what you must do. I live not so far away--not so very far. At
Amiens. You have heard of it? Oh, we will have fine times, you and I. I
am to join the Boy Scouts Francais these holidays!"
He called it Boy Scoots, and Frank roared. The word scout had been
retained, without translation, when the French adopted the Boy Scout
movement from England, just as words like rosbif, football, and le
sport had been adopted into the language. But all these words, or nearly
all, have been given a French pronunciation, which give them a strange
sound in Anglo-Saxon ears.
"Excuse me, Harry," said Frank, in a moment. "I didn't mean to laugh,
but it does sound funny."
"Of course it does, Frank," said Henri, generously. "I speak English, so
I can see that. But there's nothing funny about the thing, let me tell you.
We began by calling the Boy Scouts Eclaireurs Francais, but General
Baden-Powell didn't like it, so we made the change. Really, we're a
good deal like the English and American scouts. We have the same
oath--we call it serment, of course, and our manual is just a translation
of the English one."

"I was going to join in America, too," said Frank. "But then I came
over here, and I didn't know there were scouts here. Do you wear the
same sort of uniforms?"
"Yes--just like the English," said Harry. "You could join with me,
couldn't you? You're going to be here for a whole year more, aren't
you?"
"Yes. My mother"--he gulped a little at the word--"wanted me to know
all about France, and never to forget that I had French blood in me, you
see. My French grandfather was killed by the Germans at
Gravelotte--he was a colonel of the line. And my mother, even though
my father was an American, was always devoted to France."
"We are like that--we French,"