Tom Slade on Mystery Trail

e they shou

' heving ony one bullet 'twas a case uv me or him, as yer might say. My pardner, Simon Gurthy, who likewise didn't hev

hodical accuracy, spat

u?" asked h

eisurely deliberation

hit, don't

ty n

ed, weatherbeaten face. A smile which did not altogether penetrate through the drooping gray mu

come,"

absolute confidence that his co

hadn't hit him-I

s offen a tree if we tried rushin' a pack uv Sioux that was in ambush, he says, 'Jeb, mebbe it cain't

ter call you by

's yo

"Gee, it must have been great to have Gen

in' yew call me by my fust name, 'n' keep me comp'ny here.

t sorry they're

ll summer troops would be coming and going, but just now the opening rush was at hand, and the exodus from eastern towns and citie

mple, would arrive sometime in the afternoon "with bells on" according to the post c

r cabin launch, the Good Turn, and would hike it up through

and of Pou

23, Lati

Mutiny on board. Pee-wee Harris, N. G. Mariner, put in irons for stealing peanuts from galley. Boarded by pirat

Blakeley," Raymond had

his nonsense," the cam

hut tight. Raymond had often thought how like the pictures of Valley Forge this vacant clearing in the woods looked in its covering of snow, and sometimes when Jeb was busy writing letters (it was a terribl

ollister had won it. He could trudge into the village and back without minding it now and he cou

d when Mr. John Temple had heard of Raymond's ill health from the Bridgeboro boys on their return from camp, he had called his stenographer and sent a couple of home-runs over the plate in the form of two letters, one to Raymond's grandmother telling her that she had g

back of the check and had it cashed in Leeds. He had kept the little roll of bills carefully in his pocket all winter, buying such things for Raymond as were neede

tten about the boy up in the lonely camp or else he felt that he had done as much for him as could be expected. Raymond might still remain for two weeks of the new season as any scout might do, but then he would be at the end of his rope. For the rule of Temple Camp was that any scout or troop of scouts might spend two weeks at the camp free of all cost. If a

contained fifty dollars and a slip of paper bearing only th

d trusty when he meant trustee) 'n' got rights, gol, I dunno who has. They wuz jest goin' on th'boat, I reckon, when it popped inter his head like a

hey seemed like a fortune as he watched Jeb fold the

s Saturday, but the dispelling of Raymond's

" Garry Everson was all that was left of the little troop he had striven to keep together th

mebbe they wil

will be the first

Jeb had a system of record keeping all his own. "Let's see, naouw, thar's thet troop with the red-headed boy from Merryland-'member 'em, don't ye? They'll be comin' all week, more'n like. Seems ony like yist'day, the

d Raymond, slowly, "I'm almost sorry-kind

is twinkling eyes, and went about his work of preparation. Perhaps he, too, rough old scout that he was,

. The hills surrounding the camp began to darken in the twilight, save for the crimson tinge upon their summits from the dying sun; the dark waters of the lake grew more sombre in the twilight and the sti

aymond sat on the rough bench outside

ght a lantern and we'll tow a couple uv

them just now, Jeb; I was

Its course was straight as an arrow. Above it a larger bird hovered and circled but

re was only the one object left in the dim vast

y rifle,"

e he could only picture in his mind's eye, but the thought of that smaller bird hurrying on its harmless errand-homeward to its nest, perhaps

fetch 'em-don't you?

ty n

ay at Raymond's feet a hawk, quite dead, while through the dim light in a pitiably futile effort

wing drooped as the bird stumbled weakly about and an area of its neck was bare where the feathers had been torn away. It seemed odd to Raymond that

the bird's leg from which hung a little transparent tub

said he. "W

olding the drooping wing into pl

im anyway, did

I had

e to kill it,

shook up, as the feller says. Lucky he fell amongst friends.

new well enough what carrier pigeons were and he was eager to know the purport of that little roll of script. But even in his excitement there lingered in

t ter say fer himself,

of a dollar bill; it had been folded l

nearest village but am afraid to leave now. He fell and is bleeding bad.

ff

own at the dead hawk, then at the pigeon

ddy 'cept this here little feller knows whar he

y's dying,"

iends is neither. An' this here messenger here won't tell us-he's got h

ent call for help had been borne. Where had it come from? For whom was it intended? Then he looked down at the li

il-fetched him, a

hich that faithful messenger of the air should summon, and of that steadfast little emissary, on whom so much depended, fal

much obleeged," said Jeb; "but you wouldn't, would yer," he added, stroking the bird, "'n'

aymond by way of comforting Jeb. "Gee, nobody

g darkness from across the lake, and reverberated in swelling chorus from the frowning heights roundabout. Then there was a long, plaintive bellow which died away as softly

at was the Silver Fox call-and the Elks-and Garry's

e lake parted and a boy, bareheaded and weari

l else in his ecstasy. "Hello, Tom, you big-you big--"