The Boy Scouts of the Geological Survey

the Kenyon farmhouse as Ralph rode into the yard. He paused beside his car, seeing

when he had grasped the doctor's outs

; and again the doctor explained the situatio

ration cost?" Ralp

pondered f

with a hundred and twenty-five dollars, including hospital fees," he repli

that, if necessary, the doctor would gladly lend him the sum of money which stood, a tangible barrier, between his mother and total darkness; but with a

sir," he responded war

nd you, my boy. Your father was one of the best friends I ever had, and some day I'll tell you how I cam

l Terrill. When he had finished, the doctor advised him to pay no attention to the vague overtures made by Silas Perkins' hireling, until the docto

Whalen in Oakvale, the other day. He told me he sighted a fine pair of golden eagles up here in the mountains, recently, and would willingly give a hun

agles!" exclaimed the boy

he side of his car, and spoke earnestly--"I'd try to locate their eyrie and capture them, dead or alive, Or, it might be worth your while even to lead the professor up to a

me his address, and I'll do my best to get the pa

him, the next time I come up here,"

u, sir! G

wenty-five dollars seem unattainable, no longer did clouds of gloom and anxiety hide their silver lining! Here was another way of earning money for his mother's desperate need: an uncertain, difficult, even dang

while waiting for his mother to call him in to dinner, skinned the mink he ha

nothing to her of his new hopes, because, after all, they might prove too slender to build upon; they might lead only to disappointment. He plung

earlier hour than before, in order to have time for his daily rounds of visiting the traps. He did not know which day the

permission, for that would be trespassing," reflected Ralph. "And

; yet a third day went by, and he had no chance for a shot at the coveted birds of prey. Several times he caught sight of them hov

r, on a hint from Doctor Kane, was he merely waiting and giving Ralph every chance to earn the money? If the latter were th

* *

leadership of an ex-officer of the United States Army. In fact, Pioneer Camp was well known in that section of the country, and Ralph had often heard of it from Tom Walsh and Tom's young cousin, Jack Durham, who had joined the troop. At one time, before his father's death, Ralph had longed

talking to a tall, bronzed, soldierly-looking man who wore a khaki uniform with the Scout Masters' badge embroidered on the coat-sleeve. Accompanying this man was a half-breed Indian, known in

Ralph, the docto

I want you to meet Scout Master Denmead, who's up here arranging for the opening of

g with him for a few minutes, he called the two other boys over from the counter on wh

an usual?" asked Ralph, presently, fin

last February, and when we found out that the Chief was coming up here,

," added Arthur Cameron, "and we're going

y pet subject. Some day, you know, I

along with us for a

rue scout spirit

ed and sho

dmitted. "Haven't ti

g?" quer

stated briefly and frank

, who was always interested i

r the price of cabbages and green peas, is what gets my goat!" He laughed ruefully. "I guess I'll have to be jogging on my homeward way," he added. "So lon

we don't hunt animals to kill; it'

th a camera," A

e. Well,

lads sho

pe we'll mee

o be founded on bed-rock? Bed-rock, rich in ore? Could it be more than a dream? If they should discover any iron, anything--they were nice fellows--he could trust them. Very decent chaps to know, perhaps to have as friends. And they didn't approve of trapping or shootin

* *

evote his entire time to the gardens. He resolved to spend the whole day in the neighborhood of Eagle Cliff, as he called

off the road and wound upward into the silent woods. Following this path until it became indistinguishable on a thick carpet of moss and leaves and coarse fern, he reached the big boulder