The Boy Scouts of Woodcraft Camp

es of the night are stilled. The prowlers in the dark have slunk back to their lairs. The furred and feathered folk who people the mighty

giant pine and instantly, as if this were a signal, a white-throated sparrow softly fluted its exquisite song from a thicket close [137] by the camp. Another more distant took up the song, and another and another until the woods rang with the joyous matins. A red squir

kets. Brer Rabbit dived headlong for the underbrush, but the guide's quick

ite him t' breakfas

his blankets. "Felt too bashful on s

, producing two rough towels from the depths of hi

rprise he found the water warmer than the air, as if the heavy blanket of mist in which the lake was still shrouded was indeed a coverlid provided to hold fast the warmth absorbed from the sun of yesterday. A brisk s

, as he once more dug down into the pack. "How will flapjacks and

oot apart. Dry twigs and splinters were laid loosely across, and on these at one side some strips of birch bark. [139] Two more sticks were now laid across the twigs at right angles, then another l

e because, built in this way, air had immediate circulation to the whole mass, free access of air being essential to a b

f the trout, which had been left in a pail hung on the stub of a dead branch o

you an' me will have bacon stid o' trout with them flapjacks. Ought t' known [140] thet if leetle ole Mr. Mink really wanted them fish he woul

ace of the guide. "How do you

miscus and insultin'. Say, son," he added, his face brightening with a sudden thought, "you take thet tin dipper and hit th' trail past th' big pine over yonder. Keep a-goin' till yer strike a pat

hat it took but a short time to fill the dipper. Before he reached camp he smelt the bacon [141] and his mouth watered. A pot of st

e glowing coals before which he squatted, watching the bubbling cake with a critical eye. Suddenly he lifted the pan, and with a dextrous twist of the wrist, so deftly executed that Walter did not see how the trick was done, the flapjack

inquired the cook, sending anothe

'm going to teach cook to make 'em when I get home. Wish [142] dad c

ned the frying-pan over to the amateur cook. Big Jim's eyes twinkled as the boy reac

t' turn a flapjack," he drawled, "and, son, I kind o' think

t in the air, the cake shot out at an angle and landed soft side down on the very spot the guide had occupied a second before. That worthy, with wisdom born of ex

ed to try again. This time, under a running fire of comment and advice from Big Jim, who solemnly assured him that in his humble opinion "the landscape ain't really a-needin' blueberry frescoes t' improve its

olding the pan slanting in front of and away from him he gave it a couple of preliminary easy flaps to get the swing, then flipped boldly and sharply. It seemed the easiest thing in the world, an

a little shake Walter felt that the cake was loose and free in the pan. Getting the preliminary swing

enough woodsman," he said. "Nobody what can't toss a flapjack

hot water is as necessary to wash dishes in the one place as in the other. Walter had finished his work and was hanging the towel to dry when he heard a queer noise beh

ge, it dropped the soap and vigorously wiped its bill on the branch on which it was sitting. Then scolding and protesting in a harsh, discordant voice, it flew to the next tree, stopping

. The boy had never seen a bird of this species before, but he recognized it at once from its markings, the fine silky plumage and certain unmistakable characteristics in general appearance and actions, as a

n time to witness the l

en usin' him just right, son," said he.

s sit on my tent just waitin' fer me t' go out so's he could go inside an' steal somethin'. He'll swipe a meal out of yer plate while yer back's turned.

he name of Whisky J

caught tryin' t' steal th' bait from a mink trap he had set a 'whis-kee-shaw-neesh.' When yer say it quick it [147] sounds something like 'Whisky Joh

on as I saw it. You see I had read all about it in a bird b

an' they ain't none too plentiful. If it was two months later I should say this country hed been hunt

sked Walter when the si

poachers ain't been a-killin' deer out o' season right round these here parts. Durant's lumber camp has been [148] havin' a right smart lot o' fresh 'veal' all summer, an' some one's been supplyin

t alert and timid of all the animals that live in the forest. It was to be his first deer hunt, for the jacking expedition of the night before could hardly be dignified by the name of hunt, the advantage lying so wholly with the hunters. Now, however,

lowlands at dusk and spending the night in the swamps, and along the watercourses. "'Bout now they'll be workin' back t' higher ground, till along 'bout ten o'clock they'll be well up on th' hardwood ridges where the

-shells. Look out fer twigs and dead sticks. Snap one o' 'em and it's good-bye Mr. Peaked Toes! When I stop jest

oy a few feet behind [150] to note how without any apparent attention to where he was stepping each foot was planted surely and firmly without the rustle of so much as a leaf. It seemed as if the big mo

atter stop suddenly. It was a nervous strain that rapidly became fatiguing in the extreme. He could not relax for an instant to look about him, lest in an unguarded moment there should be a fateful snap unde

ground [151] just ahead of them. There, clearly defined, were the V shaped

within five minu

d Walter, imitating the

so a tiny particle of wet soil loosened and fell. Had more than five minutes elapsed the edges would have slightly dried out, and Wal

ld windfall,"

m he could make out nothing that in any way resembled an animal. A slow smile dawned on the good-natured, sun-browned face wa

reddish-brown legs and a white "flag" ridiculously like a magnified edition of the little bunch of cotton which had been his last

as broadly stretched in a hearty but noiseless la

ve seen 'em in a park, mebbe, and o' course yer didn't see her. Now I was lookin' fer jest a leetle patch o' red, which couldn't nohow be leaves at this

o' it. But it ain't, and she ought not t' hev run more'n a couple o' hundred yards afore she got so blamed curious thet she'd hev stopped and then

ze of the prints, Walter knew must have been made by a big buck. The guide wet a finger and carefully tested the direction of the wind, which was so faint as not to be perceptible to the dry skin. Satisfied that the trail led dir

Jim suddenly left the trail and made a wide détour to the left, then circled back to the top of the ridge, along which he led the way with the utmost cauti

ks a couple o' hundred yards down fro

sson earlier in the day and looked for a "patch o' red." Almost at once he saw it, low down under the he

n' then doubled back and laid down whar he can watch his back [15

o close at hand that Walter instinctively looked up, expecting to see the black mischief maker above their heads. But no

s sensitive nostrils testing the wind for trace of possible danger. For a few minutes he stood motionless, ears forward to catch the least sound, big soft eyes searching the hillsid

hemlocks, clearing [156] a fallen tree with a leap which was a marvel of lightness. The thicket shut him from the

ve seen th' King o' Lonesome Pond. I've tried fer him for th' last three years in th' open season, but th' old rascal knows as well as I do when th' huntin' season begins and he's too smart fer me. No walkin' up on him then like we did to-day! I'd like t' get him and yet-we

eep his feet in the way they should go" and now as they tramped rapidly toward camp he felt within hi

e animals were in the habit of coming down to drink. Here at one side in a position to command an unobstructed view of a part of the run Walter set up his camera, masking it with branches broken from the surrounding trees. A flash was arranged to be exploded by an electric sp

s all a chance whether a deer will take this partic'la

hiling away the time with stories of hunting and adventure which set the boy's pulses to faster beating. Swiftly the shadows

w 'fore thar's somethin'

re the camera was set, and rolled in heavy echoes along the mountain. Big Jim was on his feet in a

amera. I been sartin all day thet some such mischief as this was afoot. We didn't see half th' number o' deer we'd ought to this mornin' and them was so skeery thet I suspicioned they was bein' hunted right along. Guess when we git back t' Woodcraft we'll hev t' notify th' gam

ut preparing for the night, when both w

oyously. "You guessed wrong

wled. "Must be one deer round these parts what is plumb

ash sprung. Walter at once slipped in the slide, and gathering up the apparatus they retu