Great Hike; or, The Pride of the Khaki Troop
arose from N
seemed to have a "wheedling" way about him, both the others had confessed, when it came to patching up the peace with a mutinous motor. He seemed just naturally t
. Perhaps he might even have thought of leaving Nat, and taking only Toby with him; but after the other h
ractory motor, Elmer looking into t
?" asked Nat, who was hovering over the one w
tty, Lil Artha on our side, and from what we know about the Fairfiel
boys," remarked Elmer,
demande
, for a fact!" l
ushes along the side of the road. How d'ye know he's given
tion, with one of his feet on a chair, and
d Nat. "Whatever in the wide world d
n bit by a mad do
One man used to hunt 'em just for the skins and the rattlesnake oil he got. Some people say it's
just sprained his ankle, I reckon, and is getting it bound up. T
angerous of the bun
an get it fixed? Gee, I hope so, because
e three minutes more, and I'll have it i
behind Elmer's back he doubled up his fist, showed it to Toby and the two conspirators grinned and
t promise. By the time the three minutes were
t; give the engine
explosions started off with a rush such as Nat had
es to tinkering with things. I bet you the old hip
ging to climb on, went along the road furiously, tho
ed the latter, a
y machine was now behaving. "Why, she answers to the least touch, and is as spry as a yo
g up the pace; but it's only grit tha
s feet after him when first the three on motorcycles discovered him, no sooner did he know
ar he was from home. He gave a shout upon hearing that the long-legged Hickory Ridge scout
st the chance to get in another little dig; but Red put his hand
walk back home again, i
red him bending down at a running stream where he had evidently been slaking
und. That clear water looked mighty enticing; and, besides, here was the last fellow whom they mig
e looked as if he had dipped it partly in the creek, for the dust
on slaked t
ho had made a pretty good bid for the prize, considering that
nty-nine miles out
overhaul 'em, though I don't give up yet awhile. That's all, ain
, Matty; though it looks as if Lil Artha would have to carry the c
d the other, as he started to put on his shoes, making a wry f
ts Lil Artha had a lead of some three mi
t to know?" demanded Matty, whose sharp eyes had read something in their manner th
he detestable scheme engineered by some of the rougher element among the Fairfield boys, looking to rendering Lil Artha ineli
ignation wa
d, between his set teeth. "If I wasn't a scout
freshed ourselves, let's be moving. This is probably the last stop we'll make up to the time we
as to how things stood. The leader of the Beaver Patrol had made such a brave fight of it, in that
ed sighs of relief when this fact became evident; for they had been having so much trouble of
along, passing the fifth station, which was the same Rockledge from whe
Toby, who, as usual, was making the leader a pacer for his own pr
rtha might make eight miles, and th
nd say he's made six, wouldn't
at that. Look out for Felix about this time. He
ged a whole lot, which I don't t
d his name and time of arrival. But on second thought he decided that it did not matter much anyway; since
slowest in the bunch, George and Angus McDowd, need not be ashamed, after having tramped over twenty miles since sunrise, without a
e, they believed that they must hav
being his way of signaling to his comr
ght indicate that Lil Artha had fallen back to secon
ed; "because he lacks half a foot of bein
ng, Elmer!" declar
you'll find," th
l?" Toby persisted, just as though the
n we last heard he was half an hour to the good. Then
dusk now, Elmer!" sang
you keep your machine in good temper, Nat, and ev
the Fairfield walk
ness, and the regular music that his machine was giving forth seemed especially pleasing to Nat. Why, he was that delighted he could not be
swered in a friendly way, Felix was not supposed to know anything about the mean plan on foot to
ut all right, or would they discover that he showed signs of weakening wh