CHAPTER XIV
THE EAGLES IN CAMP
The next few days were full of excitement and preparation for the BoyScouts. Their headquarters resounded all day to the tramp of feet, andthe Manual of Instructions was consulted day and night. The officialtents had arrived, and every boy in the Patrol was eager for the timeto arrive to put them up. So much so that two or three confessed thatthey could hardly sleep at night in their impatience for the hour whenthe embarkation for Topsail Island was to take place.
Besides the tents, there was much other equipment to be overhauled andset in order, for, before their departure, the boys were to be reviewedby their scout master and a field secretary from New York. There werehaversack straps to be replaced, laces mended, axes sharpened, "Billys"polished and made to shine like new tin, and a hundred and one thingsto be done. At last, however--although it seemed that it would nevercome--the eventful Monday arrived, as eventful days of all kinds have ahabit of doing; and the Eagle Patrol, spick and span and shining fromtan boots to campaign hats, fell in line behind the band. Proudly theyparaded up the street, with their green and black Eagle Patrol signfluttering gallantly in the van.
The "reviewing stand" was the post-office steps, around which most ofthe citizens of Hampton and the proud parents and relatives of theyoung scouts were assembled.
Plenty of applause greeted them, as, in response to Rob's orders, givenin the sharp, military manner, they drew up in line and gave the BoyScout's salute. This done, the young scouts went through a smart drillwith the staffs they carried. Then, after saluting once more, andbeing warmly complimented on their appearance by the field secretary,they marched off to the wharf where they were to embark for their camp.
The day before Merritt, Hiram Nelson, Paul Perkins and the three"tender feet"--Martin Green, Walter Lonsdale and Joe Digby--had beentold off by Rob as on "pioneer service"; that is to say, that they hadgone down to the island in the Flying Fish. Arrived there, theyselected a good spot for the camp, aided by Commodore Wingate's andCaptain Hudgins' suggestions, and set up the tents and made the othernecessary preparations. The camp was therefore practically ready, forthe "army" to move into.
At Tubby's special request, a list of the rations for the week's camphad been made out by Rob and affixed to the bulletin board in theheadquarters of the Eagles. As perhaps some of my young readers maycare to know what to take on a similar expedition, is the list,exclusive of meat, which was to be brought from the mainland, and fish,which they expected to catch themselves:
Oatmeal, 8 lbs.; rice, 4 lbs.; crackers, 35 lbs.; chocolate, 1 1-2 lbs.; tea, 3 lbs; coffee, 1 lb.; lard, 6 lbs.; sugar, 8 lbs.; condensed milk, 10 cans; butter, 4 lbs.; eggs, 12 dozen; bacon, 20 lbs.; preserves, 14 jars; prunes, 8 lbs.; maple syrup and molasses, 4 quarts; potatoes, 1 bushel; white beans, 6 quarts; canned corn, 6 tins; canned tomatoes, 6 tins; flour, 35 lbs.; baking powder, 2 lbs.; salt, 4 lbs.; pepper, 2 ounces.
"Well," Tubby had remarked, as he gazed attentively at the list, "wewon't starve, anyhow."
"I should say not," laughed Rob; "and besides all that, I've got lotsof lines and squids, and the blues and mackerel are running good."
"Can't I take along my twenty-two rifle--that island's just swarmingwith rabbits, and I think I heard some quail when we were there theother day," pleaded Merritt.
"Not in season," answered Rob laconically. "Laws not up on them tillNovember."
"Oh, bother the law!" blurted out Merritt. "However, I suppose ifthere wasn't one there wouldn't be any rabbits left."
"I guess you're right," agreed Tubby. "Still, it does seem hard tohave to look at them skip about and not be able to take a shot at them."
"Maybe we can set a springle and snare some," hopefully suggestedTubby, as a way out of the difficulty; "that wouldn't be as bad asshooting them, you know, and I can build a springle that will stranglethem instantaneously."
"No fair, Tubby," laughed Rob. "You know, a boy scout promises to obeythe law, and the game law is as much a law as any other."
Arrived at the L wharf, the boys found the Flying Fish and CaptainHudgins' Barracuda waiting for them. With much laughter they piledin--their light-heartedness and constant joking reminding suchonlookers, as had ever seen the spectacle, of a band of real soldiersgoing to the front or embarking for foreign stations.
With three ear-splitting cheers and a final yell of, "Kr-ee-ee-ee-ee!"the little flotilla got under way.
They arrived at the camping ground at the northeast end of the islandbefore noon, and found that the "pioneers" appointed by Rob had donetheir work well. Each tent was placed securely on a level patch ofsandy ground, cleared from brush and stamped flat. The pegs were drivenextra deep in anticipation of a gale, and an open cook tent, with flapsthat could be fastened down in bad weather, stood to one side.
A small spring had been excavated by the pioneers, and an old barrelsunk in place, which had filled in the night and now presentedsparkling depths of cool, clear water.
"I suppose that water is all right, captain?" inquired Leader Rob, witha true officer's regard for his troops.
"Sweet as a butternut, son," rejoined the old man. "Makes the sickstrong and the strong stronger, as the medicine advertisements say."
For the present, the cooking was to be done on a regular camp firewhich was built between two green logs laid lengthwise and convergingtoward the end. The tops of these had, under Commodore Wingate'sdirections, been slightly flattened with an axe. At each end a forkedbranch had been set upright in the ground, with a green limb laidbetween them. From this limb hung "cooking hooks," consisting of greenbranches with hooked ends at one extremity to hang over the longtimber, and a nail driven in the other from which to hang the pots.
"That's the best form of camp fire, boys," said Commodore--or perhapswe would better call him scout master now--Wingate, who had accompaniedthe boys to see them settled. "Now, then, the next thing to do is torun up the Stars and Stripes and plant the Eagle flag. Then you'll beall O.K."
Little Andy Bowles made the woods behind them echo with the stirringcall of "assembly," and halliards were reeved on a previously cut pole,about fifteen feet in height. The Stars and Stripes were attached, andwhile the whole company stood at attention and gave the scout salute,Scout Master Wingate raised the colors. Three loud, shrill cheersgreeted Old Glory as it blew bravely out against the cloudless blue.
"That's a pretty sight now, shiver my timbers if it ain't," observedold Captain Hudgins, who had stood, hat in hand, during the ceremony."I've seen Old Glory in many a foreign port, and felt like takin' offmy hat and givin' three cheers fer the old flag; but I never seen herlook better or finer than she does a-streakin' out from that there bitof timber."
"Now, Patrol cooks," was Scout Master Wingate's next command, "it'sonly an hour to dinner time, and we want the first mess to be right.Come on, and we'll get the pot boiling."
Cook duty fell that day to Hiram Nelson and Walter Lonsdale, and underthe scout master's directions they soon had potatoes peeled, beans inwater, and a big piece of stew meat chopped up with vegetables in acapacious pot.
After every errand to the store tent, Walter was anxious to know if itwas not yet time to light the fire.
"Never be in a hurry to light your fire when you are in the woods,"rejoined the scout master; "otherwise you will be so busy tending thefire you won't be able to prepare your food for cooking. Now we're allready for the fire, though, and you can bring me some dry bark andsmall sticks from that pile of wood the pioneers laid in yesterday."
This was promptly done, and the lads watched the next step withinterest. They saw the scout master take a tiny pile of the sticks andthen light a roll of bark and thrust it into them.
"I thought you piled them up all criss-cross," remarked Hiram.
"No woodsman does that, my boy," was the rejoinder. "Now get me somelarger timber from that pile, and I'll show you how to go about it likeregular trappers."
The fir
e builder shoved the ends of the sticks into the blaze and thenthe bean pot was hung in place.
"We won't put the potatoes on now, as they take less time," heremarked; "those beans will take the longest."
Soon the heat was leaping up about the pots, and the cheerful crackleand incense of the camp fire filled the air. As the sticks burned downthe scout master shoved the ends farther into the blaze, instead ofthrowing them on top of it.
"Now, then, boys, you've had your first lesson in camp fire making andcooking," he announced. "Now go ahead, and let's see what kind of adinner you can produce. I'm going for a tour of exploration of theisland."
Among the other things the pioneers had accomplished was the buildingof a table large enough to seat the entire Patrol, with planks set onlogs as seats. Hiram put Walter to setting this, while he burned hisfingers and smudged his face over his cookery. Long before the beansseemed any nearer to what experience taught the young cook they oughtto be, Walter announced that the table was all set, with its tin cupsand dishes and steel knives and forks.
Suddenly, while Hiram was considering putting the potatoes on theirhook, there came from the rear of the store tent the most appallingsuccession of squeals and screams the boy had ever heard. Springing tohis feet, he dashed to the scene of the conflict--for such it seemed tobe though not without a heart that beat rather faster than usual. Hebad no idea what the creatures could be that were producing all theuproar, and for all he knew they might have been bears.
Behind him came Walter, rather pale, but determined to do his best as aBoy Scout to fight off any wild beasts that might be attacking thecamp. As he dashed behind the tent, however, Hiram was impelled togive a loud laugh. The contestants--for he had rightly judged theywere in high dispute--were two small black pigs which had looted a bagof oatmeal from under the flap of the store tent and were busilyengaged in fighting over their spoils.
"Get out, you brutes! Scat!" shouted the boy, bringing down along-handled spoon he carried over the backs of the disputants.
The spoon, being almost red-hot, the clamor of the porkers redoubled,and with indignant squeals and grumblings they dashed off into thedense growth of scrub oak and pine that covered the island in itsinterior. At the same moment the captain, who had been taking a snoozeunder some small bushes, awoke with a start.
"Eh--eh--eh! What's all that?" he exclaimed, hearing the yells. "Why,it's that plagued Betsy and Jane, my two young sows," he cried the nextmoment. "Consarn and keelhaul the critters, they're breakin' out allthe time. I reckon they're headed fer home now," he added, when Hiramrelated how he had scared them.
"I'm glad that they were nothing but pigs, captain," said Hiram, goingback with flushed cheeks to his cookery. "I was afraid for a minutethey were I hardly know what. We'll have to fix that store tent moresnugly in future."
"And I'll have ter take a double reef in my pig Pen," chuckled thecaptain.
Boy Scouts of the Eagle Patrol Page 14