e of hours they settled down to a
quieter key. Naturally, the most interesting subject of discussion was
the camp, and presently, in response to a number of requests, Mr. Curtis
moved back to the middle of the truck to tell the crowd, that included
many boys from other troops, all he knew about it. When he had described
in detail the situation and its advantages and explained the arrangement
of the camp which three other scoutmasters and a number of the other boys
had gone down ahead to lay out, he paused for a moment or two.

"There's just one thing, fellows," he went on presently "that we've got
to be mighty careful about. The land is owned by John Thornton, the
banker, whose wonderful country-place, twenty miles this side of Clam
Cove, you may have heard about. It seems that he's had a great deal of
trouble with boys trespassing, starting fires in the woods, injuring
the shrubbery and rare trees, and even trapping game. It's possible, of
course, though I should hate to believe it, that some of this damage
has been done by scouts, as he seems to think. At all events, he is
very much opposed to the movement, which he contends merely gives boys
a certain freedom and authority to roam the woods,--building fires,
cutting trees, and having a thoughtless good time generally,--without
teaching them anything of real value."

"Humph!" sniffed Sherman Ward, indignantly. "Then why has he offered us
this camping-site?"

"He hasn't offered it to us as scouts. He's loaned it to Captain
Chalmers, who is a very close friend, and he as much as says that our
behavior there will merely prove his point about the uselessness of
scouting. Of course, he's dead wrong, but he's a mighty hard man to
convince, and we'll have to toe the mark all the time. I don't mean
it's going to interfere with our having all the fun that's going, but
we'll have to take a little more pains than usual to have a model camp.
There mustn't be any careless throwing about of rubbish. In getting
fire-wood we'll have to put into practice all we've learned about
the right sort of forestry. When away from camp on hikes or for any other
purpose, we must always conduct ourselves as good scouts and remember
that it's not only our own reputation we're upholding, but that of
the whole order."

When he had gone back to his place in front there were a few indignant
comments on Mr. Thornton and his point of view, but for the most part
the boys took it sensibly, with many a