d had been assembled, and around this the scouts gathered in
a wide circle. Some sat cross-legged, draped in blankets, for the air was
brisk and cool. Others sprawled at length upon the soft sand, shoulder
pressing shoulder, arms flung carelessly about one another's neck.
Overhead the sky was brilliant with stars. From all about came the
soft lapping of water, mingled with the lulling, rhythmic beat of surf
upon the distant shore. It was a moment of complete relaxation after a
long and strenuous day, and from many lips there breathed sighs of
utter contentment.

And then the flames, creeping from a little pile of timber at the
bottom of the heap, licked up through the dead branches to flare out
at the top--a great yellow beacon that chased away the shadows and
brought into clear relief the circle of eager, boyish faces. From where
the officers sat came presently the soft chords of Captain Chalmers's
guitar mingled with the sweeter, higher tinkle of Mr. Reed's mandolin,
feeling their way from simple harmonies into the stirring melody of
an old, familiar song. Of course the fellows caught it up, singing
lustily to the last note, and their clear young voices, wafting out
across the water, reached the ears of a grizzled fisherman coming in with
the tide and carried him in a twinkling back fifty years or more into
the long-forgotten past.

CHAPTER XXIII

A SURPRISE FOR VEDDER

It was a distinctly informal council-fire. There were no special stunts
or games or competitions, as there would be later; merely songs, a few
announcements, and finally, as the fire died down to glowing embers, a
story or two. But Dale Tompkins had rarely been more perfectly content.

Drawn together, perhaps, by the events of the afternoon and by the
interesting secret they held in common, the members of Tent Three were
gathered in a group on one side of the circle. Whether by accident
or design, Dale sat close to Ranny and a little behind him, where he
could watch the play of light and shadow on the leader's handsome
face. Scarcely a word passed between them, but Dale was conscious of
something in the other's manner which made him wonder, with a thrill,
whether the hateful barrier that had existed for so long between them
wasn't growing a shade less formidable. Suppose some day it should
vanish altogether! Suppose the time came when they could be real
friends of the sort he had always dreamed about! He told himself that it
was probably