, and I'll
tell you just what happened."

It was laughable to see how the eyes of some of the scouts seemed to
almost stick out of their heads when they listened to how Paul first
discovered the moving object up in the big oak. They turned their heads,
and looked up eagerly, as though half expecting to see another
monkey-like form hanging from a limb.

So the story was soon told. Many were the exclamations of wonder after
the end had been reached. A multitude of questions poured in on Paul;
but he shook his head, saying:

"Keep those for to-morrow, fellows. What we want now is to repair our
fences, and get some sleep. But you can see how important it is that
every scout placed on guard keep his eyes and ears open, ready to give
warning in case the enemy try their tricks on us."

He did not reproach the two boys who had been on duty at the time he and
Wallace held forth, though strongly suspecting that they must have been
asleep. But what he said caused more than one cheek to flush; and
doubtless a number of lads inwardly resolved that from henceforth they
would never, never allow themselves to slacken their vigilance when on
post.

Nothing more was heard from the Slavin crowd on that night. Paul could
easily guess why; for in imagination he saw the faces of Monkey
Eggleston, Scissors, Bud and possibly several others, decorated with
strips of court plaster, intended to hide the results of their
tree-hugging adventures.

He only hoped that the lesson would be taken to heart, and cause those
trouble-makers to avoid the camps of the scouts in the future; but
knowing the nature of both Ted and Ward, he did not have much
expectation that way.

Bobolink had them all up at dawn with the reveille call upon his beloved
bugle. This never left his side, and some of the boys jokingly declared
that he cuddled it in his arms while he slept, for fear lest some
prank-loving scout hide it away, just to tease him.

The cooks got busy, and presently there was a delicious odor of coffee
around that region, together with that of frying bacon.

William was master of ceremonies when it came time to start operations
looking to a supply of flapjacks. He had willing imitators in the cooks
of the other two patrols; and while they may not have met with the same
glorious success that attended his own efforts, the results were so
pleasing to the still hungry scouts that every scrap of batter prepared
was used up. Even then there were lame