scouts had been aroused. Their angry shouts were heard on every
hand; for a shower of stones was descending upon the camp from some
point further up the abrupt side of the mountain.

"It's that Slavin crowd, as usual!" cried Jud, furiously, rubbing his
arm where he had been struck.

"We've just _got_ to get after them with a hot stick!" exclaimed
Wallace, who was usually the warmest advocate of peace in the troop; but
this constant and vicious annoyance on the part of their rivals was
proving too much for even his temper.

"Come on, fellows; us to the attack!" called Bobolink, with his
accustomed vim; "this is the limit, and we've just got to flag 'em!"

All discipline was forgotten in the excitement of the moment. Nor did
Paul try to show his authority. He was very nearly as indignant as any
of them; and had they been able to locate the enemy, possibly there
might have ensued a scramble that would hardly have been to the credit
of the well known peaceful principles of the scouts.

But the stone throwing seemed to cease about the time the scouts began
to climb the side of the rocky elevation. Doubtless Ted and his allies
knew that it would be dangerous for them to remain longer; and having
stirred up a hornets' nest below, they probably crept away over a path
they had mapped out, which would lead to their cave camp.

The boys came back in bunches of twos and threes presently, heated with
their useless search, and breathing out all sorts of threats against the
disturbers of their peace. On the next night Paul meant to have a
vidette posted on the mountain side, whose one particular duty would be
to look out for prowlers.

There was no further alarm that night. Possibly Ted and his crowd
believed that it would not be wise to go in too strongly for these
things. And so another day dawned, that was fated to be full of
strenuous doings between sunrise and sunset.

CHAPTER XXIII

WHAT THE EYES OF A SCOUT MAY SEE

"What damage was done last night?" asked Jack, as he and Paul walked
around the camp, while the cooks of the several patrols were engaged in
getting breakfast over fires built after that clever fashion, partly in
holes in the ground.

"Well," replied his chum, "outside of Jud's bruised arm that will
handicap him a bit in his work; and one hole through the fly that serves
as our mess tent; I haven't been able to find anything. But I picked up
several stones that must have come down, and they were