" he cried; and immediately every eye was focussed on the spot
indicated; for coming at just such a moment the news electrified the
scouts.

CHAPTER XXV

PAUL LAYS DOWN HIS BURDEN

"There! I just caught a squint of him, back of the trees!" whooped
William.

"And he's coming lickety-split, to beat the band, too. Oh! I hope it
isn't a messenger from Stanhope to bring us any bad news!" cried Tom
Betts; who had left a sick mother when he came on the trip, and whose
conscience, perhaps, caused him to have a sudden fear.

More than one pair of cheeks lost some of their color, in that quick
spasm of alarm, following this suggestion on the part of Tom.

"Listen, fellows; he's tooting his auto horn like fun! It gives me a
scare for keeps!" ejaculated Philip Towne.

But Paul laughed aloud.

"Don't get frightened, fellows," he exclaimed, "I sure ought to know the
sound of that old siren. That's my wheel; and who do you think's on it
but our good scoutmaster, Mr. Gordon!"

"Hurrah!" came from a dozen pairs of lips, as the boys swung their hats
aloft.

And this was the exciting picture that met the eyes of the scoutmaster
when he burst into view around a bend, and sighted the camp on the lake
shore.

Mr. Gordon was a very bright young fellow, with considerable experience
in training boys. He had a fair grasp of the grand possibilities of this
Boy Scouts' movement, and never lost an opportunity to pick up
additional information. Nor did he disdain to ask some of his scouts
concerning matters they had studied, but along which lines he did not
happen to be well informed.

There was a grand "pow-wow," as William called it, after he came. He had
to hear all that had happened since his leaving Stanhope on that
unfortunate business trip. The adventures at the church on both nights
were recounted by those who had taken part; and it was plain that the
story lost none of its comical features in the telling.

After that he heard about the grand march, the meeting with the circus,
and what the scouts had done to clear up their record for the day. Then
came the various things that had occurred; until at last the dismal
truth about the missing ham made Mr. Gordon laugh heartily.

"How did you manage with the Indian sign letters I left with you, sir?"
Paul asked, when he found a chance.

"Pretty well," replied the scoutmaster; "though once or twice your
meaning was not quite clear. I had to use a lot of commonsense to