e. The shadows were gathering
now, and the fragrance of evening was beginning to permeate the dim
woods. And all the respectable home-loving birds were seeking their
nests.

And so these two strolled on, and for a few minutes neither spoke.

"Well then, suppose I give you a tip," Tom said. "Will you promise that
you'll make good? You claim to be a scout. You say that when you get
your mind set on a thing, nothing can stop you. That the idea?"

"That's it," Hervey answered.

"You wouldn't drop a trail after you once picked it up, would you? Some
animals take you pretty far."

"You bet nothing would stop _me_ if I once got the tracks," Hervey said.
"I wouldn't care if they took me across the Desert of Sahara or over the
Rocky Mountains."

"Hang on like a bulldog, hey?" Tom said.

"That's me," said Hervey.

"All right, it's a go," Tom concluded. "I'll see if I can give you a
pointer or two down near camp in the morning. Ever follow a
woodchuck--or a coon? Only I don't want any badge-getter falling down on
a trail, if I'm mixed up with it. That's one thing I can't stand--a
quitter."

"I wouldn't anyway," Hervey said with great fervor; "but as long as I've
got you and what you said to think about, you can bet your sweet life
that not even a--a--a jungle would stop me--it wouldn't."

"That's the kind of a fellow they want for an Eagle Scout," Tom said;
"do or die."

"That's me," said Hervey Willetts.

CHAPTER VI

THE EAGLE AND THE SCOUT

And so these two strolled on. And presently they came to a point where
the wood was more sparse, for they were approaching the rugged lower
ledges of a mighty mountain, and the last rays of the dying sun fell
upon the rocks and scantier vegetation of this clearer area, emphasizing
the solemn darkness of the wooded ascent beyond.

Few, even of the scouts, had ever penetrated the enshrouding wilderness
of that dizzy, forbidding height. There were strange tales, usually told
to tenderfeet around the camp-fire, of mysterious hermits and ferocious
bears and half-savage men who lurked high up in those all but
inaccessible fastnesses, but no scout from Temple Camp had ever
ascended beyond the lower reaches of that frowning old monarch.

At Temple Camp, when the cheery blaze was crackling in the witching hour
of yarn telling, the seasoned habitues of the camp would direct the eye
of the newcomer to a little glint of light high up upon the mountain,
and edify him with dar