s.

Giraffe also was known in family circles as Conrad Stedman; but if any
boy in Cranford was asked about such a fellow, the chances were he would
shake his head, and declare that the only one he knew by the name of
Stedman was "Giraffe," For some time he had gone as "Rubberneck," but
this became so common that the other stuck to him. Giraffe loved eating.
He was also passionately fond of making fires, so that the others called
him the fire fiend. When Giraffe was around no one else had the nerve to
even think of starting the camp-fire; though after that had been done,
he was willing they should "tote" the wood to keep it running.

The day was rather warm, even for up in the mountains, and if the signs
told the truth they might look for a thunder storm before a great while.

As the scouts had no tents along, and were marching in very light order,
they would have to depend upon their natural sagacity to carry them
through any emergencies that might arise, either in connection with the
weather, or the food line. But they knew they could place unlimited
dependence on their leaders; and besides, as Bob White had spent many
years of his young life in this region, he must know considerable about
its resources.

They were now in what is known as the Smoky Range, a spur of the Blue
Ridge Mountains, which borders on Tennessee. Not a great many miles away
was Asheville, a well-known resort; but few of the society people
frequenting that place had ever ventured up in these lonely localities;
for they did not have the best reputation possible.

Among these wild peaks dwelt men who, in spite of the efforts of revenue
officers, persisted in defying the law that put a ban on the making of
what has always been known as "moonshine" whiskey. Occasionally an
arrest might be made; but there was much danger attached to this thing;
and the country was so rugged, that it would take an army of United
States regulars to clean out the nests of moonshiners holding forth
there.

It would seem as though this might be a rather strange region for the
hike of a Boy Scout patrol; and had the parents or guardians of the boys
known as much about it as those living in Asheville, they might have
thought twice before granting the lads permission to come here.

But it had been partly on the invitation of Bob White that the
expedition had been planned and mapped out. He seemed to have a strange
yearning to revisit the region that had been his former h