d to being away from home, and prided themselves on being
able to show the spirit of veteran campers.

The fowls turned out to be the peer of any the boys had ever tasted.
Indeed with the chicken cooked a delicate brown by those in charge, and
seasoned with the keen appetites a day in the open air is apt to give a
boy, that supper must always linger in their memories as a bright spot
never to be excelled.

By now the greenhorns would be getting more accustomed to seeing the
woods all around them, and probably sleep better than they did before.
The second night in camp always does find everybody feeling more at
ease, and settling down for a good rest.

They had no reason to find fault with anything that happened to them
after the departure of Mr. Perkins. The stars came out in the heavens
and there was apparently no sign of rain.

To satisfy the more timid boys, Tom and Rob Shaefer had started on a
brush shanty, which they so far completed that it could be changed into
a fair shelter by making use of their rubber ponchos. It was not really
needed, though several of the boys chose to make up their beds under
its arched roof, mentioning that they might feel the dew if it
happened to prove heavy.

Again they prepared breakfast, and then started off with a day's tramp
ahead of them that would differ in many respects from anything as yet
encountered. This was because they expected to strike boldly up the
side of the massive mountain that reared its head far above them, its
slopes covered for the most part with a heavy growth of timber. This,
however, thinned out the nearer one came to the summit, which in turn
was composed of bald rocks, grim and silent, save when some eagle gave
its shrill scream from a projecting crag.

They took their last look at the little road, and then Tom led the way
into the heart of the wild growth. Just as they had anticipated it was
a great deal more difficult going now, for there was no trail save an
occasional cowpath which might lead down to the creek, or anywhere
else; and to which, for this reason, they could not pay any attention.

When noon came there was a loud call for a halt. While every boy was
too proud to confess that his muscles were beginning to feel sore from
the continual strain, he tried pretty hard to find some plausible
excuse for wanting to make a good long halt.

While they were eating and fanning themselves, for it was very warm,
Walter Douglass noticed Tom glancing