wallowed. Some scouts on their tramps even carry
a small filtering stone such as is used in the army, and this is
considered a wise precaution by thoughtful scout masters.

"Well, that tastes pretty fine," remarked Bud, after he had drunk his
fill and carefully replaced his cup in its receptacle; "and now to
get under cover. I reckon the very first thing we ought to attend
to is getting a supply of wood indoors, so as to make the old shanty
feel comfortable. I never think of a camp without seeing a camp
fire as the best thing in it. It is that that binds scouts together
more than any other part of the outdoor game, I think. Does it
strike you that way, too, Hugh?"

"Yes, I came to that conclusion," replied the leader of the Wolf
patrol, "after watching how anxious the boys always were to get
plenty of fuel ready long before night came. Then you know a
fire stands for grub time, too, and that always appeals to scouts
who have done lots of things during the day to tire themselves out."

"That's so, I've had heaps of fun just watching Billy Worth's eyes
dance while he hauled firewood into camp. With every armful he
seemed to be saying, 'There, that's going to help cook our supper
to-night! And we're going to have fried onions, and potatoes and
ham omelette!' I had half a notion to ask Billy to come along with
us on this trip, but somehow I hated to think of the fun he'd poke
at me in case my wonderful invention turned out to be a fizzle,
like so many of them have in the past. I knew _you_ wouldn't give
me away, Hugh, if that happened,---and if I lived to tell the tale!
Well, I hope I can get my pack on my back again for the last hundred
feet; but it comes harder every time. Thanks awfully for the poke,
Hugh; it did the business. Now I'm in harness and ready to go on."

The two weary scouts staggered more or less as they started to push
through the last barrier of trees and brush. They knew that they
would speedily discover the long deserted shack there among the
second growth thicket of young trees. Indeed, it was hardly half
a minute later when Bud came to a sudden halt, at the same time
saying in a hoarse whisper:

"Hugh, look there, will you? There's a light in the shanty! What
do you think of the meanness of that? After we've come all the
way up here just to keep to ourselves, then to find somebody camping
on the ground! Shucks! It makes me feel as if it was a bad omen,
and right in the start, t