out since leaving Camp Alabama that
morning. It would perhaps be carried far and wide in the papers, when
Mr. Anderson's story was told, and reflect new glory on the uplifting
tendency of the Boy Scout movement. People who did not understand what a
wonderful lot of good was coming out of teaching growing lads to be able
to take care of themselves under any and all conditions, besides being
considerate for others, brave in time of danger, and generous toward
even their enemies, would have their eyes opened.

And so it was a happy and merry parcel of scouts that plodded along the
road leading to Beverly town that afternoon, as the sun sank lower and
lower toward the West.

CHAPTER XVI

"WELL DONE, BEAVER PATROL!"

They had struck along the road leading from Scranton, and reached the
well-known Jerusalem pike, of which mention has been frequently made in
previous stories of this series.

As they passed the Stebbens and the Swartz farms the scouts gave a cheer
that brought a waving of handkerchiefs from the windows of the houses,
which were in plain sight of the road.

Far down in the west the glowing sun was sinking; but Paul had
calculated well, and he knew that, barring accidents, they could easily
make the town before the king of day passed from sight.

Once they had halted for a few minutes' rest, the last they expected to
enjoy, and Paul had taken advantage of the opportunity to start a smoky
fire; after which he and Seth, the signal sender of the patrol, used the
latter's blanket to send a series of dense smoke clouds soaring upward
at certain intervals.

One of the boys who expected to join the second patrol in the early
fall, Steve Slimmons, would be on the lookout for this signal that would
announce the coming of the weary column; and when he caught sight of the
smoke waves it would be his duty to announce that, after all, the scouts
had not fallen down in their brave attempt to win that glorious trophy;
but were coming right along, and hoped to be on hand in due time.

Well, there would be a good many suppers delayed in and around Beverly
on that night, some of the scouts told each other.

They could easily picture the green swarming with people, all watching
up the road for the patrol to turn the bend, and come in sight, with
unbroken ranks, having fulfilled the conditions of the hike to the
letter.

There was no longer any need for Paul to excite the slumbering ambitions
of either Eben or