SCOUTING IN THE GREAT NORTHWEST
"SOME of you boys went out to Illinois, last summer," he began. "Did you go as far as the Mississippi River?"
"No, but we camped out on the Illinois River," I told him, "and that flows into the Mississippi."
"We explored," explained Benny, "just like LaSalle and Tonty and the other guys did. Skinny was LaSalle and I was Tonty."
"LaSalle and Tonty were great scouts. Do you remember when they made those early explorations?"
"I think it was somewhere around 1680 or 1681," said Skinny, who was always good in history. "Mr. Baxter told us all about it while we were sitting on top of Starved Rock, where LaSalle once had a fort."
"There was a great country west of the Mississippi,about which LaSalle knew very little, although when he explored the river he took possession of the land in the name of his king, and he called the country Louisiana.
"At that time, with the exception of a few fur traders and missionaries, all the people who came to America from the Old World settled along the Atlantic coast and the Great Lakes, in various colonies. Some of these afterward became the thirteen original states of the United States of America.
"After Thomas Jefferson became president, he had a chance to buy Louisiana of Napoleon, who was then at the head of the French government, and he did so."
"Huh! Napoleon!" said Skinny. "George Washington could lick——"
"Aw, ferget it, can't you?" said Bill. "You are stopping the story."
"That gave us a vast territory, reaching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains. Nobody knew very much about it, or about the country west of the Rockies. Jefferson may have been looking far into the future when he made theLouisiana purchase, but probably his more immediate purpose was to secure undisputed possession of the wonderful Mississippi River.
"That was in 1804, only a little more than a lifetime ago and nearly a century and a half after LaSalle explored the river and took possession of the country. Little, if anything, was known about the country at the time of its purchase by the United States more than was known in LaSalle's time. A few hardy traders went up and down the river, buying furs of friendly Indians, and that was all.
"Naturally, after Jefferson had bought it, he wanted to know something about his purchase. So he appointed two men to explore the new country. I want you to remember their names, because they did a great work. One was Meriwether Lewis and the other William Clark, and you will find their trip described in your school history as 'the Lewis and Clark expedition.' I can't see why their exploration was not attended by as much danger and hardship as LaSalle's, which had been undertaken so many years before. The dense forests and greatrivers of the West were all unknown and there were many hostile Indians.
"What did you boys do, when you made up your minds to explore the rivers in Illinois last summer?"
"We built a boat," Hank told him.
"Exactly. And that was what Lewis and Clark did, or, rather, it was done for them at Government expense. A keel boat, fifty-five feet long and drawing not more than three feet of water, was made for them at Pittsburgh, where, if you remember, two rivers unite to form the Ohio. This boat had places for twenty-two oarsmen and carried a large, square sail. Steamboats were not known in those days, although a few years afterward Robert Fulton ran one on Hudson River. The Government also provided two smaller boats and loaded them with coffee, sugar, crackers, dried meats, carpenter's tools, presents for the Indians, and things like that. A few horses also were taken along in the large boat.
"The leaders selected a crew of twenty-five men, and one fine day the whole outfit started down theOhio River. When they reached the Mississippi they turned north and soon made their way up the great river to St. Louis. St. Louis was a French trading station then. Now it is a large city. A few years ago the hundredth anniversary of the Louisiana purchase was celebrated by holding a world's fair in St. Louis.
"There more men joined the expedition and considerable information that President Jefferson wanted was picked up about the Indian tribes who lived up and down the river.
"Finally, May 14, 1804, the explorers started on the real trip. It wasn't easy work any longer, for they had to row against the mighty current of the Mississippi. After they had gone a few miles they came to another great river, which was pouring a dirty looking, yellow flood into the Mississippi. Who can tell me what that river was?"
"The Missouri," said Benny, who had been studying about it in school. "The Mississippi River, with its principal tributary, the Missouri, is the longest river in the world."
"Right you are. If you will look on some mapyou will see how it is possible to go in a boat from Pittsburgh almost across the continent. Lewis and Clark turned into the Missouri and started for the then unknown Northwest. They made their way along very slowly, for the river was swollen with heavy rains and the current was very strong.
"After much labor and hardship they managed to reach the mouth of the Osage River. There they went into camp and sent out an armed party to explore the interior. When the party returned they brought back ten deer and all had a great feast on the river bank.
"Once more they breasted the fierce current, narrowly escaping shipwreck several times. Once the wind was so strong that they were obliged to anchor and go ashore. Again they had to pull their boats along with ropes through some rapids."
"Betcher life they didn't go without a rope," said Skinny. "Why——"
Somebody threw a sofa pillow just then and it struck exactly where his face happened to be. Before he could find out who did it Mr. Norton went on.
"At last they reached the mouth of the Kansas River. A large city stands there now. Does anybody know the name of it?"
"That is too far from home," said Benny. "I know what city is at the mouth of Hoosac River. There ain't any."
"Kansas City now stands where they went into camp. They divided into two parties. One went out after game, so that there should be plenty to eat, and the other explored the country."
"It's fun to explore," said Bill.
"Probably these men found a certain pleasure in it, notwithstanding the hardships. They were seeing something new every day. After a time they started once more and late in July reached the mouth of the Platte River. They had heard that a tribe of Indians were living near there, so Lewis and Clark went out with a party to find them and tell them that the country now belonged to the Great Father at Washington. Under some bluffs, opposite the present city of Omaha, they sat in council with the Indians, made them gifts,and smoked the peace pipe. The Indians didn't seem to care who owned the country so long as they received presents and had room enough to hunt. A city now stands on those bluffs where the Indian council was held. I guess you can tell me the name of that one."
"Council Bluffs," said two or three of us at the same time.
"Then on went the explorers up the river, through a wonderful country. Vast prairies, covered with grass and without any trees, stretched away in every direction, as far as they could see, and great herds of buffalo roamed up and down. On they went, through what is now Nebraska; then through South Dakota; then, North Dakota, where some fierce Indians dwelt. Another council was held and more presents were given. When the boat was about to put off after this council, the Indians grabbed hold of the cable and held it. They wouldn't let go."
"Great snakes!" said Bill. "I'll bet they didn't do a thing to those Injuns. I'll bet they paralyzed them. They had guns, didn't they?"
"Yes, and they did sort of paralyze the savages, I guess.
"'Take aim but don't fire,' Lewis told his men.
"The next second those Indians were looking into the muzzles of about twenty-five guns."
"That's the stuff!" shouted Skinny, swinging his arms and then pretending to shoot. "Did they kill them all?"
"I am afraid that you boys are a little bloodthirsty," said Mr. Norton. "They didn't shoot at all. When the Indians saw the pointed guns they dropped the cable and pretended that all they wanted was to do some more trading. The white men were glad enough to let it go at that and get away as quickly as possible.
"It soon became necessary to go into camp for the winter. An island in the river was chosen for the purpose and they spent the winter there. The Indians in the vicinity proved to be friendly. They never had seen white men before, possibly that was the reason. Some of the things which are very common to us seemed wonderful to them. Do you remember how I lighted the fire one day,when we wanted to cook dinner on Bob's Hill and had forgotten the matches?"
"With a sunglass," I told him.
"Well, that didn't seem very astonishing to us because we were used to it, but the Indians had never seen a sunglass. They started their fires by rubbing two sticks together. Even the whites had to use a flint and steel, for the art of making matches hadn't been discovered. Captain Clark carried a sunglass in his pocket. One day he went to an Indian village, intending to smoke a peace pipe with the chief. As he was entering the village, he saw some wild geese flying over and shot one. The Indians heard what seemed to be thunder and saw the goose fall, and it scared them. They ran into their wigwams and closed the skin doors. Soon after Captain Clark came up to the wigwam of the chief, without thinking he was doing anything out of the ordinary, he pulled out his sunglass and lighted his pipe with it.
"The frightened Indians were peeking out of their wigwams, and when they saw the white man start a blaze in his pipe by holding up one hand,they felt sure that he was a spirit. The Redskins gave one yell and ran into the woods. It was a long time before they could be made to understand.
"Spring came at last and the impatient party started up the river again. The way grew more and more difficult. They were now a long distance from the mouth of the river, and the water was shallow in places and filled with dangerous rocks. Often they had to get out and wade, pulling the boats along by the cables.
"May 26 they passed the mouth of the Yellowstone River and for the first time saw the Rocky Mountains in the distance, covered with snow and looking very grand. They were then in Montana, or what we now call Montana.
"In June they heard the roaring of a cataract, and Lewis started out afoot to find it. After he had traveled for hours he climbed a cliff and at last looked down upon the cataract. So far as we know he was the first white man who had ever seen it, although thousands see it every year now. The cascades of the Missouri stretch for thirteenmiles, with foaming rapids between. It is a great sight."
"Gee, Peck's Falls ain't in it," said Skinny. "Did he find a cave?"
"History fails to mention a cave. Lewis went back and ordered the boats to proceed up the river as far as the first rapids. The question was, how to get around those cascades. They couldn't go up the river, so they had to get the boats around in some way. Their horses had died during the winter. There was nothing to do but drag the boats around eighteen miles. The men went to work and made rough carts, felled trees, cleared away bushes, dug out rocks, leveled off the ground, and pulled, pushed, and struggled on, until at last the work was accomplished and the boats were launched again in the river above the rapids.
"But soon the river became too shallow for the large boat and they had to stop again. Then they cut down trees and made 'dugouts.' They paddled on until finally they came to a most wonderful place. We think that the ravine below Peck's Falls and that at the Basin are grand and beautiful, andso they are, but they found a great canyon, whose walls in places were a thousand feet high.
"Beyond this canyon they could not go in their boats, for they were at the foot of the first range of the Rockies. They had to leave their boats there and climb. But, first, Lewis started out alone to find some Indians for guides.
"The brave man made his way to the top of the ridge and looked down into the valley beyond. In that valley flowed a river, and far up the stream he could see an Indian village. It was the home of the Shoshones. He managed to reach the village, and by offering presents induced some of the Indians to go back with him, bringing horses, and to guide his men across the mountains.
"The trip was a very perilous one, even with guides, and it took them a whole month to cross. Up, up they climbed, so high that they could not find any game to shoot. One by one, the horses died from exhaustion, and the starving men ate the flesh to keep themselves alive.
"After terrible hardships, they finally left the mountains behind and came upon streams whichflowed toward the west. Here they rested, secured a new supply of food, built new boats, and then, when all was ready, paddled down the Lewis and Clark rivers into the broad Columbia, which, as you know, pours its waters into the Pacific Ocean. They had crossed the entire country from Pittsburgh to the Pacific, and made the whole trip by water except that terrible journey across the Rocky Mountains.
"It was now November and they were forced to go into camp once more to spend the winter months. In the spring they started on the long journey home again and at last reached Washington, where they told the President about the vast Northwest and what a great country he had purchased from France."
"I'll tell you what let's do," said Benny, after Mr. Norton had finished. "When we start on our trip let's play we are Lewis and Clark 'sploring the country."
CLOUDBURST ON GREYLOCK
SKINNY says that if they would let him run the weather he wouldn't have it rain daytimes during vacation. All of us Boy Scouts feel that way, too, because, what's the use? The days are made for boys to have fun in and the nights are made to sleep. So, why not have it rain nights when folks are sleeping?
Anyhow, it rained that August as we never had seen it rain before and never want to see it again. It began in the night, all right, just like rain ought to do, but it didn't stop. When day came it seemed to take a fresh start and kept going. It rained all day long and we couldn't have any fun at all. When it came time to go to bed it quit for a spell, but it started up again before morning. It wasn't any drizzle, either. It came down in bucketfuls, until I thought the village would be washed away and that even Bob's Hill would float off.
Along about ten o'clock in the morning it let up, and pretty soon, who should come along but Skinny and Bill, barefooted and with old clothes on. They were worried about the cave, and so was I. While it was raining so hard I thought about it a lot.
You see, our cave is a little below Peck's Falls, on the bank of the brook. There are two entrances. One goes in from the top on the upper side. You first go down into a hole and then wriggle through an opening, until you come out into the real cave. We don't use that one except when we want to escape from the enemy, or something like that.
The one we use is below, right at the edge of the water, and leads straight into the real cave. The floor of the cave is even with the water at the entrance and then slopes back a little out of the wet.
Once a flood filled the cave and nearly drowned us. We should have been drowned, if Tom Chapin hadn't been with us. He dove down through the hole into the upper cave and then pulled us through after him. After that we built a dam so that itwould not happen again. I told all about that once in the doings of the Band. What we were worrying about was the dam's giving way.
Almost always in summer the brook is fine. It pours a clear stream down over the rocks and kind of talks to us and sings, so that we like to be in the cave and listen to it. But sometimes in the spring of the year, when the snow on the mountain is melting and old winter is running away into the valley, and sometimes after very hard rains, the water roars over the falls and then dashes down through the gulch and over the rocks below, like some wild beast. At those times, it is a good place to keep away from, unless you have a dam or a cave that needs looking after.
"Get your hat, Pedro, and come on," said Skinny. "We want to see about the dam. If it washes out the water will fill our cave."
"And bring a shovel," added Bill. "We'd brought one, only your house is so much nearer."
"All right," I told them. "Whistle for Benny, while I'm getting it."
The four of us went up through the orchardand took the road around the hill to the top because the rain had made it too slippery to climb straight up. We knew by the roaring of the water, long before we came in sight, that Peck's Falls were going it for all they were worth.
When we finally, one after another, crept out on the ledge of Pulpit Rock, in front of the falls, the sight almost scared us. It was great, the way the water came down, fairly jumping from rock to rock, until with a final leap and roar, it plunged, all white and foaming, into an angry pool below; then dashed off, with a snarl, through the ravine.
"Gee-whillikens!" said Skinny. "Those are some falls, all right. How'd you like to go in swimming?"
"It would just about use a fellow up to go through there," I told him. "Boost me up so that I can look down at the cave."
"We'll boost Benny," he said. "He isn't so heavy."
The pulpit part reaches up several feet above the narrow ledge like a wall, and back of it there is a straight drop, a hundred feet or more down.
"The cave is all right, I guess," Benny told us, when we had held him up so that he could see over without getting dizzy. "I can see where the upper entrance is, but, say, the brook is fierce."
We crept off from the rock and made our way carefully down the side of the ravine to the cave.
It was as Benny had said. The dam had held and was keeping the water from flooding the cave. The upper entrance was all right, although it was too muddy to use. The water had backed up around the lower entrance and part way into the cave, but beyond it was dry.
The little mountain brook had turned into a torrent, raging along like some wild beast, and foaming over the rocks below, almost like Peck's Falls. Just above these smaller falls, a tree, which had been carried down into the ravine, stretched across the stream from rock to rock, with its slippery trunk about two feet above the water.
"I guess everything is all right," said Skinny, "but maybe we'd better fix the dam a little. Gee, but it's getting dark in here."
We worked a few minutes, throwing rocks anddirt against the dam. I had just stood off to say that I thought it would hold now, when Skinny gave an awful yell and slipped off from a rock, on which he had been standing, into the flood.
I made a grab for him and missed, and in a second he was whirled down the stream.
It is queer how much thinking one can do in a second. I thought of the rocks and of the falls below and of how nobody could go through without being pounded against the stones.
I was afraid to look, until I heard another yell. Then we yelled, too, for there was Skinny clinging to the tree which stretched across the stream, just above the lower falls, and yelling to beat the band.
The water pulled and tore at his legs, dragging them under the tree and to the very edge of the rock which formed the falls. On his face was such a look, when we came near, that I knew he could not hang on much longer.
"Hold on tight, Skinny," I called. "We are coming."
It did not take us long to get there, but when we came opposite to where he was hanging wecould not reach him, and the log was too slippery to walk on.
"Can't you work yourself along the tree?" I asked. "We can't reach, and even if we could walk out I don't see how we'd ever get back."
He shook his head in despair.
"I can hardly hold on at all," he told us. "I'll have to let go in a minute, if you don't do something. Get the rope. You always want a rope."
I hadn't thought of the rope which we have kept in the cave since the time I told about, when the flood came near drowning us.
Then Bill, being corporal, pulled himself together.
"Run to the cave for the rope," said he, "while I hold him."
Before we could say a word or stop him, he straddled the tree and began to work his way out, hitching himself along with his hands.
"Run," he yelled again, when he saw us looking with pale faces. "Skinny saved me and I'll save him, if it takes a leg."
We were halfway to the cave before he hadfinished speaking. I helped Benny in through the water, holding him to make sure that he wouldn't slip, and in two or three seconds he was out again with the rope.
We found Bill clinging to the slippery tree with both legs and holding Skinny by the collar with both hands. Skinny had a fresh grip and was hanging on for all he was worth.
We tied a slip noose in one end of the rope and threw it to Bill.
"You'll have to let go with one hand at a time, Skinny," I heard him say. "Wait until I get a better grip. Now!"
I saw Skinny let go for a second with his left hand. Bill hung to his collar with one hand and with the other put the loop over his head and under his arm. Then Skinny grabbed hold again and did the same with the other hand.
"Pull her tight, boys. Easy now."
We pulled until the noose tightened under Skinny's shoulders. Then we waded into the water as far as we dared and pulled steadily on the rope. Skinny scrambled along through the water, digginghis finger nails into the bark, with Bill holding on to his collar as long as he could reach.
By the time we had him out it had grown so dark that we hardly could see Bill, but we knew he was out there because we heard him say "great snakes."
"Throw me the rope," he called.
He put the noose around his own shoulders, and with our help was soon standing on the ground.
"I swam her all right," said Skinny, "but I hadn't ought to have done it. Ma told me not to go swimming to-day."
Just as he said that something seemed to shut us in. The light was blotted out and we stood there in the dark, scared and wet, wondering what was going to happen.
We groped our way along until we reached the cave and crawled in through the water. I didn't like to do it because I knew that if the dam should give way the cave would be flooded. But we had made it stronger and we had the rope to climb out by at the upper hole, if the worst should come.
The water didn't reach far into the cave, andsoon we had a light, for we always keep candles and matches there.
It didn't seem so scary when we could see, sitting down together on a piece of old carpet which the folks had given us, where we had sat many times before.
What happened next, they say, was a cloudburst. Something burst, anyhow. Skinny had just grinned and said that he thought maybe it was going to rain, when it started.
And rain! Say, we never had seen it rain before. It came down in chunks and pailfuls. Pretty soon the water began to creep farther into the cave, and we got out the rope and made ready to crawl through into the other part, if it should come much farther.
But the dam held, and there we were, snug and safe, with our candle throwing dancing shadows, and up against one side of the cave, where we had hung it long before, our motto:
"Resolved, that the Boys of Bob's Hill are going to make good."
Then we heard a distant roar, different fromanything we ever had heard before and different from any other noise the storm was making. It scared us because we couldn't think what it was.
"Gee!" said Skinny. "What's broke loose, now?"
"Great snakes!" I heard Bill say. "I wish I hadn't come."
Benny didn't say anything, but he grabbed my hand and by the way he hung on I knew he was doing a lot of thinking.
That roar seemed to be the end of the storm, for the rain stopped as quickly as it had come. It began to grow light again and somewhere in the woods we heard a bird singing.
We were glad enough to get out into daylight once more and make our way back to the road.
"Let's see what it was that roared so," I said. "It isn't going to rain any more and Skinny is nearly dry."
We could see great patches of blue sky and knew that the storm was over.
The roaring had seemed to come from the mountain, so we climbed up the road and went into afield beyond the woods, from which we usually can see old Greylock looming up, only looking different, it is so near.
This time we couldn't see him at all. The sky was clear overhead, but clouds still hung about the mountain, shutting him from sight.
Then, as we stood there, the noise came again, only worse this time, and right in front of us. The ground seemed to tremble under our feet and from somewhere, back of the cloud which covered the mountainside, came a mighty roaring and grinding that was awful.
We stood there, clinging to each other and wondering if the end of the world had come, when suddenly the cloud lifted and Skinny yelled:
"Look! Look!"
Down the face of Greylock, where before trees had been growing, water was pouring over a great, white scar, which reached from top to bottom, nearly to where we stood, and over to the south was a smaller scar.
"Guess what," said Benny. "Greylock is crying. What do you know about that?"
There had been two landslides, the only ones we ever had known to happen on the mountain.
And to this day, as far as you can see Greylock, you will see those white scars of bare rock, stretching down his face, as if some monstrous giant had clawed him, but, of course, no water after that first time.
ON THE WAY AT LAST
FOLKS in our town think that white streaks down the face of Greylock do not improve his looks any, but to us boys they seem like scars won in battle. We feel like cheering some mornings, when we see him fighting to break away from storm clouds which wrap him around.
At first we can see nothing but clouds from where we stand on Bob's Hill. Then, the clouds begin to lift a little and Peck's Falls woods gradually come into view. A little later the very tiptop of the mountain begins to show, floating like an island in an ocean of mist. While we look, the clouds fall away still more, making the island larger and larger, and the bottom mists roll up the wooded sides of the hill.
In a few minutes old Greylock throws them off altogether and stands there, with his scars showing,except that across his face a narrow cloud sometimes hangs like a billowy screen, giving him, Ma says, a look of majesty as if God was living there.
Anyhow, we boys can't help cheering when the mountain shakes off his bonds and stands forth like a giant Scout, telling us to be cheerful and brave and reverent and all that.
The great rains did more than scar the face of Greylock. They kept us from starting on our trip at the time we had planned to go.
"Wait until the woods dry out," Mr. Norton told us. "The roads are too muddy now to think of starting, and you couldn't have any fun if the woods were wet. A week of sunshine will fix things all right."
We hated to wait, but there was plenty to do getting ready, so that the time did not seem long.
"We'll carry no firearms," he went on. "Guns seemed necessary when this was a wilderness, but we are going over a fairly well traveled road. Scouts do not believe in wanton killing, anyway."
"How about bears?" asked Skinny, anxiously.
"I have made careful inquiries and have not found anybody who has seen a bear along that road in years. I know you found one near the Savoy road, or he found you, but that cub was as badly frightened as you were. Should any of us see a bear, which is not at all likely, I don't believe there is anything in Scout law to keep us from running one way while the bear is running another."
"I don't know about a Scout's running," Skinny told him. "Of course I ran, but I didn't run far, only to the nearest tree, so that I could lasso him better."
"Well, that's all right. Run to the nearest tree and then give the Scout signal. Some of the noises which you boys make, especially William, would scare a whole drove of bears."
"Anyhow, I'm going to carry my rope."
"I'll tell you what we can do. We'll put in the week making bows and arrows. Every boy should carry with him a good bow, made of hickory, hemlock, or mountain ash, and a quiver full of arrows. You never will have a better chance to become experts in archery."
We thought that we would make them of hemlock, because there are plenty of hemlock trees up above Peck's Falls and in Plunkett's woods, but Mr. Norton told us that we ought to make them of seasoned wood. The next day he sent some seasoned hickory over to our barn and we made the bows and arrows of that.
We took a lot of pains with them, and a carpenter that Hank knew helped us some. Before the week was over we had some weapons which Skinny said he knew we could scare a bear with, anyhow. Each Scout's bow was about as long as himself and an inch thick in the center. The ends were shaved down until they bent evenly. For string, we used strong, unbleached linen threads, twisted together. Benny made his bow so stiff at first that he couldn't bend it, but Hank showed him how to shave it down, until he could draw the string back twenty-three inches, like the book says.
The arrows gave us the most trouble because they had to be so straight and round. We made them twenty-five inches long and about three-eighths of an inch thick, and we glued turkeyfeathers on near the notched end. The other end we fitted into a brass ferrule, to keep the wood from splitting. The arrows looked fine, when we had them made and painted. Each boy painted his a different way, so that we could tell which one killed the bear.
Mr. Norton showed us how to make guards for the left wrist, to keep the bow cord from striking it. To protect the fingers of the right hand, we used an old leather glove, with the thumb and little finger cut away.
I'll never forget the morning we started. After breakfast the boys, all in uniform, came over to my house. Pretty soon Mr. Norton drove up in a light wagon, loaded with tents, camp outfit, and things to eat.
We greeted him with cheers, and when he had come close gave him the Scout salute.
"Come on, boys. Let's get started, if you are ready," he said. "We have a long walk ahead of us, if we expect to camp on Florida Mountain to-night."
"Great snakes!" said Bill. "That listens goodto little Willie!" And he gave a yell that brought people out of their houses, all up and down Park Street.
"Boys," said Pa, just as we were starting, "remember that your folks are trusting you and, as we understand it, a Scout's honor is to be trusted. Remember, too, that it is a Scout's duty to obey orders and that the one to give you orders while you are away is Mr. Norton. And let me add that he has my full sympathy. If he isn't worn to a frazzle before he gets back, I'll miss my guess."
In another minute we were off, the folks calling good-bys after us and shouting for us to remember this and not to forget that and not to do something else.
Mr. Norton drove the horse at the start because he knew that we would want to march through town, and away we went, with our bows and arrows on our backs, and Skinny, with his rope and hatchet, which he called his tomahawk.
At the Gingham Ground we found the boys of Eagle Patrol drawn up by the side of the road. They saluted and cheered as we passed.
"If we have good luck this time, we'll take you next year," called Mr. Norton. "I'm new at the business, myself, and eight youngsters are all I want to tackle the first time."
"Skinny! Oh, Skinny-y-y!" yelled Jim, when we were almost out of hearing.
We stopped and waited to find out what was wanted.
"Don't kill all the game-e-e. Save some for seed."
Skinny's only answer was to wave his tomahawk. Then we marched on toward North Adams, and at nearly every house we passed people came to the door to see what was going on. It made us feel proud.
We took turns riding, two or three boys in the wagon at a time, because Mr. Norton said that he didn't want us to get all tired out before we started and that we shouldn't be really started until we came to the mountain.
The day was fine and the roads were getting dusty again. We were so happy that almost before we knew it we came to the foot of a hill, which ledup into the mountain, and there we stopped to eat lunch.
Before leaving home, I asked Pa why they called it Florida Mountain and why they called a little town on top Florida, and he said because that was its name. Anyhow, they call 'em that. Before Hoosac Tunnel was built under the mountain, a stage coach made regular trips over it, along the road we were going to take. That was the only way people had to get to Greenfield and the other towns on the east side, without going south to Pittsfield and from there going over Mount Washington on the Boston & Albany Railroad. Now, there is a big hole under the mountain, more than four miles long, and trains go through in a few minutes.
After we had eaten and had a good rest, we started up a road, which we could see winding up the mountainside, far above us.
"Now, boys," said Mr. Norton, "we don't have to make this trip all in one day. We are out for fun and to learn something about scouting; if we climb too far in this hot sun it will get to be workinstead of play. I propose that we climb slowly, taking plenty of time to enjoy the wonderful views that will unfold before us with every turn of the road. You boys can stop whenever you feel like it, to rest, or explore, or shoot. Before we get to the top, we'll pitch our tents near some spring, in full view of the valley and setting sun. We'll plan it so as to have several hours of daylight left after we go into camp for the night. What do you say?"
That suited us all right and away we went, with Benny driving, and the old horse moving along in good shape.
Say, no tunnels for us, after this! Tunnels are all right when you are in a hurry. But were we in a hurry? I guess not!
It was just as Mr. Norton had told us. At every turn of the road, and mountain roads wind around with a lot of turns instead of going straight up, we stopped to look back over the valley. And every time we stopped it looked different. It was great. And the higher we climbed, the better it looked and the farther we could see, until the wholevalley lay before us, all the way to Pittsfield and west toward the Hudson. To the north, the Green Mountains of Vermont looked blue in the distance. Across the valley, on the south, old Greylock put his head up above the other peaks and watched us, wondering, we thought, why we were going up Florida Mountain instead of climbing over him.
"Hurray!" yelled Skinny. "I'm Captain Clark, exploring the great Northwest."
"I'm Captain Lewis," shouted Benny, strutting around and waving his bow.
"Me Injun chief," said Bill. "Ugh! Heap pale face get lost. No find trail. Injun show um way."
Then he gave such a yell that it scared the horse and we hardly could keep up.
About four o'clock in the afternoon we came to a spring near the top of the mountain, and a little beyond, through the trees, we could see a grassy slope, just the place for our camp.
"This looks good to me," said Mr. Norton, driving up to the side of the road and blocking the wheels of the wagon. "We'll give the horse adrink after he cools off a little and unload the things which we shall need to-night."
It looked like an Indian village there, when we had finished setting the tents up. For beds we went into the woods and cut branches of hemlock, which we wove into mattresses and covered with blankets.
"Let's play 'Hunt the Deer,'" said Skinny, when all was ready for the night and Mr. Norton had sat down to rest on a rock, overlooking the valley.
"All right, boys," he told us. "I want you to have the time of your lives on this trip and I know that even a view like this will not long satisfy a boy. But don't go far and remember your Scout training. You will usually find moss on the north side of tree trunks."
"We know that," said Skinny. "We tried it once on Greylock, when we were lost, and it worked all right."
"You can't get lost. I believe I could hear William call anywhere on the mountain. The sun is shining and your shadows will point east. Comeback in time for supper. I'll be cook to-night, but after this you boys will have to take turns."
"We'll get back in time, never fear," Skinny told him. "We are hungry enough now to gnaw the bark off the trees."
Then he grabbed a bag which was stuffed with hay, put an ear of corn in his pocket, and started.
"Give me ten minutes," he said.
It was a game which we had read about in the book. The stuffed bag was the deer and the corn was for the trail. The game was for Skinny to scatter corn along, making a crooked trail for us to follow, and then to hide the deer somewhere for us to find.
After Skinny had made a good start, we scattered, looking for the trail—corn, footprints, and other signs.
It was great fun and not easy for beginners like we were. Sometimes we lost the trail altogether. Then one of us would pick it up again, where Skinny maybe had doubled back toward the camp.
Finally Bill caught sight of the bag in some bushes and yelled:
"Deer!"
Hank hurried up and called, "Second!" I saw it third and all the boys soon after except Benny. He had lost the trail and was beating around in the woods somewhere, out of sight and hearing.
It was Bill's first shot and he had to stand where he was when he first saw the deer. He took out an arrow, aimed carefully, and fired. The arrow went so fast that I believe it almost would have killed a real deer if it had hit him, but he aimed too high and it went over.
Then Hank stepped five paces toward the deer and shot. He missed. I stepped up five paces more and I missed. Harry went five paces closer and was the first to hit it. After that we all shot from where he had stood, until we all had hit it.
Skinny had come up and I was just asking him if he had seen Benny, when we heard a great crashing through the bushes and in a minute he came in sight, running like sixty.
He was almost tuckered out when he reached us and had only breath enough left to say:
"Run! It's a bear!"
We ran, all right, but after a little I looked back and could see that there was nothing following.
"Hold up—a minute," I panted. "It—ain't a-comin'."
"Where was it, Benny?" I asked, when they had come back. "Where did you see it?"
"I didn't see it. I only heard it. It was stepping around in the bushes and I heard it grunt. I didn't wait to see it."
"I wish I had my rope," said Skinny. "I left it in the wagon. Come on, anyhow. We'll surround the critter and shoot him."
Skinny scared us when he said that. I could feel cold chills chasing up and down my back bone, when I thought of surrounding a live bear.
"Great snakes!" said Bill. "I hope it's a big one, so Skinny can hit it. He couldn't hit a little one."
"I couldn't, couldn't I?" said he. "I'll showyou whether I can hit it or not. Come on. I'll dare you to."
That settled it. We weren't going to take a dare, but I was hoping all the time that the bear had run away. So, with Benny keeping close to me and pointing the way, we crept through the woods, not making any noise, and each boy held his bow and arrow ready to shoot.
It was scary but it was fun. Finally, with an excited pinch of my arm, Benny stopped and pointed.
My heart throbbed like a trip-hammer, and I hardly could hold my arrow on the cord, for, looking through some bushes, I caught sight of something black and heard the bear tramping around.
I heard Skinny muttering something about a rope; then he whispered:
"Get ready, and run as soon as you shoot."
"Aim."
We stood there, trembling, wanting to run first and shoot afterward, but too proud to. Each boy pointed his arrow toward where we could see thebear standing still behind some bushes and only a part, of him showing.