Percy Keese Fitzhugh

“ The banging of the big shutters of the pavilion was heard in echo as the furious gale bore the sounds back from the mountain and the familiar, homely noise was conjured into a kind of ghostly clamor.
"There goes Pee-wee's signal tower," a scout remarked, and just as he spoke, the little rustic edifice which had been the handiwork and pride of the tenderfoots went crashing to the ground while out of the woods across the water came sounds as of merry laughter at its downfall.
"Something's wrong over on the other side," said Westy Martin of Roy's patrol; "the lake's breaking through over there." ”

“ I know what a stunt is."
"What's a stunt?" Hervey asked, trying to conceal the weakness of his attitude with a fine air of defiance.
"Why, a stunt is something that is hard to do, that's all."
"You tell me——"
"I'll tell you something I want you to do and you're afraid to do it—you're afraid."
"I won't take a dare from anybody," Hervey shouted.
"Well, you'll take one from me."
"You dare me to do something and see."
"All righto. I dare you to go up to your troop's cabin after camp-fire and tell Mr. Denny that you've been a blamed nuisance and that you're out to do the biggest stunt you ever did. ”

“ The stranger placed a trembling hand on Hervey's shoulder. "Do you know a person can scream after he's dead?" he said.
"I don't know," said Hervey, somewhat alarmed and not knowing what to say. "Anyway, I have to hurry; it's up to me to save some people's lives. There's a bridge washed away along the road."
He did not wait longer to talk with this singular stranger, but thoughts of the encounter lingered in his mind, particularly the young fellow's speech about dead people and children screaming. ”

“ And so Tom Slade dragged the wounded creature up onto the float and there he lay in a pool of blood, still clinging to his burden.
The little boy was safe. He opened his eyes and looked about. His face was smeared with mud, one of his shoes was gone, his foot seemed to be twisted. It was all too plain that he had been within the suction pipe, within the devouring jaws of that monster serpent, when his frantic rescuer had dragged him back. But he was safe.
His rescuer was utterly crazed. Yet he seemed to know Tom.
"Safe—alive——" he muttered.
"Yes, he's safe; lie still. ”

“ One incidental result of his little chat with Goliath was that he was reminded of Hervey's exploit, a matter which he had entirely forgotten in his more pressing preoccupations. Tom was no hero maker and he knew that Hervey would only trip on the hero's mantle if he wore it. As time had gone on in camp, Tom had found himself less and less interested in the pomp and ceremony and theatrical clap-trap of awards. Bravery was in the natural course of things. ”

“ Gilbert said with unconcealed admiration. The wandering minstrel had made another capture.
He was, however, a little sobered as he opened the envelope. He had never been the subject of an official missive before. He had never been honored by a courier. He had won badges and had an unique reputation for stunts. But when the momentary sting had passed it cannot be said that he left camp with any fond regrets. On the other hand, he bore the camp and his scoutmaster no malice now. He who forgets orders may also forget grievances. In Hervey's blithe nature there was no room for abiding malice. ”

“ He would as lief go to troop cabin as anywhere else....105
In this blithe and carefree spirit, he approached the rustic domicile which he seldom honored by his presence, singing one of those snatches of a song which were the delight of camp, and which rounded out his rôle of wandering minstrel:
Oh, there is no place like the old camp-fire,
As all the boy scouts know;
And the best little place is home, sweet home—
When there isn't any other place to go, go, go.
When there isn't any other place to go.
Mr. Denny, standing in the doorway of the cabin, contemplated him with a repressed smile. ”

“ How free and independent that bird! How easy its escape. How impossible the escape of any mortal. To carelessly pause upon a log that was going down in quicksand and then to fly away. There was blitheness in the face of danger for you!144
Gilbert took his way along the trail, sick at heart. How could he tell Tom Slade of this frightful thing? It was his first day at camp and it would cast a shadow on his whole vacation. Soon he espied a light shining in the distance. That was a camp, no doubt. By leaving the trail and following the light, he could shorten his journey. ”

“ Outside the main pavilion the choicest spirits of camp were loitering; Pee-wee Harris still working valiantly on the end of his breakfast, Roy Blakeley of the Silver Foxes, Bert Winton on from Ohio with the Bengal Tigers, and Brent Gaylong, leader of the Church Mice from Newburgh. He was a sort of scoutmaster and patrol leader rolled into one, was Brent, a lanky, slow moving fellow with a funny squint to his face, and a quiet way of seeing the funny side of things. ”

“ The life of a scout is wild!
Gilbert stood petrified with astonishment. In all his excursions through the scout handbook he had never encountered any such formula for scouting as this. No scout hero in Boys' Life had ever consecrated himself to such a program. ”

“ Now and again a sound almost human would startle the cautious wayfarers as they picked their way amid the sodden chaos. In places it seemed as if the merest footfall would dislodge some threatening bowlder which would blot their lives out in a second. And the ragged, gaping chasms left by roots made the soggy ground uncertain support for yards about.83
Toward the summit the path was quite obliterated under the jumble of the wreckage, and the party clambered over and threaded their way amid this débris until the tiny but cheering lights of Temple Camp were visible far down across the lake. ”

“ He was defying, single handed, half a dozen or more scouts who were flopping about in rowboats under and about the springboard. They had just rowed across after an inspection of the washed-out cove, and were resting on their oars, jollying the little fellow whose legs dangled above them.
"Where did that big feller go?" he asked.
"To the village."
"He found a dead man last night, didn't he?"
"That's what he did."
"I know his name, it's Slade."
"Right the first time. You're a smart fellow."
"I like that big feller. He says Gilbert Tyson is all right; I asked him. ”

“ With him was one of the best all-around scouts in camp, patrol leader of the Royal Bengal Tigers, Eagle Scout and winner of the Gold Cross, Bert Winton.
"What's this? The annual electrical show?" he asked. "What's the matter with you kids? Lost, strayed or stolen? Who's this fellow?"
"Look at the bridge, it's gone!" said Roy. "Don't bother to look at it. It isn't there anyway. We're a couple of pickets—I mean sentinels."
"Well, you guided us through the woods, anyway," said Tom.
"The pleasure is ours," said Roy. "We can sit in a car and guide people through the woods; we're real heroes. ”

“ For a minute or two, Tom sat swinging his legs, contemplating Hervey.
"When it comes to stunts," said he, "you're down and out. You belong to the 'also rans.'"
"Me?"
"Yes, you."
"I can——"
"Oh, yes, you can do a lot. You ought to join the Camp-fire Girls. You were asked to stay at camp—I'm not talking about yesterday. I'm talking about all summer. There's an easy stunt. But you fell down on it. Don't talk to me about stunts."
"Do you think it's easy to hang around camp all the time? It's hard, you can bet."
"Sure, it's a stunt. And you can't do it. ”

“ The boys found themselves clinging to the branches of a broken tree which was wedged crossways in the cove, its trunk entirely submerged. It formed a sort of makeshift dam and the boat, caught in its branches, added to the obstruction.
If it had not been for this tree the boat would have been borne upon the flood, with what tragic sequel who shall say?
"All right," said Tom, "we're lucky; keep hold of the branches, it's only a few feet to shore; careful how you step. If you let go it's all over. We could never swim in this torrent." ”

“ I double dare you to! There. Now let's see. Go up there and tell Mr. Denny you're going to get away with the biggest thing you ever tried—the biggest stunt. And to-morrow morning before the Court meets you come in here and see Mr. Fuller and Uncle Jeb and me. Now don't ask any questions. You came in here all swelled up, regular fellow and all that sort of thing, and I'm calling your bluff."
"You call me a bluffer?" Hervey shouted.
"The biggest bluffer outside of Pine Bluff."
"Me?"
"Yes, you."
"I wouldn't take a dare from you or anybody like you!"
"Actions speak louder than words." ”

“ This sort of talk was a sample of life at Temple Camp for seven days past. Those who were not given to jollying and banter had fallen back on checkers and dominos and other wild sports. A few of the more adventurous and reckless made birchbark ornaments, while those who were in utter despair for something to do wrote letters home.
Several dauntless spirits had braved the rain to catch some fish, but the fish, themselves disgusted, stayed down at the bottom of the lake, out of the wet, as Roy said. ”

“ Gilbert turned back. Then he shouted 'stop.' Law three says that a scout is courteous. He should have said 'please stop.' Law ten says that a scout must face danger, but he turned his back to it. He wasn't thinking about the danger, all he was thinking about was the bus. All he was thinking about was being thrifty—saving lives. I've known fellows like that before. It's just like striking an average; a scout that strikes an average is a coward."
"You mean if the average is small?" said Roy. ”

“ Being no respecter of persons, the invader swept straight through the cabin of the Silver Fox Patrol, and the Silver Fox Patrol took up their belongings and went over to the pavilion where they sat along the deep veranda with others, their chairs tilted back, watching the gloomy scene across the lake.
"This is good weather for the race," said Roy Blakeley.
"What race?" demanded Pee-wee Harris.
"The human race. No sooner said than stung. It's good weather to study monotony."
"All we can do is eat," said Pee-wee. ”

“ Tom said. "I sent him on an errand and I suppose he got lost."
"He did not!" several vociferated.
"No?" Tom smiled.
"You bet he didn't!"
"Well," said Tom, laughing, "if you fellows want to get into the mix-up, keep your eyes on the bulletin board. Everything is posted there, hikes and things. You'll like most of the things you see there."
"I'm crazy about tomatoes," one of the scouts ventured.
Tom smiled at Mr. Carroll and Mr. Carroll smiled at Tom.
There seemed to be a sort of unspoken agreement among them all that Hervey Willetts should be thought of ruefully, and in a way of disapproval. ”

“ Denny came in and sat down. Other scoutmasters sauntered in, and scouts singly and in groups. One proud scout went out with three new merit badges and was vociferously cheered outside.
Another didn't quite make the pathfinder's badge; another the camp honor flag for good turns. Still another got the Life Scout badge, and so it went. Honor jobs for the ensuing week were given out. There were many strictly camp awards, not found in the handbook. The Temple Paddle was awarded to a proud canoeist. Scouts came and went. Sometimes the interest was keen and sometimes it lagged. ”

“ There are always several versions of dramatic happenings. But on one point all were agreed. It was the most conspicuous instance of outright and supreme heroism that Temple Camp had ever witnessed or known. And because there was no scout award permissible in the occasion, the boys of camp, with fine inspiration, named the new dam after the hero, who with soul possessed challenged the most horrible monster of which the human mind can conceive, threw his life into206 the balance with an abandon nothing less than sublime, and found his reward in the very jaws of horrible and ghastly death. ”

“ It is better to know your man than to know his tracks. Gilbert Tyson had somehow come to understand Hervey in that one day since his arrival at camp, and he had no intention of exhausting his breath in a futile chase along the road. There, indeed, was a scout for you. He was on the job before he had started.
The road ran behind the camp, the camp lying between the road and the lake. To go to Catskill Landing one must go by this road. Also to make a short cut to Jonesville (where the night express stopped) one must go for the first mile or so along this road. ”

“ It had not been much of a garage, hardly more than a shack, in fact, and the two cars which now stood more or less damaged and exposed to the weather, had been its only contents, save for a work-bench and a few tools. Mr. Berry's flivver was quite beyond repair, having been overturned and carried some yards and apparently dashed against the bridge. There is no wreck in the world like the wreck of a Ford.
The heavier car had evidently withstood the first onrush of water and had made a stand against the flood, its wheels deep in the mud. ”

“ It's as clear as mud."
Goliath thought for a few moments and then made a flank attack.
"Gilbert Tyson is a hero," he said; "he saved the lives of everybody in that bus—he did."
"That's where he was wrong," said Roy Blakeley; "a scout is supposed to be generous. He mustn't be all the time saving."
"Isn't it good to save lives?" Goliath demanded.92
"Sure, but not too many. A scout that's all the time saving gets to be stingy."
Goliath pondered a moment.
"Gilly is all right but he's not a first-class scout," said Roy.
"A first-class scout," said Westy Martin, "is not supposed to turn back. ”