CHAPTER I.
THE TALK IN AN APPLE TREE.
A NUMBER of active boys were perched high among the heavily ladenbranches of a big fall pippin apple tree, back of the old PhilanderSmith house, located just outside the limits of the thriving town ofHickory Ridge.
"Take care, Landy!" called out Chatz Maxfield, whose soft, mellow voicetold of his Southern birth; "that long ladder might chance to slip, suh,and it would be a long ways to the ground!"
"Oh, shucks! I've got the upper end wedged fast in the crotch along theoutside of this limb, Chatz. And believe me, I'm getting my basket fullof the biggest yellow pippins you ever saw. Who cares for expenses,anyhow?"
Landy, whose father owned the property, was very much inclined to befat; though he would never admit the fact; and was forever declaring hehad a new method of exercise that would reduce him to a "livingskeleton," sooner or later.
Besides Chatz Maxfield, whose real name, of course, was Charles, thebusy bees in the tree who were assisting their chum pick the ripe appleson this late August day consisted of three fellows, all members of theHickory Ridge troop of Boy Scouts; and well known to every lad who hasread the preceding volumes in this series.
First there was Ty Collins. Every boy in town would know Ty as far awayas they could see him; for, when not going to school, winter and summerhe clung to an old red sweater that he seemed to love above all thegarments he possessed.
Then came a small fellow, Jasper Merriweather by name, whose oneambition it was to get out of the "runt" class. Jasper was never wearyof asking some one to take his measure, and compare it with pastrecords; but thus far he had not made much progress toward reaching theordinary height of a lad of fifteen. Still, he clung to hope and triedto fill his position as Number Four in the Beaver Patrol, to the best ofhis ability.
Last of all, but by no means least, was Ted Burgoyne. Ted had themisfortune to lisp when he grew the least bit excited; though no oneever knew him to acknowledge the fact, and indeed, if accused, he wouldgrow very indignant, even while others could catch the fatal slip in hiswarm denial.
They called him "Dr. Ted," for the very good reason that he had hisheart set on medicine and surgery, and often found himself in greatdemand to practice on his fellow scouts. Outside of a few rather wildtheories, and a boy-like desire to have a little fun out of things, Tedwas quite practical. He was held much in respect by the twenty odd boysconstituting the khaki troop.
The Hickory Ridge troop had passed the experimental stage of progress,and had become an established fact. Three patrols, of eight boys each,were complete, and there were candidates to start a fourth, if theycould meet the requirements and feel capable of subscribing to thetwelve cardinal principles that every true scout has to try to live upto.
Lately a rival troop had sprung up in Fairfield, led by one Matt Tubbs.Formerly Matt had only been known as a great bully, and those whotrained with him had served under his banner simply through fear,without a grain of respect.
But Matt had, strange to say, seen a great light. He had watched theboys of the khaki troop in their open-air tests. Something in thebusiness seemed to appeal strongly to him; and then had come thedetermination to start a troop in his town.
Of course he ran up against a snag in the beginning, for no boy with theloose principles Matt held at that time could ever be accepted as ascout. He studied the matter, watched the Hickory Ridge lads some more,and then came the great awakening.
And now Matt Tubbs was on the right road. He controlled his followersjust as thoroughly as before, but generally in a different manner. Theyrespected him too. Still, once in a while the old spirit cropped out;and it was told how, when one of his cronies, thinking to take advantageof this new mantle of meekness, boldly challenged Matt to a fight, thenew leader of the Fairfield troop gave him the best kind of a whipping;after which he helped bind up his scratches, and stop the flow of bloodfrom his nose.
But the insurrection had been nipped in the bud: and they did say thatMatt tried to atone for his breaking of the rules of the organization bybeing unusually patient with those under him who had difficulty inkeeping up with the reform pace he set.
It was pretty generally understood all through the region that MattTubbs might never have started to climb the ladder only for the boyishsympathy which he received from Elmer Chenowith, the leader of theHickory Ridge troop, and assistant to the scout master, Mr. Garrabrant.
And the reformation of the worst boy in Fairfield and Cramertown longastonished the good people of those communities. When they awakened tothe truth that it was no myth, but apparently an accomplished fact, theywere quick to give most of the credit to the discipline of the neworganization.
And the Fairfield troop from that time on had never lacked for backingfrom the parents of those boys connected with the same.
The fellows in the apple tree had been talking about these things asthey helped Landy pick the fruit, a task that had been set for him byhis father, and which must be fulfilled ere he could get off for playthat day.
Of course they also discussed the great baseball game that had recentlybeen played between the rival troops, in which Hickory Ridge came outvictor, after a very strenuous afternoon's work.
"The way Lil Artha circles the bases gets me," declared Ty Collins, ashe munched on a particularly fine specimen of fruit he had struck, andwhich tempted him beyond his capacity to decline, though it was possiblythe seventh he had eaten within the hour.
"Oh, I don't know," remarked Ted, swinging his legs from the limb hestraddled. "Most persons theem to think there's no one tho fatht as LilArtha. Now, I admit in the thtart that he can cover the ground at apretty rapid rate; but nobody knowth jutht how long he could hold out ona long hike. I've got my own ideath on that thubject, fellows."
"Sure you have, and so have a lot of others in the troop, suh," declaredChatz. "Might I ask who you think would have the best chance in anendurance hike that would last, say for twenty-four hours straight?"
"Why, Elmer would, for a thtarter," replied the other, quickly; "and ifthat ain't enough, what'th the matter with Ty Collinth himthelf? Theemthto me you'd hold out, and give long-legged Lil Artha a run for hithmoney."
"Me for Matty Eggleston!" declared Jasper, eagerly; for the boy inquestion was leader of the patrol to which Jasper belonged, and in hiseyes seemed a marvel second only to Elmer himself.
"If Lil Artha fell down on the long run, I kind of think Red Hugginsmight pull in a victor," Ty went on. "That fellow is just chock-full ofgrit. When he shuts his teeth, and starts in, there's no telling wherehe'll stop."
"How about George Robbinth, your couthin, Matty?" asked Ted. "I've theenhim walk half a dozen fellowth until they admitted they weren't in thethame clath? Perhaps now he might have a chance to win in a long tetht."
"Oh, George is a good one, all right," declared Landy. "Our family isnoted for producing marvels. You just wait a little while longer, till Itrim my weight down a few more pounds, and I'll show you something worthwhile. Huh, if there was a long-distance hike right now, d'ye know I'dbe strongly tempted to enter. You never can tell. Appearances aresometimes mighty deceiving, boys."
"There's another swift one in our bunch, fellows," called out littleJasper, who never could hope to enter any of these competitions untilNature was kinder to him, and began to add a few inches to his stature.
"Who's that, Jasper?" demanded Ty, perched high up in the immense tree,and lowering his basket when filled with an ingenious tackle he hadcontrived so that he need not climb down with a bulky load; though twicehe had managed to upset the whole picking, to the disgust of Landy whofeared the apples would be too badly bruised to find a market, as hisfather intended.
"What d'ye say to Jack Armitage?" the small scout went on. "Ever seenhim get around and steal bases, no matter what the catcher was doing?He's a screamer, that's what! But of course I ain't sure how Jack wouldhold out on a twenty-four-hour walk. He's full of staying power though,and might surprise some fellows who have be
en reckoned at the top of theheap."
"Well, you fellows have about put all the available candidates on thelist," declared Ty, laughing because he himself figured in the same."Elmer is out of the running because he got a thorn in his foot a day ortwo ago, and is limping to beat the band. His best chum, Mark Cummings,might enter, but it happens he's out of town and may not be back for aweek. But what's all this talk going to amount to, anyhow?"
"We ought to have thith important question thettled, boyth!" declaredTed.
"There's been a heap of hot air circulating for a month past about whois the best all-round walker in the troop," remarked Jasper; "and seemsto me that matter ought to be threshed out, once and for all!"
"Hurrah, that's the talk, Jasper!" cried Chatz, throwing an apple at theother.
"Bully boy!" called Ty. "Go on and make a suggestion, Jasper. You've gotsomething in your noodle after all. Keep it up, my boy, and success toyou."
"That's right, Jasper," said Landy, stretching around to pick severaltempting yellow beauties that seemed just beyond the reach of his rathershort arm. "Tell us what you've been thinking about. Is it a big hikefor the best walkers and runners of the celebrated Hickory Ridgetroop?"
Jasper swelled with importance. It was not often he found himself in thelime light, and his opinion in demand. The experience seemed delightful,and he was not in too great a hurry to satisfy the demand forinformation; since once they had his views the discussion must becomegeneral, and he would only stand on an equal footing with the rest.
"Well, to tell the truth I was thinking about suggesting a great hike,with, say a limit of half a dozen fellows connected with the troop ascontestants. Perhaps you noticed that I mentioned a twenty-four-hourconsecutive tramp as the basis of the test. Each fellow could be boundby a solemn promise not to accept a lift on the way, under penalty ofdisplacement. And several others, like Elmer for instance, might keeptabs on the bunch by following them on their wheels."
"Listen to him, will you? Hasn't Jasper got it down pat?" cried Landy,again exerting himself to the utmost to gather in another lot ofunusually tempting pippins.
"He's going to fill a long-felt want," declared Chatz. "We need anorganizer, some one who could take the responsibility of fixing up thesemeets from the over-burdened shoulders of Elmer. And, suh, I suspectJasper is going to develop into a master of ceremonies."
"Then you rather like the idea, fellows?" asked the small scout, pleasedbeyond measure.
"It's just the thing," declared Ty.
"We'll take the thame up at wunth, and have the affair arranged in ajiffy," Ted announced.
"Hey, take care there, Landy, your ladder's slipping! Quick, grab holdof something, or you're a goner!" shouted Ty, suddenly.
Landy tried to wriggle himself back again, but his stretch had beenfatal to all chances for maintaining his position. The top of the longladder lost its grip in the swaying crotch and slid from under him.There was a rattle of apples thudding down on the ground twenty feetbelow; but Landy had, on the spur of the moment, seized hold of theouter branches, so that there he hung, swinging back and forth; afraidto let go, and yet incapable of long maintaining his frantic grip.