Endurance Test; or, How Clear Grit Won the Day

by Burt L. Standish

  CHAPTER X.

  THE EDUCATION OF ADAM.

  THE utmost consternation seized upon the campers.

  "Oh! what's bringing all that smell along here?" George cried; for thiswas his first experience with such a thing, though he had heard lotsabout other adventures the scouts had had in that line.

  "It's Adam; he's got a monopoly of the scent!" laughed Elmer. "And he'son his way to the camp right now. I saw him coming, and got a whiff;then I hurried on to warn you, because I didn't want you to be caughtunprepared. There's one good thing about it, though, fellows."

  "Good thing?" ejaculated Ted, who had snatched out his handkerchief andwas trying to keep from inhaling more air than was absolutely necessary.

  "Why, yes," Elmer went on, "for once George here doesn't doubt but thathe gets it. You don't hear him asking questions now. He _knows_ it'shere with us. He's getting his dose, all right, ain't you, George?"

  "Look, there he comes!" gasped Landy, pointing to a moving figure thatwas pawing a way through the neighboring thicket.

  "Ach! vat iss de matter mit me? I feels like I vas goin' to faint!"exclaimed a complaining voice.

  "For goodness' sake do it out there, then!" screamed Landy. "Don't youdare come into camp with that terrible smell hanging to you. Sit downwhere you are, and listen to what we've got to say. Oh, gracious, Ican't get my breath! Elmer, you tell him!"

  "Py chimineddy, dis makes me some drouples! It peats all der limpurgercheese I ever saw. Vat vos idt, Elmer? I am nodt choking, tell me vot Idood," Adam asked, with a beseeching air, for he was almost overcome bythe fumes.

  "Well, if you ain't choking, we are; so you stay there," Georgeremarked.

  "How did it happen, Adam?" asked Elmer, trying to stop laughing, for heknew that after all this was apt to be a serious piece of business forthe other.

  But the German boy only shook his head and coughed, as he tried to gethis breath.

  "Idt iss some foolishness py me; but, poys, I don't know vot it issalready yet. I vos vandering apout der voods, enchoying mineself, ven Isee der prettiest little squirrel dot ever vos, mit a nice white stripe,und a pushy tail. I dinks dot he look like he vill pe friends mit me,und so I yust hold out mine hand und call him; put pefore I could takehold mit him, I dink I step on von of dem musherooms mit der awfulsmell. Ach! it vos so pad I haf to get oudt right avay, und come pack toder gamp. I'm von sick Dutchman, poys, pelieve me. I dink me I must pegoing to die right avay qvick."

  "I should think you had died a week ago," cried George.

  "He thought the skunk was a pretty squirrel," said Ty; "and he was goingto make a pet of it, think of that, fellows!"

  They laughed and coughed by turns. One minute the comical side of theevent appealed to them, as they saw poor Adam standing there looking soforlorn; then as if by magic their humor turned, and they began towonder what in the wide world could be done.

  "We just can't stand this much longer, Elmer," said Landy. "Make him goaway off in the woods and bury himself."

  "Well, one thing's sure," remarked the patrol leader. "He's got to getrid of every stitch he has on him. We'll have to rig him out the best wecan afterwards."

  Adam set up a howl upon hearing this.

  "I pelieve it might wash oudt in der river!" he declared.

  "Not in a thousand years," Landy made answer. "The only chance for youis to go off and bury your clothes--everything you've got on. Then getin the water, and try to get rid of the smell from your hair. Luckything it's cut short. Oh, ain't this the meanest luck, though?"

  "It might be worse if the whole lot of us had been there and got ourshare," remarked Elmer, who could always see things on the bright side,in which he was the exact reverse of Doubting George.

  "Dell me vat I must do, Elmer. I promise to carry oudt de plans.Somedings must pe done right qvick, or I shall pe smothered. It is pad;but I am von scout, und can take der hard knocks mit der good."

  "That's the kind of talk, Adam," Elmer hastened to say. "You're allright, even if you do seem unpleasant company just now. Listen to me. Goback into the woods a piece. Then strip off every rag and hide them insome hollow log. I'll follow you when you go to the river, and fetchalong what stuff we find we can spare. All told I reckon there'll be ashirt, trousers and shoes for you; and that's all you need this hotweather. Please make a start, for we've got to the end of our endurance.Turn around; now you're off!"

  When the unfortunate German lad had vanished, the trouble was far frombeing at an end. He left a decided legacy behind him, and Landy was loudin his wails.

  "How ever can we stand it, Elmer?" he asked. "All the rest of the timewe stay in camp do we just have to endure that rank odor?"

  "'What can't be cured must be endured,' you remember we used to write inour copybooks at school, Landy," replied the patrol leader. "Nothinglike getting used to things, you know. It isn't pleasant, of course; butthere might be worse happen to us. Suppose now our new recruit had runacross a rattlesnake instead of a polecat! But get a hustle on you,fellows, and see if we can rig Adam out somehow. I've got an extra shirthe's welcome to."

  "And there's that pair of trousers I brought along," said Landy; "he canget into them all right. But I'll say good-by when I hand 'em over; forI just know the perfume will stick always; and I never could stand it,never."

  Some one else came forward with shoes, and in this fashion the wretchedvictim of confiding innocence and curiosity was supplied with an outfitcalculated to carry him through.

  Taking these things with him, Elmer started forth along the trail ofAdam.

  "Just follow your nose, and you'll find him!" sang out Landy.

  "And look out you don't repeat his sad experience, Elmer," laughed Ty.

  The woods seemed to be pretty strong with the powerful odor, as Elmerwalked on. He was a fair hand at following a trail, and the German ladhad certainly not made any effort to conceal his footprints.

  Presently Elmer found where Adam had stuffed his garments into a hollowlog, just as he had been told; but as he was no longer in sight, thescout patrol leader took it for granted that he had turned to head forthe river again, in order to plunge in.

  Accordingly Elmer also turned and walked that way, believing that hewould strike the stream a little distance below the camp.

  "Goodness! I hope, now, Adam doesn't lose himself in the woods!" heexclaimed, as a sudden startling thought flashed into his mind."Wouldn't that just be the limit, though, and with not a bit of clothesalong!"

  But a minute later he caught sight of the other stalking along ahead.The river could also be seen in glimpses between the trees, showing thatafter all Adam had chosen the right course.

  "Well, what ails him now?" Elmer asked himself, for as he looked hesuddenly saw the German boy bound up into the air, and start tothreshing about with his hands in the wildest kind of way.

  Then he started to run madly along, letting out a series of shouts, andfinally taking a header from the bank into the river.

  Something came buzzing about Elmer's head.

  "Hornets!" he exclaimed, making a stroke at the insistent insect thatwas trying to reach his face, until by a fortunate blow he sent it down.

  Then he started off, making a wide detour so as to avoid the spot wherethe unlucky Adam must have run foul of the nest.

  When he finally drew up at the river bank and peeped over, he saw Adamwith everything but the upper part of his head submerged. He seemed tobe looking for a new assortment of enemies hovering over him. Hisintroduction to the mysteries of the great American woods bade fair tomake a great impression on Adam. Indeed, when finally Elmer induced himto come forth, he discovered that there were three distinct impressions,and each of them as large as a hickory nut, one being behind the ear,another on his right arm, and a third on the calf of his leg, where theangry little hornets had left their mark.

  No doubt the new recruit thought he was having a pretty rough time of itall told. But he had a genial nature, and could take things as theycame; so that
presently he was able to laugh at his misfortunes.

  When he was dressed in the borrowed clothes Adam looked a "sight," asLandy declared after he saw him coming to the camp. Of course there musthover around him more or less of the strong odor; but Elmer told theothers they must make up their minds to get used to that, as it couldnot be remedied.

  Breakfast had been ready for some little time when the pair reached thecamp; and all of them were able to do justice to the meal. Even Adamseemed to have retained his appetite.

  "But it's the only thing he did save," chuckled Landy.

  When the meal was over, Elmer reminded them of the arrangement they hadmade on the previous evening.

  "Who goes along with me to Brady's?" he asked, getting up.

  "Don't you think we'd all better paddle along?" remarked Landy;"because, you see, those fellows are tough characters; and it might bethey'd set on our crowd, if they suspected we'd come to tell on 'em."

  "Count me out," said George. "You know I got a stone bruise yesterdaywhen on the way here, and I want to let it heal up, so's to be able totoddle back home when we break camp to-morrow."

  "Oh, rats! The chances are you don't think there's anything worth whilein going over there," declared Ty. "And I meant to show you just where Ihad all that fun with the old bull, too."

  "Fun!" shrieked Landy. "Hear that, will you, boys? He calls thatbusiness just fun. But it looked another way, then, you understand,George. Why, Ty's face was as white as paper when he thought that oldbundle of beef was going to hook him higher than a kite!"

  But Ty declined to argue the matter with him.

  "And I think Adam had better thtay at home, don't you, Elmer?" remarkedTed.

  "Why, he's that strong he could tackle the hobo crowd alone andsingle-handed," observed Ty.

  "I'm afraid he'd turn all the milk in the dairy," chuckled Landy.

  So it was presently decided that two of the scouts were to remain behindto take charge of the camp. The others, four in number, would trailalong toward the Brady farm; and if the opportunity presented itself,let the farmer's women folks know the character of the new hands.

  The last that Elmer and his comrades saw of those who were to remainbehind, George seemed to be endeavoring to coax Adam to try his luckagain on the river, for he was holding out the rod of the German.

  "He just wants to get him away for a while," laughed Ty.

  "It looks like George had run up against something at last that won'tstand for any doubts," declared Landy, who had long suffered from thispeculiar malady on the part of his cousin.

  "If it can't be seen, it makes itself felt in another way," remarkedElmer, who was in the lead of the file that headed through the woods,Ted swinging the tin milk bucket.

  Reaching the field where Ty had had so much "fun" with the ugly bull,they failed to see anything of the animal.

  "Afraid to come out again, you see, boys," said Ty, pretending to puffout with valor. "I guess the farmer who owns him will keep him shut uptill we leave the neighborhood. He'd better, for I was just hatching upsome game that would discourage the old fellow from tackling every onethat walked through his pasture."

  "Perhaps he's loose, and carrying on somewhere else," remarked Elmer, ashe lifted his head in an attitude of listening.

  "Say, that _is_ somebody shouting, as sure as you live!" cried Landy.

  "And hollering to beat the band, too!" echoed Ty.

  The whole four of them stood still, the better to listen. There could beno longer the least doubt about the matter; for other voices joined inwith the one they had heard at first.

  "It's women yelling, too," said Landy. "Whatever can be the matter?Elmer, do you think it's that bull broke loose?"

  "More'n likely the hoboes are at the bottom of the row!" declared Ty.

  "Come on with me, fellows, and we'll soon know!" called Elmer, as heimmediately started off on a full run.