CHAPTER V
THE BULLY SPRINGS A SURPRISE
That afternoon, in reply to a notice sent round by a runner, the ladsof the Eagle Patrol assembled at their armory, and on Leader Rob'sorders "fell in" to hear the official announcement of the comingcamping trip. As a matter of fact, they had discussed little else forseveral days, but the first "regimental" notification, as it were, wasto be made now.
The first duty to be performed was the calling of the roll after"assembly" had been sounded--somewhat quaveringly--by little AndyBowles, the company bugler.
Beside Rob Merritt, Tubby and Andy, there were Hiram Nelson, a tall,lanky youth, whose hands were stained with much fussing with chemicals,for he was a wireless experimenter; Ernest Thompson, a big-eyed,serious-looking lad, whose specialty in the little regiment was that ofbicycle scout, as the spoked wheel on his arm denoted; Simon Jeffords,a second-class scout, but who, under Rob's tutelage, was becoming theexpert "wig-wagger" of the organization; Paul Perkins, anothersecond-class boy, but a hard worker and a devotee of aeronautics;Martin Green, one of the smallest of the Eagle Patrol, a tenderfoot;Walter Lonsdale, also a recruit, and Joe Digby, who, as the last tojoin the Patrol, was the tenderest of the tenderfeet.
Rob's announcement of the program for the eight days they were to spendon the island was greeted with cheers. The news that turns were to betaken by two scouts daily at washing dishes and cooking did not awakenquite so much enthusiasm. Everybody cheered up again, however, whenRob announced that the Flying Fish would be at the disposal of the boysof the patrol.
Corporal Merritt took Rob's place as orator then, and announced thateach boy would be assessed one dollar for the expenses of the camp, theremainder of the money necessary for the providing of tents and theprovisioning of the camp having been donated by Rob's father, Mr.Wingate, of the yacht club, and the other representative citizens ofHampton who composed the local scout council.
Further excitement was caused by the announcement that following thecamp the local committee would pass upon the applications forpromotions and honors for the lads of the Patrol, and that it waslikely that another patrol would be formed in the village, as severalboys had expressed themselves as anxious to form one. The gentlemenhaving charge of the local scout movement, however, had decided that itwould be wiser to wait and see the result of one patrol's trainingbefore forming a second one.
"I'm going to try for an aviator's badge," announced Paul Perkins, asRob declared the official business at an end.
"Say, Rob, what's the matter with our fixing up a wireless in the camp?I'm pretty sure I can make one that will catch anything in ahundred-mile radius."
"That's a good idea," assented Rob; "if you can do it we can get a lotof good out of it, I don't doubt."
"What's the good of wireless when we've got wig-wagging and thesemaphore code," spoke up Simon Jeffords, who was inclined to doubt theuse of any other form of telegraphy but that in which he had perfectedhimself.
As for Martin Green, Walter Lonsdale and Joe Digby, they contentedthemselves with hoping that they might receive their badges assecond-class scouts when the camp was over.
"I can take the whole tests except cooking the meat and potatoes in the'Billy,'" bemoaned young Green, a small chap of about thirteen."Somehow, they always seem to burn, or else they don't cook at all."
"Well, cheer up, Martin," laughed Rob. "You'll learn to do it in camp.We'll make you cook for the whole time we're out there, if youlike--that will give you plenty of practice."
"No, thank you," chimed in Andy Bowles. "I've seen some of Mart'scooking, and I think the farther you keep him from the cook fire, thebetter for the general health of the Eagle Patrol."
At this moment there came a rap on the door.
"Come in!" shouted Rob.
In reply to this invitation, the door opened and a lad of about fifteenentered. His face was flushed and he bore in his hand a long sheet ofgreen paper.
"Hello, Frank Farnham," exclaimed Rob glancing at the boy's flushed,excited face. "What's troubling you?"
"Oh, hello, Rob. Excuse me for butting in on your ceremonies, but Iwas told Paul Perkins was here."
"Sure he is, Frank," exclaimed Paul, coming forward. "What's thematter? It's much too warm to be flying around the way you seem tohave been. Come in under this fan."
He indicated an electrically driven ventilator that was whirring in acorner of the room.
"Quit your fooling, Paul," remonstrated Frank, "and read this circular.Here."
He thrust the green "dodger" he carried into the other's hand.
"What do you think of that, eh?" demanded Frank, as Paul skimmed itwith delighted eyes.
The circular contained the announcement of a lecture on aeronautics bya well-known authority on the subject who had once been a resident ofHampton. To stimulate interest in the subject, the paper stated that afirst prize of fifty dollars, a second prize of twenty-five, and athird prize of ten dollars would be given to the three lads of the townmaking and flying the most successful models of aeroplanes in a publiccompetition. To win the first prize it would be necessary for the modelto fly more than two hundred feet, and not lower, except at the startand end of the flight, than fifty feet above the ground. The secondprize was for the next best flight, and the third for the modelapproaching the nearest to the winner of the second money.
"Now, Paul, you are an aeronautic fiend," went on Frank, "So am I, andHiram has the fever in a mild way. What's the matter with you twofellows forming a team to represent the Boy Scouts, and I'll get up ateam of village boys, to compete for the prizes."
"That's a good idea," assented Hiram Nelson. "I've got a model almostcompleted. It only needs the rubber bands and a little testing and itwill be O.K., or at least I hope so. How about you, Paul?"
"Oh, I've got two models that I have got good results from," repliedthe boy addressed. "One is a biplane. She's not so speedy, but verysteady; and then I have a model of a Bleriot. I'm willing to entereither of them or both."
"And I've got a model of an Antoinette, and one of a design of my own.I don't know just how well it will work," concluded Frank modestly,"but I have great hopes of carrying off that prize."
"Let's see who else there is," pondered Hiram.
"There's Tom Maloney. He'll go in, I know; and Ed Rivers and two orthree others, and then, by the way, I almost forgot it, I met SamRedding, Jack Curtiss and Bill Bender, reading a notice of thecompetition, just before I came up. Of course, as there is a chance ofwinning fifty dollars, Jack is going to enter one, and Bill Bender saidhe would put one in, too."
"What do they know about aeroplanes?" demanded Paul.
"Not a whole lot, I guess; but Jack said he was going to get a bookthat tells how to make one, and Bill said he'd do the same."
"How about Sam?" inquired Rob.
"Oh, I guess he's got troubles enough with his hydroplane," respondedRob, whose father had told him at dinner that day of Sam's vain visitto the bank.
"It would be just like those fellows to put up something crooked onus," remarked Paul, who had had much the same experiences with thebully and his chums as his schoolmates generally.
"Oh, there'll be no chance of that," Frank assured him. "A localcommittee of business men is to be appointed to see fair play, and Idon't fancy that even Jack or Bill will be slick enough to get awaywith any crooked work."
"How long have we got to get ready?" asked Hiram suddenly.
"Just a week."
"Wow! that isn't much time."
"No; my father told me that Professor Charlton, whom he knows, wouldhave given a longer time for preparation but that he has to attend aflying meet in Europe, and only decided to lecture at his native townat the last moment. Lucky thing that most of us have got our modelsalmost ready."
"Yes, especially as this notice says," added Paul, who had been readingit, "that all models must be the sole work of the contestants."
"If it wasn't for that it would be easy," rema
rked Hiram. "You can buydandy models in New York. I've seen them advertised in the papers."
"Well, come on over now and put your name down, as a contestant. Theblanks are in the office of the Hampton News," urged Frank.
"I guess we're all through up here, Rob, aren't we?" asked Hiram.
"Yes," rejoined the young leader; "but you study up on your woodcraft,Hiram, and devote more time to your signaling. You are such a bug onwireless that you forget the rest of the stuff."
"All right, Rob," promised Hiram contritely. "By the time we gocamping I'll know a cat track from a squirrel's, or never put adetector on my head again."
Piloted by Frank, the two young scouts made their way to the office ofthe local paper, which had already placed a large bulletin announcingthe aeroplane model competition in its window. Quite a crowd wasgathered, reading the details, as the three boys entered.
They applied for their application blanks and walked over to a desk tofill them out. As they were hard at work at this, Jack Curtiss and histwo chums entered the office.
"You going into this, too?" asked the proprietor of the paper, EphraimParkhurst, as Jack loudly demanded two blanks.
"Sure," responded Jack confidently, "and we are going to win it, too.Hullo," he exclaimed, as his eyes fell on the younger lads, "those kidsare after the prize, too. Why, what would they do with fifty dollarsif they had it? However, there's not much chance of your winninganything," he added, coming up close to the boys, with a sneer on hisface. "I think that I've got it cinched."
"I didn't know that you knew anything about aeroplanes," responded Paulquietly. "Have you got a model built yet?"
"I know about a whole lot of things I don't go blabbing round toeverybody about," responded the elder lad, with a sneer, "and as forhaving a model built, I'm going to get right to work on one at once.It'll be a model of a Bleriot monoplane, and a large one, too. Inotice that there is nothing said in the rules about the size of themachines."
Soon after this the three chums left the newspaper office together.
"Say," remarked Paul, in a rather worried tone, "I don't believe thatthere is anything said about the size of the models. Bill may build agreat big one and beat us all out."
"I suppose that the big machines would be handicapped according totheir power and speed," rejoined Frank. "However, don't you worryabout that. I don't believe that Jack Curtiss knows enough about thesubject to build an aeroplane in a week, and anyhow, I think it's allempty bluff on his part."
"I hope so," replied Paul, as they reached his front gate. "Will yoube over to-night, Hiram, to talk things over? Bring your models withyou, too, will you?"
"Sure," replied Hiram; "but I've got to do a few things at home aftersupper. I'll be over about eight o'clock or half-past."
"All right. I'll be ready for you," responded Paul, as the lads saidgood-by.
A few minutes later Jack Curtiss and his chums emerged from thenewspaper office, the former and Bill Bender having made out theirapplications. Sam seemed more dejected than ever, but there was a grinof satisfaction on Jack Curtiss' face.
"Well, we sent the note, all right," he laughed under his breath, tohis two chums. "He'll have got it by this time, and will be in town bydark. You know your part of the program, Sam. Don't fail to carry itout, or I'll see that you get into trouble."
"There's no need to worry about me, Jack," rejoined Sam, with an angryflush. "I'll get the boat as soon as he lands, and keep it out ofsight till you've done the trick.
"Nothing like killing two birds with one stone," grinned Bill Bender."My! what a time there'll be in the morning, when they find out thatthere's been a regular double cross."
"Hush! Here come those three kids now," warned Sam, as Rob, Merrittand Tubby came down the street. After what had passed they did notfeel called upon to give the bully and his companions more than a coldnod.
"Well, be as stuck up as you like to this after-noon!" sneered Jack,after they had gone by, taking good care, however, that his voice wouldnot carry. "I guess the laugh will be on you and your old friend ofthe island to-morrow."
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