CHAPTER IX--The New Tenderfoot
The next day was as sunshiny, clear and delightful as any that hadgreeted the Boy Scouts since their visit to Maine. As before, theyprepared their morning meal out of doors, cleaned the dishes, and laidthe fuel for use at midday.
Naturally the thoughts of all turned to Instructor Uncle Elk, who was togive them their first lesson in woodcraft. They felt they were fortunatein this respect and were sure of gaining a good deal of valuableknowledge.
"He said he would be here at half-past eight," remarked Scout MasterHall; "he carries no watch but most of you have timepieces; it will beinteresting to note how nearly he hits it. Possibly he may be a littleahead of time, but I should be willing to wager anything he will not bea minute late."
"He ought to be allowed some margin," said Patrol Leader Chase; "for hehas two miles to tramp through the woods, and is likely to vary a littleone way or the other."
"What time does your watch show?"
A general comparison of timepieces followed. Inevitably a slightvariation showed here and there, but the agreement was that it waspractically a quarter past eight. A number glanced in the direction ofthe wood where the old man was expected to appear but he was invisible.
"There is always the possibility of accident----"
"There he comes!" exclaimed several.
"It isn't he," said the Scout Master, "it's a stranger."
The others had noted the fact, and the wonder grew when they observedthat the person approaching wore the garb of a Boy Scout. He steppedboldly into view from among the trees, a hundred yards away, and cameforward with an erect, dignified gait. In his left hand he grasped aheavy buckthorn cane, which he handled as if it were a plaything insteadof an aid in walking. His pace was deliberate, his shoulders thrown backand his chest thrust forward, as if he held a high opinion of his ownimportance.
It was noticed even that his necktie dangled over his breast, thatartifice as you know being a favorite one among Boy Scouts to remindthem of their duty of doing a good turn for some one before the set ofsun.
Twenty paces away the visitor halted with military promptness, andwearing the same solemn visage made the full salute.
"Where are yer manners, and ye calling yersilves Boy Scouts?" demandedthe newcomer indignantly; "can't ye recognize a high mucky-muck when hehonors ye by noticing ye, as Jim O'Shaughnessy asked the Prince of Waleswhen he pretinded he did not obsarve him?"
Alvin Landon and Chester Haynes happened to be on the edge of the partyfarthest removed from the caller, whom they had identified at the firstglimpse.
"It's Mike, as sure as I live!" whispered Alvin; "let's keep in thebackground for a few minutes; he hasn't noticed us."
It was surely strange that the scouts in their wonderment forgot for themoment to greet one of the brotherhood who had appeared so suddenly uponthe scene. They made amends by crowding round him with profuseapologies, shaking his hand and giving him a cordial welcome. It was theunanimous consensus of the troop that they had never seen a redder mopof hair, a more freckled face, a snubbier nose and more generalhomeliness of countenance concentrated in one person; nor had they everobserved a finer set of teeth--though the mouth was big--or bluertwinkling eyes. As I have remarked before, the Irish lad suggestedAbraham Lincoln, of whom it was said that he traveled the whole circleof homeliness and came back to the starting point of manly beauty.
Alvin and Chester now walked forward and greeted their old friend, whowas as glad to see them as they were to meet him.
"Why were you so late?" asked Alvin, when the exclamations were over.
"'Twas yer own fault, fur ye made the mistake of addrissing yer letterto dad instead of to mesilf, as ye mustn't forgit to do when yerbus'ness is of importance. It was like him to furgit to ask me for thedockymint till it was too late to board the expriss for Gosling Lake."
"How is it you come so early in the day? Have you been walking all nightor sleeping in the woods near by?"
"I passed yer camp yisterday, but obsarved yer were not riddy to resaveme in fitting style and not wishing to embarrass ye I called on a frindof mine."
"What friend have you in this part of the country?" asked the astonishedChester.
"An uncle on me cousin Tim's side."
"What's his name?"
"Uncle Elk."
Alvin now introduced Mike to Scout Master Hall and the boys. All knewthat a friend was expected, and they were sure of his identity when theyheard the greetings between the comrades.
"So you are acquainted with that fine old gentleman?" was the pleasedinquiry of the head of the Boy Scouts.
"It has that look, whin I supped wid him last night, stayed tillmorning, took breakfast and was started by him on me way to yersilves."
"He spent several hours with us yesterday and promised another visitto-day. In fact, we were watching for him when you came out of thewoods."
"He niver hinted a word of the same to mesilf. If ye are expicting him,"said Mike with a characteristic grin; "I won't longer deny that I lostme way yisterday, and if he hadn't found me I'd had to roost among thelimbs of the trees till this morn."
"I don't understand why Uncle Elk did not keep you company when heexpected to follow you so soon," said Alvin.
"He hasn't been out of my sight for a minute since he left my home."
All looked in the direction of the familiar voice. Their Instructor inWoodcraft had appeared among them as unobtrusively as a shadow.
Scout Master Hall looked at his watch. The hands showed that it lackedtwenty-eight minutes to nine. Uncle Elk remarked:
"I stood behind the oak for a couple of minutes; I did not tell Michaelof my engagement with you, for I wanted to observe what benefit myinstruction last night was to him."
"Didn't I do foine?" asked the proud youth.
"You did not; I directed you to hold to a straight line till you reachedcamp, but you twisted and shifted about until more than once I thoughtyou would turn back to my cabin."
"Ye see, Uncle Elk, I couldn't furgit that winsome breakfast ye gave me,and then, too, some of the trees had a way of getting in front of me andI had to turn out for 'em or walk through 'em, as Jim O'Toole tried todo whin he found all the Horse Guards drawn up in front of him."
"When you were half way here, you walked for fifty yards at right anglesto the right course. I was about to call to you when you see-sawedback."
"Begging pardon fur the same," said the grinning Mike, "I don'tunderstand that when I looked back many times I niver obsarved yersilf."
"You turned your head so slowly that you gave me notice of yourintention; if not close to a tree trunk, I stood still and you did notsee me. There are native tribes in India whose men when pursued willwhisk behind the rocks and instantly assume such fantastic attitudes,with arms akimbo and legs at queer angles, that the pursuers are likelyto mistake the whole company for so many leafless trees and pass themby."
The Instructor seemed to straighten up with his new responsibility.
"We shall plunge directly into the woods, following a course that willlead to my home. We have left so plain a trail on the leaves that youcan have no trouble. We shall proceed in loose order, all on the samelevel, with no officers except the Scout Master."
"I beg to amend that," said Bert Hall, "by saying that _you_ are theonly officer. So long as you are in charge, I am a private."
"Perhaps it is as well; go ahead."
By chance Mike Murphy assumed the lead, with Alvin and Chester a pace ortwo behind him. Permission was given to talk and the chatter becameincessant. The Instructor kept a little to the right so as to observethe action of each boy. He told them to use their eyes and to noteeverything,--the ground, the different species of trees, the foliage andthe birds. The forest had very little undergrowth and in the cooltwilight no exercise could have been more pleasant than tramping overthe velvety leaves with pine cones scattered here and there, and patchesof dry, spongy moss gently yielding to the tread like so
me rich,oriental carpet. While advancing in this disjointed fashion Mike cameabreast of a fallen pine, a couple of feet in diameter, its smoothtapering trunk extending twenty times as far before showing a limb. Mikerested one foot on the log and stepped lightly over. Alvin followed, butChester cleared the obstruction with one vigorous bound. Theircompanions did the same with the exception of two lads who merely liftedtheir feet over.
"Halt!" commanded the Instructor, in a sharp, military voice.
All obeyed and looked inquiringly at him.
"Of the whole party only two passed that obstacle in the right way. Myyoung friends, you must learn to save your strength when in the woods aswell as when elsewhere. Every one who rested one foot on the log had tolift the whole weight of his body to the height of the same; those wholeaped over, put forth unnecessary effort; the right method is simply tostep over the obstruction. Go ahead."
"Suppose now," said Mike to Alvin and Chester, "that log was six feethigh, wouldn't I be likely to split into twins if I tried to straddlethe same?"
Chester turned the question, expressed more gracefully, to theInstructor.
"He should always go round an obstacle. Never clamber over a mass ofrocks or anything of that nature, unless the distance is too great toflank the obstruction. Save your strength whenever you can, boys."
The scouts were now told to give special attention to the trees,different varieties of which were continually coming into view.
"Michael, tell me what you know of _that_."
The leader pointed his staff at a tree directly in front of the youth,who cocked his head to one side and squinted at it.
"With yer permission I beg leave to say we don't have such scand'lousgrowths in Ireland; it seems to be trying to shed its overcoat and notmaking a success of the same, as Mike Flaherty said after his friendshad tarred and feathered him."
The other boys were able to give satisfactory information. You are allfamiliar with the "shagbark" or "shellbark" white hickory, whichfurnishes you the delicious nuts that too many of you are inclined tocrack with your sound teeth. The wood is white, rich, solid and makesthe best kind of fuel. The tree itself is tall, graceful and has largeleaves. Its most striking peculiarity is the bark, which clings inshaggy slabs to the trunk, the patches being stuck in the middle withthe upper and lower ends curling outward; hence the name. In the autumn,when the frosts have popped open the husks, it is rare fun for a numberof boys to seize hold of a heavy beam of wood and use it as a batteringram. When after a brief, quick run it is banged against the trunk thenuts rattle down in a shower. No imported fruit can compare with ournative, thin-shelled hickory nut, which does not grow very plentifullyin Maine.
"These chaps know so much more than me about the trees," remarked Miketo his chums, "I'll show 'em proper respict by not introoding, as BerryMulligan said when he stepped into a hornets' nest."
"Tell me something about that evergreen," said the Instructor to IsaacRothstein, who was prompt in answering:
"It is a red cedar and I think one of the finest of all trees."
"Why do you think so?"
"Its heart is almost as red as blood, and the wood has a sweetfragrance; the sap is nearly white, the grain soft and weak, but it willlast for hundreds of years. I have seen beams of cedar that were laidbefore the Revolution and they were as sound as when hewn. Cedar woodmakes a good bow; the little berry-like cones are light blue in colorand hardly a quarter of an inch in diameter."
"What ground does it prefer?"
"It is fonder of dry than of damp places."
"You have done so well, Isaac, you may enlighten me as to that treewhich stands a little to the left of the cedar."
"That," replied the boy after a quick survey, "is a hemlock, which Idon't think much of. The wood is soft, coarse and doesn't endure well. Ihave heard it said that a hemlock knot is the hardest vegetable growthof the American woods."
"Such is the fact; a hemlock knot will turn the edge of a finelytempered axe or hatchet. Now, boys, take a look at the topmost twig, andtell me whether you notice anything peculiar."
Several replied that the twig drooped several inches to one side, thoughthere seemed nothing remarkable in that fact. Mike gravely remarked:
"The same being a branch, it is trying to _bough_."
The Instructor turned sharply:
"How do you spell that last word, young man?"
"B-a-w-h-g-x," was the instant response.
"All right," commented the mollified Instructor; "everything in thenature of punning is barred while I am in command."
"That is, if we try to pun you will pun----"
Mike dodged the upraised staff, and the Instructor resumed:
"The highest twig of a hemlock in nearly every instance dips to theeast, as does the one before us. You can understand how it may help aperson who has gone astray in the woods. I am sure you all admire thattowering oak, the picture of majesty and beauty."
As Uncle Elk spoke he indicated the forest monarch he had in mind, byleveling his staff at it. The boys looked from it to him in surprise.Mike loftily remarked:
"I was wondering, byes, how ye could give attintion to any other treewhin the oak raised its head afore ye. It is like a lion among a lot oflambs or mesilf amid a group of ignorant Boy Scouts. We have the oak inIreland, and ye can't fool me as to the same; it is a noble oak, Mr.Insthructor."
"It is not an oak," said Patrol Leader Chase; "but a white pine."
"I agree with you," added Uncle Elk.
"So do I; ye can't flop quicker than mesilf; it isn't the first time metongue has stubbed its toe."
"I shall be glad," said the Instructor, addressing Jack Grandall of theStag Patrol, "if you will tell me something about the white pine."
"It is the most famous tree in Maine and gives its name to the state.Many hundreds of thousands of acres are covered with it and millions offeet are taken out every year. It forms the basis of the lumbermen'sindustry, one of the chief sources of wealth and in whose behalf theutmost care is taken to save it from destruction by fire."
"Describe it more particularly."
"The leaves grow in bunches of five; they are four or five inches long,with the cones a little longer. The wood is soft, pungent, easily split,very buoyant, with straight grain and very inflammable. The resinouspine knots make the best of torches."
"Suppose a fire gets started among the pines?"
"It sweeps everything before it. There are a good many kinds of pines,which are told from one another by their cones. The tree is anevergreen."
"How tall is the one before us?"
Several made guesses and it was generally agreed that the splendidspecimen was very nearly if not quite two hundred feet high.
"I shall not accept any guesses," remarked the Instructor; "I wish toknow the exact height."
"How can we learn that?" asked Chester Haynes.
"Measure it. You know little of woodcraft if you cannot tell the preciseheight of such a tree when the sun is shining."
And now came Mike Murphy's triumph.
The Boy Patrol on Guard Page 9
