Boy Scouts: Tenderfoot Squad

mer, pleasantly, as he dropped down on t

little unpleasant

sort of thing, but I incline in the direction of less strenuous employment. I can fiddle with a surveyor's outfit all day

eth together and make it my forte. I never would let a little thing like

t have guessed that the scout-master meant to reprove him

t's sure. I've given it a fair trial, and don't seem to get the hang of the old thing. Why, it's lucky, I rec

, once you lea

n't like to hear that kind of talk," grumbled Rufus, actually turning redder t

ob as learning how to handle an ax, if only you keep persistently at it, and never give up. A scout on being baffled once or twice just sets his teeth together, takes a fresh grip on himself, and says he's going to do that thing, no

and took hold of

I want to strike," he went on to say, after which he made several strokes and the stubbo

y, wonderingly; "but you're an old hand at it, E

grow accustomed to landing on a given spot. Practice makes perfect in that particular. And now, there's one great lesson for you in chopping wood, just as there is for every beginner. Take a look at the stick, see which way it will split easiest; and then if there's a nasty knot in it, as there

eant it should. Rufus flushed, and ju

pick out for me the toughest old chunk of oak you can find. We'll see if I

eart. He showed Rufus just how to take the right sort of grip on the ax, and several times corrected him when he struck violently. Of course the blows lacked much of the accuracy that long practice gives, and thus considerable energy was

s kindled also. Indeed, there was good reason for his self-congratulation; he had proven to himself that "where there is a will ther

little bit huffed because you spoke the way you did, Elmer, but now I thank you. I wouldn't be surprised but that I'd have caught tha

ttle, and the rest is in doing it. But you've chopped enough for a while;

n, because somehow I seem to have a sneaking notion we'll run across one of the survey lines close by here. You see, they run down fr

jections. I can understand how eager you must be to get your location fixed in the start; and I expe

were he would get lost the first thing. If given an opportunity, George, as a first-class scout, could begin the education of the tenderfoot thus placed in his charge; and the first lesson would be

ow the moss on the trees would serve as an

e moss is almost always on the north side of the trees, veering just a little toward northeast. Notice that fact well, Rufus,

iderable interest, George went on to tell of ot

lost in the woods, and keep wandering around for hours, and then have to make a lonely camp, and sit up most of the night list

the elongated scout explained to the Scotch lad, they would have need of co

would never allow him to give up easily. Nevertheless, Lil Artha knew Alec had faults that must be

readily sympathize with Alec; but at that he meant the other should see the error of his ways, and reform. So the tall member of the Wolf Patrol took it upon himself to be a mentor; and who so well fitted for t

customary habit of all scouts by fastening this to his coat in the morning in an upside-down position, until

his breath, "because a fellow would be a gillie if he couldnae find mony a chance to do something for sae s

es about you. There are four chums around, and if at any time, for instance, you took a notion to do my stint

erly at him, an

necessary exercise, Lil Artha," he hast

avy basket part of the way home from market. I've bound up the broken wing of a crow; yes, and I knew a scout who even helped one of those queer little tumble-bugs get his ball up a little rise, after he'd watched him fall back a dozen times, and then claim the right to alter his badge. The rest of the troop

ing words had found a firm lodgment in his heart. "I can see where it is a verra interestin

em as brothers. We usually have a pet squirrel ducking about the camp, picking up the crumbs; and birds will come, too, if you'r

erent conditions that it would take some time to change his habits, Lil Artha realized. Still, he liked the tenderfoot very mu

tion. Lil Artha did not believe he would have much trouble in posting Alec; getting him to govern his temper, and be kind to everything that had life, would be another proposition; but constant association with suc

r fire. I want to show you just how to go about that task, because there are a

s more than one way to start a blaze, which was to

e. Lil Artha had made this a sort of fad for some time past; and while several tricks were still beyond his comprehension, he had mastered a number o

le we're up here in the Raccoon Bluff camp. For instance, I'll make a blaze by rubbing flint and steel together, like the old Indians

"because I've read of it in Robinson Crusoe, or some ither

g thing, Alec, I promise you. And once you wake up to the fact that a scout can learn a thousand facts, if only he uses his eyes and his head, you'll be

a little interested in survey work mysel'. Rufus is clean crazy over it, too, and sometimes his fash is all aboot theodolites and chains a

blows of the ax and he had opened another cleft further along, into which he was able, with Lil Artha's directions, to place a second w

you bid fair to beat us all at the game, given a little time, and more experience. You've got a great swing, and seem able to hit a space the size of a d

is always a great accelerator in coaxing reluctant boys to

over his head. Lil Artha had turned aside, and did not chance to notice what the other was do

ry, which, however, almost immediately changed to a howl of alarm. Whirling around, the tall scout saw somet

d fairly and squarely on the shoulders of the astonished Scotch boy, and given him a severe case of fright. Lil Artha saw that it possesse