Read Ebook: Roy Blakeley Pathfinder by Fitzhugh Percy Keese Hastings Howard L Howard Livingston Illustrator

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Ebook has 865 lines and 45119 words, and 18 pages

UNDAUNTED!

One thing about Harry Donnelle, he was a dandy fixer. When he fixed the camouflage for us so we could watch a chipmunk, I knew he was a good fixer. He said he learned how in France. He fixed the chimney on the cooking shack, too. That fellow could fix anything.

But a scoutmaster isn't so easy to fix. Lots of times I tried to fix it with Mr. Ellsworth and I just couldn't. He'd make me think that I wanted to do his way. He's awful funny, he can just make you think that there's more fun doing things his way. And I was trembling in my shoes-I mean I was trembling in my bare feet-for fear Harry Donnelle wouldn't be able to fix it with him. But that fellow could fix it with the sun to shine-that's what Mr. Burroughs said.

Pretty soon he came strolling down to the spring-board where a lot of us were having a dip in the lake.

"All right," he said, "how about you?"

"Did you fix it?" I asked him.

"All cut and dried," he said; "are you ready for the big adventure?"

That afternoon we had a special troop meeting, to find out how the fellows felt about splitting the troop for the journey home. Because you see our three patrols always hung together. Mr. Ellsworth made a speech and said how Harry Donnelle had offered to lead the fierce and fiery Silver Foxes through the perilous wilds of New York State. He said that the journey would be filled with interest and data of scientific value and how we hoped to cross the Ashokan Reservoir and visit other wild places. He said that we planned to enter the heart of the Artists Colony at Woodstock and see the artists in their native state and stalk some authors and poets, maybe, and study their habits.

Oh boy, you ought to have seen Harry Donnelle. He just sat there on the edge of Council Rock and laughed and laughed and laughed.

I could see that he winked at Harry Donnelle and Harry Donnelle was laughing so hard that he couldn't make a speech. So I climbed up on Council Rock and shouted, "Hear, hear" Then I made a speech and this is it, because afterwards I wrote it out in our troop book.

The next day was Wednesday and we started early in the morning. The others were going to start down in the house-boat on Saturday. I think the Ravens and the Elks must have sat up all night making crazy signs on cardboard just so as to guy us. And Mr. Ellsworth helped them, too. They had the whole camp with them-even Uncle Jeb; he's manager. He used to be a trapper.

GO!

Buy remember, I told you that the hike didn't really begin till we got to Catskill. The reason I don't count the hike from Temple Camp to Catskill is because we were all the time hiking down there. It wasn't a hike, it was a habit. I wouldn't be particular about three or four miles. Besides, I wouldn't ask you to take them, because they've been used before. I wouldn't give you any second hand miles.

When we got to Catskill we bought some egg powder and bacon and coffee and sugar and camera films and mosquito dope and beans and flour and chocolate. You can make a dandy sandwich putting a slice of bacon between two slabs of chocolate. Mm-um! We had a pretty good bivouac outfit, because the Warner twins have a balloon silk shelter that rolls up so small won can almost put it in a fountain pen-that's what Harry Donnelle said. Dorry Benton had his aluminum cooking set along, saucepans, cups, dishes, coffee pot-everything fits inside of everything else. One thing, we wouldn't starve, that was sure, because we had enough stuff to make coffee and flapjacks for more than a week, counting six flapjacks to every fellow and fourteen to Hunt Manners; oh boy, but that fellow has some appetite! We had plenty of beans, too. Don't you worry about our having plenty to eat.

When we got through shopping, we went to Warner's Drug Store for sodas. Harry Donnelle said he'd treat us all, because maybe, those would be the last sodas that we'd ever have. As we came along we saw Mr. Warner standing in the doorway and he was smiling with a regular scout smile.

"There's something wrong," I said; "there's some reason for him smiling like that."

"Have a smile for everyone you meet," Will Dawson began singing.

But, believe me, I know all the different kinds of smiles and there was something funny about Mr. Warner's smile. When we got inside we saw a big sign hanging on the soda fountain. It read:

A LAST FAREWELL TO THE SILVER PLATED FOXES BEFORE THEY ENTER THE JUNGLE

Harry Donnelle said, "All right, line up." So we all sat in a row and some summer people who were in there began to laugh. What did we care? One girl said she wished she was a boy; girls are always saying that. So that proves we have plenty of fun. I could see Harry Donnelle wink at Mr. Warner while the latter was getting the sodas ready. Then all of a sudden Harry said:

So then we all started at once and that was the beginning of the big hike. Just as I told you, it started at the top of the glasses in Warner's and ended in the bottom of the glasses at Bennett's.

I GO ON AN ERRAND

"Now to skirt the lonesome Catskills," Harry said.

"Now to what them?" Dorry Benton asked him.

"Skirt them," he said, "that's Latin for hiking around the edge of them. We don't want to be all the time stumbling over mountains."

"And we don't want to get mixed up with panthers and wild cats either," Harry said. And he gave me a wink.

"There aren't any wild animals in the Catskills," Charlie Seabury said.

"There are wild flowers," I said, "but they, won't hurt anybody."

"How about poison ivy?" Westy Martin said.

All the while as we hiked along the road toward Saugerties, we kept joking about the wild animals in the Catskills. Harry Donnelle said there used to be lots of wild cats and foxes, but not any more. He said there were some foxes, though.

Westy said, "I bet there are some bears; once Uncle Jeb saw a bear; he said there weren't any foxes any more."

"I guess there are some gray ones and maybe a few silver," Harry Donnelle said.

"Silver?" I shouted. "Oh boy!" Then I asked him what they fed on mostly.

"Mostly on ice cream sodas," he said; "they're very dangerous after a half dozen raspberry; sodas."

We didn't go near Saugerties, because we wanted to keep in the country, so we hit down southwest along the road that goes to Woodstock. Then we were going to hike it south past West Hurley so we'd bunk our noses right into the Ashokan Reservoir. And the next day we were going to spend trying to keep out of Kingston.

When it got to be about five o'clock in the afternoon, we hit in from the road to find a good place to camp. Maybe you think that's easy, but you have to find a place where the drainage is good and where there's good drinking water.

Pretty soon we found a dandy place about a quarter of a mile off the road, and we put up our tent there.

Harry Donnelle said, "There's one kind of wild animal that I forgot to mention and I guess we'll be hunting them all right; that's mosquitoes. I guess one or two of you kids had better hit the trail for the nearest village and complete our shopping before we get any further. What do you say? We're a little short on mosquito dope and we ought to have some crackers, and let's see, a little meat would go good. I'm hungry."

When we turned into the woods from the road, we knew that we were coming to a village and I guess that's what put the idea into Harry's head to have somebody go there and get two or three things that we hadn't been able to get in Catskill.

I told him that I'd go, because the rest would be busy getting in fire wood and I said it would be good if two or three of them tried to catch some fish in the brook.

Oh boy, I had hardly said that, when Ralph Warner shouted that he had a perch and that the brook was full of them. Harry Donnelle went over and saw for himself how it was, and then he came back and said to me that as long as there seemed to be plenty of fish I needn't bother about meat, but that I'd better go and see if I could scare up some more mosquito dope and some sinkers for fishing and a trowel to dig bait with, because if we liked the place we might stay there till noon the next day. That's the best way on a long hike-take it easy.

"How about Charlie Seabury?" I said; "he doesn't like fish."

"All right, get him a couple of chops, then," Harry said; "now can you remember all the things you're going to get? Mosquito dope, fishing sinkers, a writing pad and some stamps, and let's see--"

"Some crackers," I said.

"Righto," he shouted after me.

I DISCOVER SOME TRACKS

I went back through the woods and when I got to the road I noticed how it curved, and just then I saw a very narrow path on the opposite side of the road that led into the woods. I decided it must be a short cut to the village. So I started along that path.

Pretty soon the woods grew very thick and it wasn't so easy to follow the trail, because it was all overgrown with bushes. But I managed to keep hold of it all right, and after about fifteen minutes I came to a little stone house with the windows all boarded up and the door standing a little open. There was a staple on the door with an old padlock hanging on it, but I guess the padlock wasn't any good. One thing sure, nobody lived there. I went and peeked inside and saw that it wasn't meant for people at all, because there wasn't any floor and it was all dark and damp and there were lots of spider webs around. Even there was one across the doorway, so by that I knew that nobody had been there lately.

Right in the middle, inside, were a couple of rocks and water was trickling up from under them. That's what made me think that the place was just a spring house. Anyway, I didn't wait because I was in a hurry. When I came out I pushed the door open a little and then I closed it all but about a foot or so. Inside of an hour I was mighty sorry that I hadn't left it wide open, and you'll see why.

I guess I had gone about a hundred yards further when I noticed something in the trail that started me guessing. It was the print of an animal; or anyway, if it wasn't, I didn't know what else it was. There were six prints, something like a cat's, only the paw that made them had five toes. The other mark was the paw mark. It was the biggest print that I ever saw.

The first animal I thought about was a wild cat. But of course, I knew there weren't any wild cats right there. Even if there were any in that part of the country, they wouldn't be roaming around near villages. Anyway, the five toe prints had me guessing, because a wild cat has only four. I could see that the animal must have been crossing the path, because the print was sideways and the bushes alongside of the path were kind of trampled down.

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