The Boy Scouts and the Prize Pennant

BY SCOUT MASTER ROBERT SHALER
AUTHOR OF “THE BOY SCOUTS OF THE SIGNAL CORPS,” “THE BOY SCOUTS OF PIONEER CAMP,” “THE BOY SCOUTS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,” “THE BOY SCOUTS OF THE LIFE SAVING CREW,” ETC., ETC.
NEW YORK HURST & COMPANY PUBLISHERS
Copyright, 1914, BY HURST & COMPANY
“Wasn’t that the far-away hoot of an owl just then, Mr. Scout Master?”
“I wonder if it could be one of those tenderfoot recruits that expect to make up the new Owl patrol of our troop? How about that, Hugh?”
“As you’ve put it up to me straight, Billy, I’ll tell you what I think. It’s out of the question for one of those greenhorns to be away up here in the woods; and it was too deep and heavy to be the call of even a big Virginia horned owl. If you fellows will take the trouble to look up through the treetops you’ll notice that there’s a lot of queer flying clouds racing overhead right now.”
“Whew! do you mean it’s going to storm , Hugh?” demanded the boy who had answered to the name of Billy. He seemed to be a good-natured, easy-going lad, though just now his face bore an expression of sudden concern.
“I’m sure that was the distant growl of thunder we heard,” came the answer from Hugh Hardin, an athletic fellow who had long been the leader of the Wolf patrol. Very lately, on the resignation of the assistant scout master of the troop, Hugh had been elected to that office, receiving a certificate from Boy Scout Headquarters in New York City that fully qualified him to serve in place of the real chief should the latter be unable to accompany the troop.
There were just four of the lads up in the woods, where they had come to spy out the chances for gathering a bountiful nut crop later on in the fall. Incidentally they practiced certain maneuvers that had to do with scout lore and knowledge of woodcraft.
Besides Hugh and Billy Worth, there were Bud Morgan and Arthur Cameron, the latter of whom had made rapid progress to the grade of a second-class scout, with aspirations for even better things.