Nobody doubted Davy's excited words, as he danced wildly about, slapping first at a smouldering spark on the right leg of his khaki trousers; and then furiously attacking another burning spot on the sleeve of his coat; only to throw his campaign hat down, and jump on it, under the belief that it was threatened with immediate destruction.
Some of the other scouts had managed to scramble to their feet about this time; and seeing that they were not in danger themselves, could afford to lend a hand in order to save the garments of the unlucky Jones boy.
"Now your suit's a fine sight!" ejaculated Step Hen.
"Perfectly dreadful!" remarked Smithy, with a shudder; for to the mind of this member of the patrol, with his ideas of what neatness stood for, no punishment could have exceeded such a catastrophe as the one that had overtaken Davy.
But after finding that his neck had not been dislocated by his fall; and that, while there would be a few holes here and there about his clothes, they were still fairly presentable, Davy only grinned with his customary good nature.
"You certain sure are the limit;" declared Bumpus, surveying the other with a frown on his rosy face. "Better grow a tail, and be done with it. Then you could take your monkey-shines to the woods, where they'd be appreciated."
"Now that's what I call the unkindest cut of all," replied Davy. "I leave it to the crowd if I wasn't only obeyin' orders? Didn't you call out to me to come down? Well, didn't I?"
"Huh! but you needn't a spilt our fire that way," grumbled Bumpus, who however was secretly just as much amused over the affair as any of the rest. "When I say 'come down' you needn't think I mean for you to obey as fast as that. Reckon you must a tried some dodge that wasn't as easy as it looked, and you lost your grip."
"Here's what did it for me," said Davy, stooping, and picking up a piece of broken limb, which Thad remembered seeing fall at the same time the boy scattered the embers of the fire. "Rotten as punk, and went back on me. But don't you believe for a minute because I was hangin' head down right then, I struck that way. Easiest thing in the world to turn a flip-flap in the air. I sat down in that fire; that's why my pants got the worst of the burns. And say, do I limp when I walk, because I'm feeling a little sore?"
"Not much more'n usual," remarked Bumpus, cheerfully.