“Ha! let Davy do that!” cried Giraffe, quickly; at which there was a shout that must have made the two guides stare, until the joke was explained to them.
It seemed that once upon a time Davy had been subject to sudden severe cramps in his stomach, that used to double him up like a hinge, and render him incapable of action. His teachers at school had been duly warned, and many an afternoon had Davy been granted leave to go home because of a sudden attack; though it must have departed as suddenly as it came; since he was generally seen flying his kite on that same afternoon. And the cramps never attacked him on a dull, rainy day.
When he joined the scouts Davy, wishing to shirk hard work, had commenced to have these queer cramps; but wise Thad, believing that the other must long ago have outgrown the disorder, and was only shamming, laid down a course of treatment so severe that, singular to relate, Davy had ever since been utterly free from the infliction; which the rest of the boys considered simply wonderful.
And that was why there was a shout, with all eyes turned toward Davy Jones, when by mere accident Step Hen mentioned the word “fit.”
But Davy only colored up a bit, and grinned amiably.
“That’s a dead issue, fellers, so you needn’t stare at me that way,” he remarked, composedly. “Never again. Thad cured me right off the reel. ‘Nothing like heroic treatment, when all else fails,’ he said; and it did the job, clean as a whistle. I never can have a fit again, if I tried.”
“You’d better not,” remarked Bumpus, solemnly winking his left eye at Step Hen, and significantly touching a good-sized club he had at his side.
But that howling of the wolves, hunting their supper far away, did not keep the boys from enjoying a good night’s sleep. Of course there was some sort of watch kept; but those who were not entrusted with the vigil had no reason to bother their heads over it. All night long they slept in absolute safety. If Eli, Jim, Allan and the scoutmaster took turns being on deck, to make sure the camp was not raided, that fact did not keep the other four from slumbering as peacefully as though tucked in their beds at home, and under the parental roof.
Another dawn found them awake, and only too anxious to get a good warm fire started; for the frost was surely around them, and at that early hour it bit severely, too. But they could always depend on Giraffe to coax the wood to do its best in dispelling the cold atmosphere; and soon they were no longer shivering, but fully dressed, and assisted in getting breakfast.
Thad cast his eye upward several times during the progress of the meal.