Finally Elmer strode forth from the tent.
"I'm going to take a little turn around, George," he remarked casually, "and see what this part of the country looks like."
"All right, Elmer," the busy one told him, "I can manage alone, I guess, because I've got a heap to do before I'm satisfied with the way things look. No use telling you to not get lost; because that'd be next to impossible."
"Nevertheless," the scout-master assured him, "I mean to keep on the alert, for when you're in the woods constant vigilance is the price of safety. I always take observations as I go along; and notice many queer-shaped trees, so that I'll know them again when I see them. I also look back considerably, too, because it pays to notice how things appear from the other side."
"It certainly does," agreed George, very amiably; "I've had that experience myself more than once. Thought I had taken stock of bent-over trees and rock formations, yet on trying to follow the trail back, they all looked vastly different from what they had before. Taught me a lesson I've never forgotten either. Well, so-long, Elmer. I'll expect you when you turn up. I hope though you don't happen to run foul of that ugly poacher chap, Jem Shock. I didn't much fancy the cut of his jib when we met him on the road; and I reckon he'd be a bad one to rile up."
Elmer only laughed lightly and walked off. He had cut a stout cane, and this was the only kind of weapon he cared to carry along. It would serve him in good stead should he happen to come across a rattlesnake, for this was likely to happen at any time, since they had been warned by the friendly farmer that such venomous reptiles abounded along Raccoon Bluff. And in case a bobcat should turn up, Elmer fancied he could defend himself against attack with that choice staff. Besides, it was not often that a cat was to be met with in broad daylight, since they prefer to do most of their wandering about in search of food after nightfall comes.
He stopped and looked back at the camp. It had a very picturesque appearance just at that time, with the fire casting up a spiral of smoke toward the clear heavens, George bustling around in the capacity of campkeeper; and the whole overhung by those magnificent trees.
Elmer dearly loved this sort of thing. Something implanted in his nature, coming down possibly from far-back ancestors who used to hunt game for a living, caused the boy to possess an earnest yearning to spend a season every year in the primeval wilderness, close to Nature's heart. It was as near the "call of the wild" as the ordinary boy ever gets, since school duties, as well as home ties, have dominion over him most of the year.
Elmer prepared to enjoy himself to the full. The air was certainly delicious at this time in the morning, though growing rapidly warmer as the sun climbed higher. All outdoors seemed to be rejoicing with him. He could hear the merry voices of insects all around; the croaking of frogs in a nearby marshy spot he passed; and the constant cawing of crows in the treetops, as they prepared to sally forth bent on finding a late breakfast, or possibly teaching their young how to use their wings in short flights around the home nests.
"This is the life!" said Elmer, exultingly, as he walked along with a brisk step, and used his eyes to notice a thousand and one things around him, most of which would of a certainty never be seen at all by an ordinary boy, until his senses had been sharpened, brought about through practical scout activities.