“All these fellows been telling me that,” said the chubby one. “I don’t like just oatmeal and bread! I guess they’re fooling, eh?”
“I hope so myself,” smiled Ted. “I’d like something else beside that!”
Mr. Calvert joined the group. “Don’t mind this boy and his demands for food, Thorn,” he said. “This is Al Barker, but the boys call him Drummer.”
“Why? Does he play a drum?” Ted asked.
There was a general laugh and Mr. Calvert explained. “No but he spends his time between meals drumming up an appetite for the next one! So the boys have always called him Drummer!”
“We’ll try to keep him so well filled that he won’t have to drum,” grinned Buck, while the stout boy looked pleased and relieved.
The boys drifted away to various occupations and the two chums talked over details with Mr. Calvert. A few more boys had arrived and the lawyer remarked that they were almost all on the spot.
“Are all of the boys of this same age?” Buck asked.
“All but one of them,” Mr. Calvert said, lowering his voice. “Or I should say, two of them, for we have one young boy of eleven and one boy of seventeen. It is of the older boy I wish to warn you. His name is Ralph Plum and he is actually too old for the club boys, but an uncle of his gave quite a bit of money toward starting the club and so has always been allowed to join in with them, though none of the trustees have felt very cheerful about it. He is a big hulking fellow and apt to be a trouble maker, so keep your eyes on him and use your own judgment. We’re hoping all the time that he’ll get tired of the club and leave, but so far he hasn’t, and it was with much regret that we learned that he was going to go on this trip. We’ve tried here to teach him something in the manly line, but haven’t progressed very far, I’m afraid. Speaking of bad pennies, there he is now.”
They turned to look at the boy who walked into the club house yard and were not impressed. He was as Mr. Calvert had described him, a huge fellow with wide-spreading shoulders and a rolling, careless walk. His camping outfit was brand new and his axe and knife were of the best. A fine pack was strapped to his back. But his face was a discontented one and he chewed gum with an assurance that was insolent. He passed them easily, nodding to Mr. Calvert and immediately took the ball away from the smaller boys and kept it for some time.