“That ought to work all right,” Ted said, casting an appraising eye over his and his boys’ handiwork.
“Mighty nice piece of work,” approved Buck.
That night Ted called them to attention as soon as the evening meal was over and asked them if they wanted to play a night game. The response was instant and curiosity was expressed as to the nature of the game.
“This game is called Mountain Chase,” Ted told them. “We divide up into two squads and both squads must have lanterns. There are ten small lanterns in the truck, and that means that if we can divide into two squads—that is, if you all will play—there will be a lantern to every two men. Now, here is the point. The mountain squad goes out with lighted lanterns and gets a good twenty-minute start, time enough in which to lose themselves. As soon as the twenty minutes are up the camp squad goes out after them. The object of the camp squad is to capture the mountain men before they can sneak back into the camp, and the mountain men will, of course, try like the dickens to sneak back past the camp outfit and win their way into the camp.”
“The lanterns must be kept lighted at all times. If there is going to be any prowling around these mountains without a light, it will be the last time anyone goes out of the camp at night. We don’t want anybody to fall in a gully and get hurt. You may hide the lanterns behind a tree or your body if you think you hear an enemy coming, but no lights out! That wouldn’t be fair to the searchers, for you could slip past them in the darkness and reach the camp without any trouble. The game is just a game of skill with the lamps, and dodging your enemies.”
“How do we capture the other side?” was asked.
“Your enemy must be touched before he is officially captured, and in that the advantage is clearly with the camp party, because we’ll all be travelling in parties of two. Now, if the camp couple spot a couple of mountaineers sneaking along, the camp men can split and then run you down from two angles, though the split isn’t to be big enough to allow the man without a lantern to get far away from it. When the mountaineer with the lantern is touched he and his partner are both captured. Is everything clear?”
It seemed that it was and there was vast enthusiasm over the prospect of an evening of fun. The two older boys told off the two squads, lanterns were brought out and lighted, and the mountain squad prepared to go off.
“Remember, no lights out!” Ted warned them, as they started off.
Buck was with the mountain squad, paired off with Drummer, for whom he had a warm friendship, and at this final word from Ted they took to the hills, splitting up so that five points of light went bobbing and turning up into the darkness of the night, to be eventually blotted out between the trees.