Around him, snug in their blankets, slept his new tent-mates. It was a strange feeling. Last night he had gone to bed in his familiar room back home in the city, with his father and mother close at hand. Tonight he lay out under canvas, in the forest-clad Lenape hills, listening to the unknown noises of the night and the deep breathing of his new-found companions—Mr. McNulty, and Lefty, and Joey, and the other Tent Two boys he had met at supper. On the line from the ridgepole hung his brand-new camping togs, and the other things he needed were neatly stowed beneath the bunk or in his wooden locker, as Lefty had shown him. Lefty had said that some baseball games were coming——
Dirk sighed. Lefty must know all about his ignominious return from his hunting trip that afternoon. If Lefty thought him a chump, perhaps he wouldn’t put him on the camp team! He could see now that he had made a fool of himself with his silly rifle, but how was he to know all the camp rules? And that Brick Ryan chap had snickered at him! Why did Ryan dislike him so? Thinking of Brick Ryan, the new camper drifted off into slumber....
He opened his eyes. His cheek was tingling. Something had trailed across his face in the dark!
Through the trees he saw the yellow sickle of a new moon. He remembered now. He was at Camp Lenape—— But whose was the voice close to his ear, whispering cautious words?
“Shh! Listen, Van Horn, are you awake?”
He turned his head, and saw the outline of a strange face above him. A boy whom he did not know had thus quietly aroused him in the dead of night.
“Put on your slippers and bathrobe and come on!” the voice urged. “Don’t wake up anybody else. This is just for you.”
“But what—what——” Dirk asked hoarsely. “I don’t believe I know you. What do you want me for?”
“Hurry up!” the strange boy urged. “It’s a party. We want you to be our guest. Just a little fun after taps, old man. Quick, now!”
Wonderingly, Dirk obeyed. He found his slippers and robe in the pale light, while his guide waited motionless. Taking care not to make the least noise to disturb the sleeping leader and the other boys of Tent One, Dirk crept softly out into the thin moonlight. His guide took his arm, and led the way down a path that skirted the upper row of tents, and then wandered into the mysterious shadow of the forest. A hundred yards beyond the farthest tent, the unknown boy stopped, and whispered close to Dirk’s ear.