PAUL LAYS DOWN HIS BURDEN
"There! I just caught a squint of him, back of the trees!" whooped William.
"And he's coming lickety-split, to beat the band, too. Oh! I hope it isn't a messenger from Stanhope to bring us any bad news!" cried Tom Betts; who had left a sick mother when he came on the trip, and whose conscience, perhaps, caused him to have a sudden fear.
More than one pair of cheeks lost some of their color, in that quick spasm of alarm, following this suggestion on the part of Tom.
"Listen, fellows; he's tooting his auto horn like fun! It gives me a scare for keeps!" ejaculated Philip Towne.
But Paul laughed aloud.
"Don't get frightened, fellows," he exclaimed, "I sure ought to know the sound of that old siren. That's my wheel; and who do you think's on it but our good scoutmaster, Mr. Gordon!"
"Hurrah!" came from a dozen pairs of lips, as the boys swung their hats aloft.
And this was the exciting picture that met the
eyes of the scoutmaster when he burst into view around a bend, and sighted the camp on the lake shore.