"Never you mind what's in it. Come ahead, Bill, and you Norris, and look out you don't step in the soup bucket. Is there a light over on shore?"
"Sure, they've got a lantern; trust Nick not to forget anything."
"I'm going so as to carry the lantern."
"Yes, you're not," said Scoutmaster Ned; "never mind your coat, Bill, come ahead. I hope they had sense enough to get hold of a machine somewhere. They could get Barney's flivver."
"Shall we signal over to them?" called a dozen excited voices.
"No, there isn't time. Come on now, hustle, and the rest of you go to sleep."
"While you're chasing thieves? Did you hear what he said? Go to sleep! Can you beat that, from a scoutmaster! And him always telling us to be wide awake."
"Get out of the way, all of you," said Scoutmaster Bill, alias Safety First. "You're like a lot of mosquitoes."
The whole camp followed the two scoutmasters and Norris to the shore, where there seemed likely to be a stampede for the one small boat.
"If you're going to take Norris--"