That was the most Lige had ever said before the boys. Walter Osborne turned red in the face with confusion. He felt heartily ashamed of the sly little dig he had given Lige earlier in the evening. Being a frank, candid boy, Walter did not hesitate when he saw his duty clear before him, for he immediately walked straight up to Lige and thrust out his hand, and said:
“I’m sorry if I’ve said anything to hurt your feelings, Lige, and I don’t care who hears me tell it. Honestly, I’m surprised that you’ve done as well as you have with such a handicap on your shoulders. I couldn’t do half as good myself; and from this time on you’ll never hear a whisper from me. I’m proud to shake hands with you and call you my friend.”
And when the scouts separated it was in a far more brotherly frame of mind because of this manly action on the part of Walter Osborne.
CHAPTER III.
ON DUTY AT THE FAIR.
“Everything seems to be in good working order now, Hugh. Even our emergency doctor, Arthur, goes into the hospital tent every ten minutes to mosey around; and I kind of suspect he’s almost wishing that some sort of case would crop up just to let him show his hand at first aid.”
It was Billy Worth doing this talking.
The days had crept by, and now the Fair was a thing of the present. It had really opened with the usual ceremonies that noon, and a throng of people kept pushing in through the several gates, many of them coming from a distance.
The scouts had been energetically at work on the preceding afternoon and evening, some of them getting up at dawn on Wednesday morning in order to complete their arrangements as far as possible.
Two khaki-colored tents, supposed to be waterproof in case of a drenching rain, had been erected on the site given over to their camp use. In one of these the boys had arranged a couple of blanket beds, such as they were in the habit of using when camping out in the woods. These were complete, even to fragrant hemlock browse under each blanket to take the place of the comfortable mattresses at home.
In fact, it was as decent a camp as the ingenuity of the scouts could devise; a number of the fellows gave it some finishing touches that added much to its appearance. They knew that thousands of visitors would manifest a great deal of curiosity in their little model camp. Many of them had no idea how boys lived when on an outing and it was to disarm criticism that all this trouble was taken.