Then he climbed upon his seat and gathered up the reins. Hugh picked up the fallen whip and handed it to him. The dark foreigner smiled suddenly and, reaching over, put the whip into its socket. Then, clucking to his horse, he moved slowly down the road.
"Well, what do you think of that?" cried Billy, puzzled at the sudden capitulation.
"That?" returned Norton. "That is a bit of southern Europe—-tempest and sunshine, rage and child-like faith combined."
"Like a small boy, he needed to be managed," said Hugh, "and you knew how to do it."
With a new respect for Roy Norton, the two scouts joined him again on their inland hike. But they did not forget the incident, nor did they fail to relate it that evening to the other three boys, whom they found already established at camp around a blazing fire.
The next morning the returning parties exchanged routes for the homeward trip, but nothing more exciting was encountered than glimpses of orange groves, of pine barrens, of cypress swamps, and of numberless birds.
But their "hiking muscles" had been well exercised and they felt nearer to the heart of Florida because of their long tramp.
There were a number of letters waiting for the boys, some from their home people and others from the scouts who were enjoying the "Geological Survey" at Pioneer Camp. These the boys shared, eagerly discussing the news and wondering what plans would be made for the fall and winter.
Some of the things that actually did happen the following fall are related in "The Boy Scouts of the Flying Squadron."