Produced by Jim Ludwig
THE BOY SCOUTS OF THE FLYING SQUADRON
by
Scout Master Robert Shaler
CHAPTERS
I. The Two Wolf Patrol Boys
II. A Camp Supper
III. The Mysterious Explosion
IV. Reading a "Sign" by Torchlight
V. The "Fool-Proof" Aeroplane
VI. A Red Letter Day in the Woods
VII. Bud's Meteor
VIII. Uncle Sam's Flying Squadron
IX. Friends in Khaki
X. Up in a War Monoplane
XI. Good-By to the Foreign Spies
XII. Home Again
"I want to own up that I'm pretty nearly all in and done for!"
"Same here, Bud. The going was tough over that frozen side of old
Stormberg mountain. Then we are carrying such loads into the bargain."
"For one, I'm glad we are nearly there, Hugh."
"Yes, another steady pull and we ought to strike the shanty. We aimedto get to it by nightfall, you remember, Bud."
"Yes, and after eating such a big Thanksgiving dinner, we've beenpretty spry to accomplish all we have. Why, I haven't had a pullanything like this since we broke camp last summer up at Pioneer Lake!"
"And we never could have done it only for the lift we got fromFarmer Badgely, going home from market. That put us some miles onthe way. If you've rested enough, Bud, perhaps we would better be onthe move again. The sun is getting close to the diving line, younotice."
"Here goes, then!"
With these words Bud Morgan, first-class scout and one of the leadingboys in the Wolf Patrol, inserted his arms in the loops of the packhe was handling, and managed to heave it on to his sturdy back.
His companion did likewise, for each of them was "toting" much morethan the customary amount of luggage that a scout on the hike wouldcarry with him.
This comrade was an agile chap, about the same weight as Bud, butwith a wide-awake expression on his face that let everybody know inthe start that he was one of those born leaders who forge to thefront through circumstances often beyond their control.
Hugh Hardin was not only leader of the Wolf Patrol. Sometimes he hadbeen deputized to act in place of the regular scout master of thetroop, when Lieutenant Denmead and Assistant Rawson chanced to becalled away and could not serve. So well had Hugh carried out histask on such occasions, it was generally accepted as a foregoneconclusion that in case the latter officer resigned, as he had latelygiven hints of doing, Hugh would be elected in his stead. There mightbe a few boys in the troop, now consisting of four patrols, who wouldprefer to see Alec Sands, leader of the Otters, placed in that elevatedposition, but his popularity was confined to his particular chums,while that of Hugh embraced members of every patrol.
On this day, Hugh and Bud had started from home immediately afterpartaking of a glorious Thanksgiving feast. As all preparations hadbeen made for this trip up into the wilderness many miles above thehome town, it was evident that they had a particular object in view;which, in fact, was the case.
Bud Morgan was rather given to conjuring up new and sometimesstartling inventions. These he usually tried upon some of his matesand not always in a fashion to add to their peace of mind, either.On more than one occasion in the past they had been suddenlyconfronted by some innovation that for the