



Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Dave Morgan, Rod Crawford
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
http://www.pgdp.net









                             THE BOY SCOUTS
                                   AT
                           MOBILIZATION CAMP


                                   BY
                             ROBERT SHALER

   AUTHOR OF "THE BOY SCOUTS OF THE SIGNAL CORPS," "THE BOY SCOUTS OF
                       PIONEER CAMP," ETC., ETC.


                                NEW YORK
                            HURST & COMPANY
                               PUBLISHERS

                          Copyright, 1918, by
                           Hurst & Co., Inc.




                               CONTENTS.


  CHAPTER.                                                         PAGE.
  I Good Luck                                                          5
  II A Breakdown on the Road                                          18
  III Rising Suspicions                                               30
  IV The Hold-up                                                      39
  V An Echo from the Past                                             48
  VI The Burning Bridge                                               62
  VII The Accusation                                                  73
  VIII In the Mobilization Camp                                       84
  IX the Disappearance of Felix                                       95
  X Bud Morgan on the Scent                                          106
  XI The Value of a Good Reputation                                  117
  XII The Search Squad                                               128
  XIII The House by the Roadside                                     140
  XIV A Successful Round-up                                          149




                  The Boy Scouts at Mobilization Camp




                               CHAPTER I
                               GOOD LUCK


"Honest Injun, Hugh, I never wanted to go anywhere half so much as I do
right now to drop in at that State camp where the militia has started
mobilizing."

"Just so, Bud, and, to tell you the truth, I'm feeling the same way
myself. Ever since we scouts waved good-bye to our gallant Battery K
some five miles up the road, and watched the last gun, caisson and
supply wagon disappear over the crown of Kettledrum Hill, I've had that
picture in my mind."

"Say, I wager things are just _humming_ over at that same camp, Hugh,"
sighed the first boy in faded khaki, "Bud" Morgan by name, and a member
of Oakvale's famous Boy Scout Troop.

"They certainly must be," admitted his comrade, who wore the insignia of
rank that marks not only a patrol leader, but an assistant scout master
as well. "This morning's paper says that besides our fellows, there is a
full regiment already in camp, not to mention other commands, such as
the Engineers', Signal Corps and Red Cross detachments."

"Don't forget to count the Aviation Squad, Hugh," added Bud, eagerly.
"You know, I'm head over ears interested in the birdmen and their
doings, as well as in signaling, surveying and inventions."

"Yes, it certainly must be a glorious sight," Hugh said enviously. "To
tell you the truth, old fellow, I'm lying awake nights trying to think
up some reasonable excuse for paying a flying visit to the concentration
camp."

"Anyhow," remarked Bud, brightening up a little, "we can squeeze some
satisfaction out of the fact that the scouts had a heap to do with
getting Battery K off to the camp with their roster on a full war
footing."[1]

"We've undertaken an all-summer job helping to run the Pastor farm for
the crippled old man, so his boy, Corporal Tony, could go to the Mexican
border with his company. That's one way scouts can help Uncle Sam when
trouble comes along. It's partly on account of that promise I'm holding
back about leaving Oakvale."

"Oh! so far as that goes, Hugh," said Bud, slyly, after the manner of a
tempter, "you've got the programme all laid out, and Alec Sands could
take your place for a week. The site for the camp we expect to start up
there near the Pastor farm has been arranged, so the boys would make the
hike, and then be handy in getting the hay crop cut, and have it taken
to the barn inside of ten days. If you took a notion, Hugh, don't you
think the two of us might manage to get away? Try hard and think up some
good excuse for making the trip. A dozen people here in Oakvale would
want to send messages and packages to their boys, you know."

Hugh Hardin laughed at the entreating manner of his companion. They were
standing at the time in front of the post office building, where people
kept coming and going in squads and singly, for that was one of the
busiest places in the mill town of Oakvale.

Hugh and Bud both belonged to the _Wolf_ Patrol of the troop, which was
in a most flourishing condition, having four full patrols, and another
well along. These enterprising lads of Oakvale had been more or less in
the lim