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The Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts

GREAT HIKE

       *       *       *       *       *

THE HICKORY RIDGE BOY SCOUTS

A SERIES OF BOOKS FOR BOYS

By Capt. Alan Douglas, Scout-master


The Campfires of the Wolf Patrol

      Their first camping experience affords the scouts
      splendid opportunities to use their recently acquired
      knowledge in a practical way. Elmer Chenowith, a lad
      from the northwest woods, astonishes everyone by his
      familiarity with camp life. A clean, wholesome story
      every boy should read.


Woodcraft; or, How a Patrol Leader Made Good

      This tale presents many stirring situations in which
      the boys are called upon to exercise ingenuity and
      unselfishness. A story filled with healthful
      excitement.


Pathfinder; or, The Missing Tenderfoot

      Some mysteries are cleared up in a most unexpected
      way, greatly to the credit of our young friends. A
      variety of incidents follow fast, one after the other.


Fast Nine; or, a Challenge from Fairfield

      They show the same team-work here as when in camp. The
      description of the final game with the team of a rival
      town, and the outcome thereof, form a stirring
      narrative. One of the best baseball stories of recent
      years.


Great Hike; or, The Pride of The Khaki Troop

      After weeks of preparation the scouts start out on
      their greatest undertaking. Their march takes them far
      from home, and the good-natured rivalry of the
      different patrols furnishes many interesting and
      amusing situations.


Endurance Test; or, How Clear Grit Won the Day

      Few stories "get" us more than illustrations of pluck
      in the face of apparent failure. Our heroes show the
      stuff they are made of and surprise their most ardent
      admirers. One of the best stories Captain Douglas has
      written.


Under Canvas; or, The Hunt for the Cartaret Ghost

      It was hard to disbelieve the evidence of their eyes
      but the boys by the exercise of common-sense solved a
      mystery which had long puzzled older heads.


Storm-bound; or, a Vacation Among the Snow Drifts

      The boys start out on the wrong track, but their scout
      training comes to the rescue and their experience
      proves beneficial to all concerned.


Boy Scout Nature Lore to be Found in The Hickory Ridge Boy Scout Series,
all illustrated:--

      Wild Animals of the United States--Tracking--Trees and
      Wild Flowers of the United States--Reptiles of the
      United States--Fishes of the United States--Insects of
      the United States and Birds of the United States.


    _Cloth Binding_      _Cover Illustrations in Four Colors_
              _40c. Per Volume_

    THE NEW YORK BOOK COMPANY
    201 EAST 12th STREET       NEW YORK

       *       *       *       *       *


GREAT HIKE

Or

The Pride of the Khaki Troop


       *       *       *       *       *


COMPLETE ROSTER, WHEN THE PATROLS WERE FILLED, OF

THE HICKORY RIDGE TROOP OF BOY SCOUTS

MR. RODERIC GARRABRANT, SCOUT MASTER

       *       *       *       *       *

THE WOLF PATROL

    ELMER CHENOWITH, Patrol Leader, and also
    Assistant Scout Master

    MARK CUMMINGS
      TED (THEODORE) BURGOYNE
        TOBY (TOBIAS) ELLSWORTH JONES
          "LIL ARTHA" (ARTHUR) STANSBURY
            CHATZ (CHARLES) MAXFIELD
              PHIL (PHILIP) DALE
                GEORGE ROBBINS


THE BEAVER PATROL

Matty (Matthew) Eggleston, Patrol Leader

    "RED" (OSCAR) HUGGINS
      TY (TYRUS) COLLINS
        JASPER MERRIWEATHER
          TOM CROPSEY
            LARRY (LAWRENCE) BILLINGS
              HEN (HENRY) CONDIT
                LANDY (PHILANDER) SMITH


THE EAGLE PATROL

    JACK ARMITAGE, Patrol Leader
      NAT (NATHAN) SCOTT

    (OTHERS TO BE ENLISTED UNTIL THIS PATROL HAS
    REACHED ITS LEGITIMATE NUMBER)


       *       *       *       *       *

[Illustration:... and presently they followed on their motor
cycles.]


The Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts

GREAT HIKE

Or

The Pride of the Khaki Troop

by

CAPTAIN ALAN DOUGLAS

Scout Master







[Illustration]

The New York Book Company
New York

Copyright, 1913, by
The New York Book Company




CONTENTS


  CHAPTER                                                      PAGE
     I.--THE TALK IN AN APPLE TREE                               17
    II.--JASPER'S IDEA TAKES ROOT                                25
   III.--AS THE CLOCK IN THE TOWER BOOMED SIX                    33
    IV.--SIGNS OF TROUBLE                                        41
     V.--THE MOTORCYCLE SQUAD                                    49
    VI.--GETTING IN A RUT                                        57
   VII.--IN HOT PURSUIT                                          65
  VIII.--TWENTY-SEVEN MILES FROM HICKORY RIDGE AND HOME          73
    IX.--NEARING THE CRISIS                                      81
     X.--FOUND AT LAST                                           89
    XI.--THE HOWL OF THE WOLF SIGNAL                             97
   XII.--THE AMBUSH                                             105
  XIII.--FRIENDS IN TIME OF NEED                                113
   XIV.--HOW THE PLOT FAILED                                    121
    XV.--VICTORY--SISS! BOOM! HURRAH!                           129
   XVI.--"THE FINEST THING THAT EVER HAPPENED TO FAIRFIELD!"    137




GREAT HIKE

OR

THE PRIDE OF THE KHAKI TROOP




THE HICKORY RIDGE BOY SCOUTS




GREAT HIKE;

OR,

THE PRIDE OF THE KHAKI TROOP.




CHAPTER I.

THE TALK IN AN APPLE TREE.


A NUMBER of active boys were perched high among the heavily laden
branches of a big fall pippin apple tree, back of the old Philander
Smith house, located just outside the limits of the thriving town of
Hickory Ridge.

"Take care, Landy!" called out Chatz Maxfield, whose soft, mellow voice
told of his Southern birth; "that long ladder might chance to slip, suh,
and it would be a long ways to the ground!"

"Oh, shucks! I've got the upper end wedged fast in the crotch along the
outside of this limb, Chatz. And believe me, I'm getting my basket full
of the biggest yellow pippins you ever saw. Who cares for expenses,
anyhow?"

Landy, whose father owned the property, was very much inclined to be
fat; though he would never admit the fact; and was forever declaring he
had a new method of exercise that would reduce him to a "living
skeleton," sooner or later.

Besides Chatz Maxfield, whose real name, of course, was Charles, the
busy bees in the tree who were assisting their chum pick the ripe apples
on this late August day consisted of three fellows, all members of the
Hickory Ridge troop of Boy Scouts; and well known to every lad who has
read the preceding volumes in this series.

First there was Ty Collins. Every boy in town would know Ty as far away
as they could see him; for, when not going to school, winter and summer
he clung to an old red sweater that he seemed to love above all the
garments he possessed.

Then came a small fellow, Jasper Merriweather by name, whose one
ambition it was to get out of the "runt" class. Jasper was never weary
of asking some one to take his measure, and compare it with past
records; but thus far he had not made much progress toward reaching the
ordinary height of a lad of fifteen. Still, he clung to hope and tried
to fill his position as Number Four in the Beaver Patrol, to the best of
his ability.

Last of all, but by no means least, was Ted Burgoyne. Ted had the
misfortune to lisp when he grew the least bit excited; though no one
ever knew him to acknowledge the fact, and indeed, if accused, he would
grow very indignant, even while others could catch the fatal slip in his
warm denial.

They called him "Dr. Ted," for the very good reason that he had his
heart set on medicine and surgery, and often found himself in great
demand to practice on his fellow scouts. Outside of a few rather wild
theories, and a boy-like desire to have a little fun out of things, Ted
was quite practical. He was held much in respect by the twenty odd boys
constituting the khaki troop.

The Hickory Ridge troop had passed the experimental stage of progress,
and had become an established fact. Three patrols, of eight boys each,
were complete, and there were candidates to start a fourth, if they
could meet the requirements and feel capable of subscribing to the
twelve cardinal principles that every true scout has to try to live up
to.

Lately a rival troop had sprung up in Fairfield, led by one Matt Tubbs.
Formerly Matt had only been known as a great bully, and those who
trained with him had served under his banner simply through fear,
without a grain of respect.

But Matt had, strange to say, seen a great light. He had watched the
boys of the khaki troop in their open-air tests. Something in the
business seemed to appeal strongly to him; and then had come the
determination to start a troop in his town.

Of course he ran up against a snag in the beginning, for no boy with the
loose principles Matt held at that time could ever be accepted as a
scout. He studied the matter, watched the Hickory Ridge lads some more,
and then came the great awakening.

And now Matt Tubbs was on the right road. He controlled his followers
just as thoroughly as before, but generally in a different manner. They
respected him too. Still, once in a while the old spirit cropped out;
and it was told how, when one of his cronies, thinking to take advantage
of this new mantle of meekness, boldly challenged Matt to a fight, the
new leader of the Fairfield troop gave him the best kind of a whipping;
after which he helped bind up his scratches, and stop the flow of blood