The Wolf Patrol: A Tale of Baden-Powell's Boy ScoutsFinnemore, John
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The Wolf Patrol: A Tale of Baden-Powell's Boy Scouts
Finnemore, John
Adventure and adventurers -- Juvenile fiction; Boy Scouts -- Juvenile fiction
'Where is he?' muttered Billy to himself, and at the next second be
knew. A faint hiss sounded in the corporal's very ear. Billy thought
of the vipers that swarmed on some parts of the heath, and jumped round
in affright, and at that instant a ball was flipped into his eye from
some unseen thumb and finger.
'Hang it all!' said Billy. 'I'm bagged! Where are you?'
'Wot cheer, brother!' came a husky whisper from the centre of the
turf-stack.
Billy gave the stack a kick, and it collapsed, and revealed Chippy
crouching there with a cheerful grin on his face. He had built himself
round with turves, and lay securely hidden.
'Nice little lot o' flags ye've got!' murmured Chippy. 'It'll be a
case of all round me hat this time.'
Billy felt disgusted at the neat way he'd been taken in, but he
proceeded to hand his flags over at once. Presently his usual friendly
smile broke out.
'After all, Slynn,' he said, 'it was a fair catch. What a jolly artful
dodge to draw me up with your patrol call!'
'Not bad,' chuckled Chippy. 'I know'd ye'd think there was a lost
Raven a-flitterin' about, an' then yo'd come to look 'im up.'
'Well, I must be off and report myself,' said Billy, and off he
strolled, leaving the leader of the Raven Patrol to fix in his hat the
fine trophy of flags he had captured.
Chippy was some little time at his task, for he had now five black
flags--his own and four recaptured from Billy--and five yellow flags;
four he had already seized, and the fifth was Billy's own original
badge. He was scarcely ready to renew his quest, when a long, shrill
call rang from Mr. Elliott's whistle. This signal had been arranged
for the moment when only two rival scouts remained in the field. Now
the battle must be finished during the next twenty minutes, or the
contest was drawn. Some such sharp close was necessary, or a pair of
over-cautious opponents might scout about or hide up and never find
each other.
The two left in were the rival leaders. Just about the time that Billy
was drawn into range, Dick bagged the other Raven, and when Mr. Elliott
saw the two defeated scouts running for the Beacon he sounded his
whistle.
The scouts out of the game had not had a dull time of it. If they were
not in the combat, they enjoyed a splendid view of it as spectators.
From the top of the hill almost every movement of the fighters below
could be watched, and the excitement now rose high among both Wolves
and Ravens as they saw their leaders running through the cover below in
eager search of each other.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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