Fast Nine Part 20

"Proven beyond the least doubt!" cried Mark, smiling broadly. "Bruno came on my cap while he was scouring the country. He fetched it home, as he does other things that have belonged to people. And when he was going past those peach trees he got scent of the fact that some one had been there during his absence. So perhaps he laid the cap down, to nose all around, and forgot to pick it up again!"

"That's just my theory to a dot," laughed Elmer; "so on the whole, I guess, Mark, you'd better call it solved, and let the matter drop."

"I'm only too willing," replied the other, nodding. "But don't you think we owe it to the colonel to take him into the secret?"

"I sure do," replied Elmer; "because he was puzzled as much as we were.

Still, you remember he was ready to own up that he couldn't believe you guilty; no matter if a dozen caps bearing your initials were found under his trees."

"That shows what it means tuh have a good reputation," remarked Phil Lally between his set teeth. "But, boys, never again for me. I've seen what a fool road I was trampin' with that habit of mine, and I've changed my course. I'm goin' tuh make good this time, or bust a b'iler tryin'."

"You'll make it, never fear, Phil, with such a good friend to help you as the gentleman you work for. I believe in you," said Elmer, thrusting out his hand; for something told him that the young fellow needed all the encouragement possible at this critical stage in his uplifting.

So they did go in to see the colonel, who was deeply interested in the theory. Elmer had to explain how his chum's cap chanced to be found that morning under the raided trees, when it was lost the evening previous away over on the bank of the little Sunflower River.

"No doubt of it, Elmer," he declared immediately. "You've proved it beyond the shadow of a doubt. If Bruno had put his visiting card inside the lining he couldn't have done more when he made these tears with his sharp teeth. Seems to me as if I can see where every tooth went in. But let's forget all about that matter now, and talk about your magnificent victory of yesterday."

"We may have beaten the Fairfield team by the narrow margin of one run, sir," remarked Elmer, "but there was one fellow against us who did a heap more than that, I give it to you straight."

"Who was that, Elmer, and what did he do that was so great? I'm sure, after seeing the game I fail to catch your meaning," remarked the gentleman.

"It was Matt Tubbs, sir; and he won a victory over himself which I take it counts for more than just a single little tally in a baseball game.

If that had been the same old Matt Tubbs of old, we'd never have finished that game, for he'd have ended it in a row. As it was, he shook hands with every Hickory Ridge player, and complimented them on the fierce fight they put up. It was just fine! And they used to say Matt Tubbs was a rowdy who could never be made to see how he was wronging his family, all Fairfield, and himself worst of all, by his ugly ways. Don't tell me, anybody, that this Boy Scout movement isn't working wonders in lots of cases."

"I believe you, Elmer," replied the colonel, softly. "I have been pretty much a gruff old soldier myself, and often scorned such an idea as gaining anything worth while without a fight for it; but I'm beginning to look at things in another light, boys, another light. Peace has its victories as well as war; and they count most in the long run, I reckon.

I'm going to take more interest in these boys than ever I did before, because I'm learning something in my old age."

But the great victory over Fairfield was not the only event that marked the closing days of that summer vacation, and in another volume we shall have something to say about an occurrence which the Hickory Ridge Boy Scouts were inclined to set down in their troop log-book as a matter of history never to be forgotten.

THE END.

ADDENDA

BOY SCOUT NATURE LORE

BOY SCOUT NATURE LORE TO BE FOUND IN THE HICKORY RIDGE BOY SCOUT SERIES.

Wild Animals of the United States } Tracking } in Number I.

THE CAMPFIRES OF THE WOLF PATROL.

Trees and Wild Flowers of the United States in Number II.

WOODCRAFT, OR HOW A PATROL LEADER MADE GOOD.

Reptiles of the United States in Number III.

PATHFINDER, OR THE MISSING TENDERFOOT.

Fishes of the United States in Number IV.

FAST NINE, OR A CHALLENGE FROM FAIRFIELD.

Insects of the United States in Number V.

GREAT HIKE, OR THE PRIDE OF THE KHAKI TROOP.

Birds of the United States in Number VI.

ENDURANCE TEST, OR HOW CLEAR GRIT WON THE DAY.

FISHES OF THE UNITED STATES

Fish are vertebrate animals living in water and having, instead of legs, fins which are adapted to rapid movement in the water. They breathe through gills instead of lungs.

The princ.i.p.al order of fish is known as the Teleostei or bony fishes.

Other orders are the Elasmobranchii or fishes without a bony skeleton, Ganoidei, and a small order called the Holocephali. Fishing since the earliest recorded times has always been an industry as well as a sport with mankind. Great commercial seaports have developed from beginnings as small fishing towns, and fishing privileges are often incorporated in international treaties. The most important of the American fisheries are the cod, herring, mackerel, menhaden, halibut, salmon and whitefish fisheries.

THE ELASMOBRANCHII.

These are fishes which have no bony skeleton. In place of bone they have an elastic tissue or gristle. There are two sub-orders--those having round bodies, like the sharks and dog-fish, and those having flat bodies, like the rays and skates.

SHARKS.

Shark is a general name applied to all the larger round-bodied elasmobranchii. They are powerful and rapid swimmers and many of the larger forms are found in mid-ocean. The smaller ones keep closer to the sh.o.r.e. Although a few are found in Arctic regions, they do not attain the great size there that they do in warmer waters. They are carnivorous, that is, they feed on animal matter, and most of them have strong teeth. The Chinese consider shark fins a great delicacy and many are exported from California to the East. The fins are also a source of gelatine.

The Tope is a small shark found in tropical and temperate seas. It averages about six feet in length. Its habit of making away with bait and scaring off other fish makes it unpopular with fishermen. The color of the tope is gray above and whitish gray beneath. It swims along the bottom of the water, feeding upon fish, crustaceans, etc. This fish is not common in American waters.

The Hammer-head Shark. The characteristic peculiarity of this shark is its broad, flat head, which accounts for its name. Its eyes are set on projections from the side of the head. They have been known to reach a length of fifteen feet. Sometimes they are seen in the North Atlantic.

They are formidable and greedy. The topes and hammerheads belong to the same shark family.

The Porbeagle is a shark that is found in the North Atlantic and is known to fishermen as the Mackerel Shark. It feeds princ.i.p.ally upon fish. A length of ten feet is attained. It bolts its food, the teeth being adapted to hold its slippery prey.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HAMMER-HEAD SHARK.]

The Thresher, Thrasher or Fox Shark is a cousin of the porbeagle. Its peculiar characteristic is its long tail. Both the Atlantic and Pacific contain these fish. A length of fifteen feet is often reached. It will not attack man, but preys on small fishes. Swimming suddenly into schools of these, it flaps its tail rapidly, killing and devouring them in large numbers. These sharks are often found in companies attacking large whales.

The Basking Shark derives its name from its habit of lying at the top of the water with its upper back above the water line. This is the largest shark found in the Atlantic. It reaches a length of over thirty feet.