Tom Slades Double Dare

Slade's Double Dare, by Percy Keese Fitzhugh

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Title: Tom Slade's Double Dare
Author: Percy Keese Fitzhugh
Illustrator: R. Emmett Owen
Release Date: October 20, 2006 [EBook #19590]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: HERVEY FIXED HIS EYES UPON THE ONE REMAINING LIGHT AND RAN WITH UTTER DESPERATION. Tom Slade's Double Dare. Frontispiece--Page 40]
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TOM SLADE'S DOUBLE DARE
BY PERCY KEESE FITZHUGH
Author of TOM SLADE, BOY SCOUT, TOM SLADE AT BLACK LAKE, ROY BLAKELEY, ETC.
ILLUSTRATED BY R. EMMETT OWEN
Published with the approval of THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA
GROSSET & DUNLAP PUBLISHERS :: NEW YORK
Made in the United States of America
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COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY GROSSET & DUNLAP
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The life of a scout is bold,
so bold,
His adventures have never been told,
been told.
His legs they are bare,
And he won't take a dare,
The life of a scout is bold.
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CONTENTS
I THE LIGHT GOES OUT 1
II THE BRIDGE 10
III AN IMPORTANT MISSION 14
IV THE TREE 21
V WIN OR LOSE 26
VI SHADOWS OF THE NIGHT 33
VII THE LIGHT THAT FAILED 37
VIII ALMOST 44
IX THE HERO 51
X PROVEN A SCOUT 57
XI THE NEW SCOUT 63
XII THE GRAY ROADSTER 68
XIII THE UNKNOWN TRAIL 74
XIV ON THE SUMMIT 80
XV A SCOUT IS THOROUGH 85
XVI THE WANDERING MINSTREL 90
XVII TOM'S INTEREST AROUSED 97
XVIII TRIUMPH AND---- 101
XIX HERVEY SHOWS HIS COLORS 104
XX TOM ADVISES GOLIATH 116
XXI WORDS 123
XXII ACTION 130
XXIII THE MONSTER 133
XXIV GILBERT'S DISCOVERY 140
XXV A VOICE IN THE DARK 145
XXVI LOVE ME, LOVE MY DOG 151
XXVII TOM LEARNS SOMETHING 157
XXVIII THE BLACK SHEEP 164
XXIX STUNTS AND STUNTS 169
XXX THE DOUBLE DARE 173
XXXI THE COURT IN SESSION 181
XXXII OVER THE TOP 187
XXXIII QUESTIONS 198
XXXIV THE MESSAGE 205
XXXV THE HERO 209
XXXVI HARLOWE'S STORY 213

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TOM SLADE'S DOUBLE DARE
CHAPTER I
THE LIGHT GOES OUT
If it were not for the very remarkable part played by the scouts in this strange business, perhaps it would have been just as well if the whole matter had been allowed to die when the newspaper excitement subsided. Singularly enough, that part of the curious drama which unfolded itself at Temple Camp is the very part which was never material for glaring headlines.
The main occurrence is familiar enough to the inhabitants of the neighborhood about the scout camp, but the sequel has never been told, for scouts do not seek notoriety, and the quiet woodland community in its sequestered hills is as remote from the turmoil and gossip of the world as if it were located at the North Pole.
But I know the story of Aaron Harlowe from beginning to end, and the part that Tom Slade played in it, and all the latter history of Goliath, as they called him. And I purpose to set all these matters down for your entertainment, for I think that first and last they make a pretty good camp-fire yarn.
* * * * *
For a week it had been raining at Temple Camp, and the ground was soggy from the continuous downpour. The thatched roofs of the more primitive type of cabins looked bedrabbled, like the hair of a bather emerging from the lake, and the more substantial shelters were crowded with the overflow from these and from tents deserted by troops and patrols that had been almost drowned out.
The grub boards out under the elm trees had been removed to the main pavilion. The diving springboard was submerged by the swollen lake, the rowboats rocked logily, half full of water, and the woods across the lake looked weird and dim through the incessant stream of rain, rain, rain.
The spring which supplied the camp and for years had been content to bubble in its modest abode among the rocks, burst forth from its shady and sequestered prison and came tumbling, roaring down out of the woods, like some boisterous marauder, and rushed headlong into the lake.
Being no respecter of persons, the invader swept straight through the cabin of the Silver Fox Patrol, and the Silver Fox Patrol took up their belongings and went over to the pavilion where they sat along the deep veranda with others, their chairs tilted back, watching the gloomy scene across the lake.
"This is good weather for the race," said Roy Blakeley.
"What race?" demanded Pee-wee Harris.
"The human race. No sooner said than stung. It's good weather to study monotony."
"All we can do is eat," said Pee-wee.
"Right the first time," Roy responded. "There's only one thing you don't like about meals and that's the time between them."
"What are we going to do for two hours, waiting for