"Another fine day for a few more tests, and such things, fellows!" sang out Chatz Maxfield, on the following morning, after they had finished breakfast.

The night had actually passed without any sign of alarm. Although Chatz had fully anticipated a return of his stalking ghost, while he stood out his turn as a sentry, he had met with disappointment, for nothing happened. Still, he did not wholly give up hope of meeting up with the "misty white object" again. The jeers of his mates had begun to take effect, and Chatz really wanted to have the thing settled, one way or the other, as soon as possible. Either there were such things as ghosts, or there were not. And he wished to be convinced, declaring that he was open to conviction, if only they could prove to the contrary.

"Yes," remarked Mark Cummings, who was near by, with others of the scouts; "and I guess Mr. Garrabrant has laid out a bully and strenuous old day for the lot of us, barring Red and Ginger, who are to keep camp. He speaks of sending one bunch to the top of Mount Pisgah, as this peak is called, while another tries to climb Mount Horab yonder. They ought to get up there about noon, and for two hours wigwag to each other, sending and receiving messages that are to be kept in books provided for the purpose. Then, at night, when we all meet again around the camp fire, we'll have heaps of fun, seeing just how stupid we've been in our Signal Corps work."

"Don't you forget, Mark," said Red, who was lounging on a log close by, "that you promised to let me try a few prints from those negatives you developed and fixed. I'm a pretty good hand at that work, so they tell me at home, and I'd like to see how we all look up here in camp."

"All right, Red," replied Mark, cheerfully. "You shall do the job, and welcome. I've seen some of your work, and it's sure the best ever. I'll fix up a place in the tent here, where you can hobble if you want to, after you've done your printing and want to fix the pictures."

"But you want to go easy on that leg, remember," warned Dr. Ted, shaking a finger at his patient, just as he had seen the old family doctor do many a time.

"You and Jack are bound over the side of the mountain to visit the Abe Morris family, I heard?" remarked Chatz, speaking to Ted.

"Yeth, it is a professional visit on my part," replied the other, pretending to look very dignified. "But Mr. Garrabrant hath promithed that everyone of you shall have a turn to accompany me day by day, tho ath to make the acquaintance of those two brave kiddies, as he calls them, Felix and Little Lou."

"I'm right glad to hear that, suh," remarked Chatz; "from what you all tell me, I'm quite anxious to meet up with that boy and girl. And if Jack falls through with his plan of getting Abe employment in his father's mill, I think I know just where he would fit into a good position."

The two companies left camp about eight o'clock. Dr. Ted and Jack Armitage waved them good-by, for they too were getting ready to start on their errand to the lone cabin in the woods.

Elmer headed one group of scouts, while Mr. Garrabrant had charge of the other. They carried plenty of lunch along, though it was expected that they would surely be back before evening had set in.

The scout master was not at all positive about his thorough knowledge of woodcraft; for as yet it was almost wholly theoretical rather than practical with him.

"I am not above getting lost, in spite of my book knowledge," he had laughed, as he selected what boys were to accompany him; "and that is why I take Matty Eggleston, Mark Cummings, and Arthur Stansbury among my followers; because next to Elmer, they are known to possess practical ideas concerning this traveling in unknown timber. So good-by, lads; we'll look to have a good talk with you across the valley."

So day after day he expected to put the scouts "through their paces," as Lil Artha called it. To-day it was to be the great hike to the tops of the mountains, and the wigwagging contest between the two factions. To-morrow he meant to have Elmer give further lessons along the line of following a trail, showing just how an experienced woodsman can tell from many sources how long ago the party had passed; the number of which it consisted; whether they were men, women or children; white or Indians; and even describing some of the marked peculiarities of the members comprising it.

Then later on they would have swimming contests; first aid to the injured lessons; resuscitating a person who has come near being drowned; cooking rivalry; athletics; and many other things connected with the open life.

It proved a long and arduous tramp for Elmer and his companions. He had had the privilege of choosing which mountain he would attempt to scale, and just like an ambitious boy, had selected the one he felt sure would be the more difficult.

Those who followed his lead had many times to beg of him to halt and take a little breathing spell, for the way was very rough and much climbing of rocks had to be done in order to mount upward.

"Wow! are we ever going to get up there?" grunted Toby, who had just hated to come on this expedition at all, when he would much rather have liked hanging around camp, and examining the deflated balloon; no doubt dreaming dreams of the time when he hoped to have the chance to soar away among the clouds in one of those gas bags.

"Seems like that mountain top is just nigh as far away from us as ever," complained Larry Billings, who was puffing at a great rate, as he seemed to be rather short winded, and had to be taken to task several times for his faulty manner of walking.

"Oh! no, you're greatly mistaken there," laughed Elmer. "Distances are deceptive in the mountains, to anyone not used to measuring them with the eye. Just wait a little, and all at once you're going to realize that we're getting up handsomely. Look across the valley, and see how high we are right now! That proves it, Larry."

"Hey! what's that moving, away up on that other hill, Elmer?" cried Jasper Merriweather, the novice and real tenderfoot of the crowd; who, under the careful supervision of the scout leader of the Wolf Patrol, was actually doing himself proud, and gaining new confidence in his abilities with each passing hour.

Elmer followed the line of his outstretched finger.

"You deserve considerable praise, Jasper, for making that discovery," he declared, presently. "I can see what you mean now; though when I looked across before I didn't happen to notice. Yes, that's our other squad, climbing up just like we are, and not making any better job of it either, I think."

"Ho! they ain't near as far up, for a fact," said Nat Scott, with pardonable pride, since he had developed into a pretty good climber.

"Well, that mountain is not so tall as ours; but then it may be even rougher, for all we know," observed Elmer. "I picked out this one because it was so high, and I always want to tackle the hardest job, if I've got any choice. It makes you feel all the better if you win out. But come on, fellows, let's pitch in. Given one more good hour's work, and I think we ought to be pretty near the crown."

"I hope so!" sighed poor Larry, who was puffing still, and rubbing his leg where he had hurt it a little on the previous day; though it was nothing so bad as Red's injury, aggravated as it had been by his stubborn determination to return to the lone hut and accompany the relief party.

Once more they struggled upward. Sometimes they found the going so very difficult that they were obliged to give each other a helping hand.

Of course the view grew finer the higher they went.

"Say, Elmer," remarked Toby, as they halted later on to get their breath; "d'ye suppose now we'll be able to glimpse dear old Hickory Ridge when we get up to the top of this mole hill?"

"Sure we will," replied the leader, cheerily. "And that alone ought to pay us for all our trouble. We've only been away a couple of days or so, but I reckon it seems an age to a lot of us, since we saw the home folks."

There was an ominous silence after that remark. Doubtless every scout was allowing his thoughts to roam tenderly back to that beloved home which he knew sheltered those who were so dear to his heart. And possibly, unseen by his fellows, a tear may even have rolled unbidden down more than one cheek. For they were but boys, after all, and same of them had never even been so far away from the home nest before.

Elmer proved to be a true prophet, for ere the full hour was up even the doubting Larry was obliged to confess that they had gained a point not far from the summit.

This seemed to inspire the laggards to renewed efforts, so that presently, with loud cries of delight and admiration, the whole bunch struggled to the apex and had the view of their lives around them.

"Ain't this just too grand for anything?" gasped Larry, as he squatted down on a stone and tried to pick out the distant village on the ridge where home lay.

The others were doing the same; and all manner of exclamations followed, as this one or that discovered familiar landmarks, by means of which their untrained eyes could find the one particular spot about which their thoughts clustered just then.

It was not far from noon, and when Elmer declared that they had well earned the right to eat the hearty luncheon carried along, he was greeted with cries of joy: for it was a jolly hungry batch of scouts that gathered on that mountain top.

While they ate they discovered that their mates had also managed to reach their goal. But no communication was attempted until they had thoroughly rested.

Then Mr. Garrabrant started operations himself, after which he probably handed the flags over to the scout who was to make the first test of his knowledge along the line of wigwagging a message, and receiving a reply.

It proved to be interesting work, and all the boys with Elmer declared that it held a peculiar fascination and charm about it. Of course, in war times, such business must carry along with it more or less danger. They could easily picture how an operator must take great risks first of all to mount to some exposed position, where his flag could readily be seen, and then keep up a constant signaling with another flagman far away, while the enemy would doubtless be making every effort to break up the serious communications that might spell disaster for their cause.

"Anyhow, it won't take us near so long to go down the mountain as it did to climb up here," remarked Larry, with satisfaction in his voice.

"All the same," remarked Elmer, "every fellow has got to be mighty careful just how he goes. No rushing things, you understand. It's easier to take a tumble going down than coming up. And we want no more cripples on this trip."

About three o'clock they started to descend from the peak. Every boy had to just tear himself away, after one last look at the distant ridge that lay bathed in the warm sunshine. And no one had a word to say for quite a time.

The descent was made in safety, though several times one of the boys would slip on a piece of loose shale; and once Larry might have had a severe fall only that Elmer, happening to be close beside him at the time, shot out a hand and clutched him as he was plunging headlong, after catching his heel in a root.

They all breathed a sigh of relief when the bottom of the mountain was reached. After that the going was much easier, and they soon drew near the camp.

"Wonder if the other fellows made as quick a getdown as we did?" remarked Toby, who was hobbling along, footsore, and with his muscles paining from the many severe strains they had been compelled to endure during the day; but only too glad to realize that he would soon arrive where he could once more be in touch with that wonderful sky traveler that had so fortunately dropped into their hands.

"I think it will be pretty near a tie," laughed Elmer; "for just a bit ago I had a glimpse of them, where the timber opened up, and I judged that they were as close to home and supper as we are. Put your best leg forward, boys, and don't let on that any of you are near tuckered out. Where's your pride, Larry? Brace up, and look as if you felt as fresh as a daisy!"

Larry tried to obey; but it was hard to smile when he felt as though he had been "drawn through a straw," as he declared.

"Listen!" cried Elmer, five minutes later, throwing up his hand for silence.

"It's Ginger, and he's yelling to beat the band!" exclaimed Toby.

"Oh! I wonder what's happened!" gasped Jasper.

"Run for all you're worth, fellows!" said Elmer, starting off himself at full speed.

Quickly they broke cover, and neared the camp, to see the other party close by, also on the run. Ginger was dancing up and down, still whooping things up, while Red stood just outside of a tent looking startled and puzzled.

"What's that Ginger's yelling?" called Toby, and it thrilled them as they heard.

"'Twar de debble dat time nigh got me! He's gwine tuh grab us all away in de chariot ob fire! I'se a gone coon, I is! Runnin' ain't no use;" and Ginger threw himself on his knees with clasped hands and rolling eyes.