about the fellows hiking it to Little Valley and beginning work on the
house-boat and waiting for me to come, and I could just kind of hear
them jollying Pee-wee, and oh, I wished I was there. I was wondering who
the Silver Foxes would elect for their patrol leader and then I got to
thinking how nobody, not even my mother and father, would ever know what
became of me, because you can't drag a marsh like you can a river. And it
seemed kind of funny like, to die without anybody ever knowing what
became of you.

Pretty soon my legs began getting very tired like a fellow's legs always
do when he keeps standing in water. Only this was worse than water. I
wondered how it would feel when my knees gave out and I sank down.

Then I happened to think about having my hikebook with me. It was all
wet and the pencil was wet too, but I held it up high out of the marsh
and wrote this on one of the pages. After I wrote it I stuck it up high
on one of the marsh weeds.

This is where Roy Blakeley, patrol leader, Silver Fox Patrol, Bridgeboro
Troop, B. S. A., was sucked down into the marsh, after he couldn't stand
up any more. I was standing on something that was hard and maybe you'll
find my body lying on that. In my desk is something I was going to give
my mother for a birthday present. I send her a lot of love too. My father
too. And I hope my Patrol gets along all right and that the troop has a
lot of fun this summer. I hope somebody will find this.




CHAPTER VI