is any reason for my entering into the conversation," smiled Dave.

At a little after eleven that morning, when thirteen and a half
miles had been covered, all hands were willing enough to halt
and rest, prepare luncheon and rest again.

"But I still hope we shall cover the twenty-five miles to-day,"
Darry insisted.

"No difficulty about that, either," declared Harry Hazelton.
"Darry, while we are swapping stories over the campfire this evening
you can take a lantern and do an extra five miles by way of an
evening walk. Then you'll be tired enough to sleep."

"I'll see about it," Darrin laughed.

"And that's the last we'll hear about it," Tom predicted dryly.

"It is the experience of every military commander, so I've read,"
Dick went on, "that a long march the first day of a big hike is
no especially good sign of how the soldiers will hold out to the
end. On the contrary, military men have found that it's better
to march a shorter distance on the first day and to work up gradually
to a good standard of performance."

"All right," agreed Hazelton. "For one, I'm willing to take a
rest after eating, and then take the afternoon for getting acquainted
with this pretty grove."

"We won't quite do that, either, if I have my way," Prescott laughed.