But the thirteen girls would have been much interested if they could
have beheld the eight boy passengers as they got off in a group and
looked around to see if there was anyone at the depot who knew any of
them.

Relieved at the apparent absence of anybody who might recognize the
one of their number whose home was in Hollyhill or another who had
been a frequent visitor there, the eight boys hastened to a corner
half a square away from the depot and boarded a street car that was
waiting for the time to start from this terminal point. The car
started almost immediately after they had seated themselves, moving in
a southwesterly direction through the business section of the city and
then directly west toward High Peak, passing along the northern border
of the mining colony and then making a curve to the north through a
more prosperous residence district.

The eight boys all wore Scout uniforms. They were the full membership
of one Spring Lake patrol, the leader of which was Ernest Hunter,
whose home was in Hollyhill, and who had invited all the Scouts of his
patrol to be his guests during the holidays. This invitation followed
the receipt of information that Marion Stanlock had invited the
members of her Camp Fire to spend the Christmas holidays with her.

Ernest Hunter was well prepared to entertain his guests in real scout
fashion. His parents' home was not large enough to afford sleeping
quarters and other ordinary conveniences for seven visitors in
addition to the regular personnel of the family, but the boy had taken
care of this deficiency long before he had ever dreamed that it might
occur. The Hunter home included a large tract of land running clear up