And still no sign of the professor, or of anyone else in pursuit of the eagles.  Had the professor gone away from Oakvale, or, on a hint from Doctor Kane, was he merely waiting and giving Ralph every chance to earn the money?  If the latter were the case, it was quite unlikely that Professor Whalen would share the secret of his discovery with any other possible hunter.

* * * * * * *

Several miles away from the Kenyon farm, on the shore of Pioneer Lake, which was separated from the farm by the rugged slopes of old Stormberg and the adjacent hills, was a fair-sized camp which bore the same name as the lake.  It was occupied every summer by a troop of Boy Scouts under the leadership of an ex-officer of the United States Army.  In fact, Pioneer Camp was well known in that section of the country, and Ralph had often heard of it from Tom Walsh and Tom’s young cousin, Jack Durham, who had joined the troop.  At one time, before his father’s death, Ralph had longed to become a member of the troop; but one duty or another had prevented him in the summer, and now it seemed out of the question.  Daily work, the necessity of earning a living for his mother and himself, and the management of his farm, demanded all his attention, and gave him no time for play.

On the fourth day of Ralph’s new hunt, he was obliged to drive over to Oakvale to bring home groceries and provisions as well as seeds which he had ordered.  In the town market he saw Doctor Kane talking to a tall, bronzed, soldierly-looking man who wore a khaki uniform with the Scout Masters’ badge embroidered on the coat-sleeve.  Accompanying this man was a half-breed Indian, known in that vicinity as Joe Crow-wing, or “Injun Joe,” the guide and chief woodsman of Pioneer Camp.  The half-breed hung about in the background, conversing with two lads also dressed in scout uniform.

Catching sight of Ralph, the doctor beckoned to him.

“Come here, my boy,” he said, in his cordial way, as the young fellow approached, “I want you to meet Scout Master Denmead, who’s up here arranging for the opening of camp next month.  Denmead, this is Ralph Kenyon, a very particular friend of mine.”

“Glad to know you, Kenyon,” said the Scout Master, grasping Ralph’s hand.  After talking with him for a few minutes, he called the two other boys over from the counter on which they were sitting and introduced them to Ralph as Tom Sherwood and Arthur Cameron.

“Aren’t you fellows up here earlier than usual?” asked Ralph, presently, finding his habitual reserve wearing away.

“Yes, we are,” replied Tom Sherwood.  “You see, we graduated from Hilltop last February, and when we found out that the Chief was coming up here, we asked him to take us in tow for a while before camp regularly opened.”

“He’s going to give us a course in geology,” added Arthur Cameron, “and we’re going to make a survey around here this summer.”