Six feet water in the hold, sir! That would not have been a pleasant announcement to the captain of the 'Aurora' at any time, but its unpleasantness was vastly increased by the fact that it greeted him near the termination of what had been, up to that point of time, an exceedingly prosperous voyage. "Are you sure, Davis?" asked the captain; "try again." He gave the order under the influence of that feeling which is styled "hoping against hope," and himself accompanied the ship's carpenter to see it obeyed. "Six feet two inches," was the result of this investigation. The vessel, a large English brig, had sprung a leak, and was rolling heavily in a somewhat rough sea off the east coast of Africa.

Tom Slade, bending over the office table, scrutinized the big map of Temple Camp. It was the first time he had really looked at it since his return from France, and it made him homesick to see, even in its cold outlines, the familiar things and scenes whi

In the southwestern corner of the domains of Kaiser Bill, in a fair district to which he has no more right than a highwayman has to his victim's wallet, there is a quaint old house built of gray stone and covered with a clinging vine. In the good old

Percy Keese Fitzhugh (1876-1950) was an American writer, best known for his four series of novels with a Boy Scouting theme, revolving around the fictional town of Bridgeboro, New Jersey. Fitzhugh's major characters included Tom Slade, Pee-Wee Harris, Roy Blakely, and Westy Martin. Tom Slade at Temple Camp is the second in a series that began with Tom Slade Boy Scout; Fitzhugh was commissioned by the Boy Scouts of America to write a book based on the 1914 film of that name.

At Temple Camp you may hear the story told of how Llewellyn, scout of the first class, and Orestes, winner of the merit badges for architecture and for music, were by their scouting skill and lore instrumental in solving a mystery and performing a great good turn.

Yet if you should ask old Uncle Jeb Rushmore, beloved manager of the big scout camp, about these two scout heroes, a shrewd twinkle would appear in his eye and he would refer you to the boys, who would probably only laugh at you, for they are a bantering set at Temple Camp and would jolly the life out of Daniel Boone himself if that redoubtable woodsman were there.

Listen then while I tell you of how Tom Slade, friend and brother of these two scouts, as he is of all scouts, assisted them, and of how they assisted him; and of how, out of these reciprocal good turns, there came true peace and happiness, which is the aim and end of all scouting.

If it were not for the very remarkable part played by the scouts in this strange business, perhaps it would have been just as well if the whole matter had been allowed to die when the newspaper excitement subsided. Singularly enough, that part of the curious drama which unfolded itself at Temple Camp is the very part which was never material for glaring headlines. The main occurrence is familiar enough to the inhabitants of the neighborhood about the scout camp, but the sequel has never been told, for scouts do not seek notoriety, and the quiet woodland community in its sequestered hills is as remote from the turmoil and gossip of the world as if it were located at the North Pole.

"Tom Slade, Boy Scout" is the first volume of the Bridgeboro Series, a forgotten gem of American fiction. Written in 1915 when the Boy Scout movement was new, the book glows with the freshness of the movement and the optimism of an age when everything seemed possible. Young Tom Slade is a latter-day Huck Finn, always in trouble. Everyone expects him to grow up to be as worthless as his father. Connover Bennett is a latter-day Little Lord Fauntleroy, whose sheltered upbringing leaves him without skills or sense. What will it take to make something out of this unpromising material? A miracle not being available, the task falls to the Bridgeboro Scouts. Percy Keese Fitzhugh wrote dozens of Bridgeboro Scouts novels, including nineteen Tom Slade books. The main characters are based on real people, giving the books an authenticity unusual in juvenile fiction (or any fiction). The self-reliant boys are reminiscent of the heroes in Robert A. Heinlein's early fiction (not surprising because both authors' work was serialized in "Boys Life"). Look for many more Tom Slade books from Norton Creek Press.