Roy Blakeley in the Haunted Camp Part 24

"It's all right, Muddy," he laughed, kissing her and making a fine joke of her bewilderment; "feel of me; here, pinch me. Ouch! See how real I am? I'm hungry too, if anybody should ask you. I think I'll go up to Ruth Jillett's house for supper--"

She only clung to him tighter--and cried a little more. "You was always thinking of Ruth first," she said. "Joey, my eyes is not what they wuz, I've seen you so much when I was alone here--in all the trouble--you wouldn't fool me--Joey?"

For answer she got such a hug as no ghost could ever give. "Of course, if you'd rather believe the Government than your own eyes.... Why here's Sport! h.e.l.lo, Sport, I'll leave it to you," he added, reaching down and patting the dog whose tail was going like a pendulum. "Here's a woman that doesn't--"

"Joey, you mustn't say that--you--you--"

"All right, old Muddy, then admit that I am me."

"I don't understand--I--Joey--"

Another hug, "Of course, you don't. You're just two years out of date.

You've been living among the dead and you think everybody's dead and I'm going to--"

"You're not going to Ruth Jillett's, Joey--"

"Well, I certainly will if you don't get me some supper. How about that, Sport? Here I am come home a rich man with three hundred dollars in my pocket, and no supper."

"Joey, if I had only known I'd have made a meat pie. I won't believe you're real till I see you eat, Joey." That would be a good test.

"We won't eat here many more times--"

"Oh yes, we will. I've got three hundred dollars, and two hundred of it belongs to some boy scouts. They made me take it as a loan. We're going to stay right here and I'm going to get a job in Cartersburgh and I'm coming home every night--so as to be near Ruth. Hey, Sport."

Poor old Mrs. Haskell only clung tighter to him. And Sport looked up, and kept looking, as if he did not understand at all.

And so, as the evening drew on, these two, mother and son, sat in the little kitchen of their old home and talked while Joe ate his supper; a very good supper indeed for a "sperit." And since it was a matter of eating, may we not fancy that the staunch spirit of Pee-wee Harris of the raving Ravens was with them as they talked late into the night? And when Joey Haskell jollied his poor old mother (as he did most shamefully) may we not picture that diminutive scout saying in high disgust, "You think you're smart, don't you?"

And yet, you know, you will hear it said that nothing ever happens in Hicksville....

THE END

THE ROY BLAKELEY BOOKS

By PERCY KEESE FITZHUGH

Author of the TOM SLADE BOOKS

May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list.

Roy Blakeley

In a book given by a kindly old gentleman, Pee-wee Harris discovers what he believes to be a sinister looking memorandum, and he becomes convinced that the old gentleman is a spy. But the laugh is on Pee-wee, as usual, for the donor of the book turns out to be an author, and the suspicious memorandum is only a literary mark. The author, however, is so pleased with the boys' patriotism that he loans them his houseboat, in which they make the trip to their beloved Temple Camp, which every boy who has read the TOM SLADE BOOKS will be glad to see once more.

Roy Blakeley's Adventures in Camp

Roy Blakeley and his patrol are found in this book once more happily established in camp. Roy and his friends incur the wrath of a land owner, but the doughty Pee-wee saves the situation and the wealthy landowner as well. The boys wake up one morning to find Black Lake flooded far over its banks, and the solving of this mystery furnishes some exciting reading.

Roy Blakeley, Pathfinder

Roy and his comrades, having come to Temple Camp by water, resolve to make the journey home by foot. On the way they capture a leopard escaped from a circus, which brings about an acquaintance with the strange people who belong to the show. The boys are instrumental in solving a deep mystery, and finding one who has long been missing.

Roy Blakeley's Camp on Wheels

This is the story of a wild and roaming career of a ramshackle old railroad car which has been given Roy and his companions for a troop meeting place. The boys fall asleep in the car. In the night, and by a singular error of the railroad people, the car is "taken up" by a freight train and is carried westward, so that when the boys awake they find themselves in a country altogether strange and new. The story tells of the many and exciting adventures in this car.

Roy Blakeley's Silver Fox Patrol

In the car which Roy Blakeley and his friends have for a meeting place is discovered an old faded letter, dating from the Klondike gold days, and it appears to intimate the location of certain bags of gold, buried by a train robber. The quest for this treasure is made in an automobile and the strange adventures on this trip const.i.tute the story.

Roy Blakeley's Motor Caravan

Roy and his friends go West to bring back some motor cars. They have some very amusing, also a few serious, adventures.

Roy Blakeley, Lost, Strayed or Stolen

The troup headquarters car figures largely in this very interesting volume.

Roy Blakeley's Bee-Line Hike

The boys resolve to hike in a bee-line to a given point, some miles distant, and have a lively time doing it.

Grosset & Dunlap, Publishers, New York

THE TOM SLADE BOOKS

By PERCY KEESE FITZHUGH

Author of the ROY BLAKELEY BOOKS

May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list.

THE TOM SLADE books have the official endors.e.m.e.nt and recommendation of THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA. In vivid story form they tell of Boy Scout ways, and how they help a fellow grow into a manhood of which America may be proud.

Tom Slade, Boy Scout

Tom Slade lived in Barrel Alley. The story of his thrilling Scout experiences, how he was gradually changed from the street gangster into a First Cla.s.s Scout, is told in almost as moving and stirring a way as the same narrative related in motion pictures.

Tom Slade at Temple Camp

The boys are at a summer camp in the Adirondack woods, and Tom enters heart and soul into the work of making possible to other boys the opportunities in woodcraft and adventure of which he himself has already had a taste.