CHAPTER VIII
THE PRIZE CONTEST
"Well, fellows, there's this much about it, if we are going to build areal sure enough motorboat this year we've got to get a hustle on us andearn some money. With the rent we received from the Historical MotionPicture Company and the money we secured from the circus ticket wagon wehave just $73.75. We need $94.00 to buy the motor alone, even with thereduction that Mr. Clifford can get for us. And added to that is theexpense of extra lumber and fittings, which will be at least thirtydollars more. Now where do we stand, I'd like to know?"
Thus did Bud Weir unburden his mind to the other boys of the QuarryTroop, sometimes called, because of their mechanical skill, the Boy ScoutEngineers.
All spring the scouts had been planning to build a motorboat to be usedon Long Lake. They had had their summer camp on the shores of this lakefor the past two years, and they intended to have a camp there as usualthis year, but they had decided to make it a construction camp and spendmost of their time building a thirty-foot power boat, which would be thelargest vessel on the lake. The idea was to increase the troop's fund inthe treasury as much as possible during the Winter and Spring and use themoney to purchase a three horsepower gasoline motor, which theycalculated would be large enough to drive the boat faster than any craftthereabout.
But somehow the months had hurried past and the fund had not increased ata proportionate pace. Indeed if it had not been for a windfall of fortyodd dollars from the Historical Motion Picture Company, the treasurywould have been in a very bad way. The scouts really could notunderstand it at all. They had worked hard, or at least they thoughtthey had, and they had contributed every cent they had made toward theengine fund, but somehow the balance in the Woodbridge bank looked mightysmall to the scouts.
"What the dickens is the matter with us anyway, are we lazy?" queriedNipper Knapp, breaking the long silence that followed Bud's remark.
"By jiminy, it looks that way to me," said Jiminy Gordon emphatically.
"It's procrastination that--"
"Whoops! Hi! what was that word? Ho, ho, say it again, Bruce," shoutedRomper Ryan hilariously.
"He's worked for months on that _Boys' Life Dictionary Contest_," saidRay Martin, "that's what's the matter with Bruce. What does it mean?Maybe it's something to eat!"
"Aw, say, quit your joshin' me," said Bruce, "that's a real word. Itmeans--ah--er--well--"
"Sure it does, we knew it all the time, didn't we, Romper?" said NipperKnapp.
"That's exactly what it means," said Bud quite soberly.
"Well, it means that we've been putting off work. We haven't come downto brass tacks. And now we're up against it and our motorboatproposition falls through," snapped Bruce.
"Well, if that's what it means then you told the truth," said Bud,resuming his indignant attitude. "We fellows haven't been on the job. Ihaven't made a cent in three weeks and neither has any one of the rest ofyou. Now be honest, have you?"
"No, we haven't," said Dug Maston.
"I guess we are actually growing lazy," said Romper solemnly.
Then Babe Wilson, the sarcastic fat scout, added:
"No, we haven't been lazy, we've just been waiting for opportunity toknock at our door--"
(_Rap--rap--rap, rap--rap--rap--rap._)
Babe looked startled and swallowed hard. Then, his sense of humorbobbing to the surface again, he grinned.
"That's Mr. Opportunity," he said.
"No, it wasn't," said Romper, rushing to the window, "it was a blastedold bill poster tacking a sign on Headquarters-- Hi! git out o' there!This isn't an old barn!" he shouted to the bill poster.
But that individual never heard him and kept tacking away until the billwas up. Then he went on down the road whistling merrily.
"Hang it, Headquarters will look like a billboard soon. I'm going downto pull his blooming old sign off our wall," said Romper, as hedisappeared through the doorway and stamped down the stairs. But a fewmoments later he seemed to have changed his mind, for he was heard toshout:
"Hi, fellows, come on down. It's worth reading anyway." And what thescouts read when they crowded about him was:
$200 In Prizes for Brown Tail Moth Exterminators.
The Town of Woodbridge is offering $200 in prizes to the individuals whocan advance and demonstrate a practical method of exterminating the BrownTail Moths that are infesting the trees in the township. For particularsapply to Mayor's Office, Town Hall.
Three Prizes Offered: $100 $60 $40.
"Say, was that opportunity, after all?" asked Babe in wide-eyed amazementwhen he read the poster.
And every boy looked at every other boy and wondered.
If there are any who do not believe that boys can become genuinelyinterested in study, they should have visited the Quarry Troopheadquarters a few days after the discovery of the work of the billposter. For at least three consecutive afternoons a dozen lads spenttheir time in the big meeting room on the second floor poring over drylooking pamphlets which bore the stamp of the Bureau of Entomology of theUnited States Department of Agriculture.
They were all perusing this literature with the one purpose--to learn asmuch as they could about the habits of the brown tail moths, for theyhoped in their study to discover some new and original way to exterminatethe pest and thereby win one of the three generous prizes offered by thetown authorities. But though they pursued the subject relentlessly noneof them seemed able to generate an idea that smacked of originality.
"Aw, say, fellows, this will never do," said Babe Wilson. "We can'tcompete in this contest. We don't know anything about chemistry orthings like that. Why, we don't even know a Brown Tail moth when we seeone." He disconsolately tossed away his pamphlet and shoved his handsinto his pockets.
"Pshaw, don't give up so soon," said Bud Weir. "This reading isn't verygay but all the same we are learning some things we should know. Andeven if we are not familiar with chemistry, we may be able to figure outa way of getting rid of them by means of some mechanical appliance."
"I think this is mighty interesting," said Bruce, looking up from hisleaflet. "I know now what's ailing those apple trees down back of ourbarn. The Brown Tail moths are in them. Listen to this: 'The principalinjury caused by these moths is due to the feeding habits of the larva.They attack apple, pear, plum, oak, elm and willow trees. If theinfestation is bad the caterpillars are often numerous enough to devourthe leaves as fast as the trees are able to develop them. As the websare made on the terminals the growth of the tree is frequently checked.'
"Those apple trees of ours haven't had a full grown leaf on them thisSpring and there are webs in the tops of them, too. That's the work ofBrown Tails all right."
"The most interesting thing to me about these little codgers is the waythey got here," said Romper Ryan. "They came from Europe about 1897, sothis book says. Came over on some young trees imported here. Therecouldn't have been more than a couple of cocoons, but look how they havespread since that time. They were first seen in Somerville,Massachusetts, but now they are all over the New England States. Theyare only just getting into Vermont, though."
"This pamphlet says that the female moth flies a great distance," saidJiminy Gordon, growing enthusiastic about the subject, "and that thefemale Gipsy moth, which is another kind of pest, can't fly at all. Byjiminy, I thought all moths could fly, didn't you? It also says that thefemale Brown Tail moth is attracted by strong lights and can be foundfluttering around arc lamps almost any warm--"
"Does it? Where? Where does it say they like strong light?" exclaimedNipper Knapp.
"Why, what the dickens struck you? It says so right here. Just listen:'These moths are attracted to strong light such as electric arc lights,as they fly at night it is often possible to secure many specimens aroundarc lamps in cities and towns during the latter part of June and thefirst half of July. The--'"
"Whoop! That solves it! I got it, fellows! It's as easy as rolling offa log
. We win the $100 prize sure!" exclaimed Nipper Knapp excitedly.Then while the boys were looking at him in utter amazement he continued.
"Listen, fellows! I was running mother's electric vacuum cleaner thismorning before I started to school. I saw how easily the motor-drivenfan sucked in everything in sight. I held the nozzle near a fly on thewindow pane and _zipp--p-p_, in went Mr. Fly. I thought right away thata big vacuum cleaner would make a fine moth catcher if we could only getnear enough to the moths. And I even figured out a plan for a large onewhich wouldn't cost very much and could be made mostly of wood. But Iknew it was foolish 'cause we couldn't get near the moths. Then--"
"Great! I see your plan. You are going to attract your moths by a lightand then catch 'em with the suction cleaner," exclaimed Bruce.
"Sure, and here's how I'm going to do it. I'm going to take one of theautomobile's searchlights and shine it off on to some trees and then putthe vacuum cleaner just under the light beams. Then when Mr. Moth comesflying down the path of light and gets over the top of thesucker--_zing_, in he goes. Get my idea? Wait, I'll draw a plan ofthe thing for you," and, rushing over to the writing table in the corner,Nipper began to draw hastily while the scouts all crowded around him andwatched.
"There you are. There's the whole plan of the thing. Easy to make andeasy to operate and I guess it's original all right."
The drawings traveled from hand to hand, each lad scrutinizing themcarefully for some fault in the mechanical detail.
"Jiminy, I think you've struck it," exclaimed Gordon.
"Struck it? Why, man, he's got the first prize in his pocket right now,"insisted Romper as he looked over the plans.
"Well, if it meets with your approval, fellows, let's get busy right nowand build our moth trap."
"Right-o. No more procras--something-or-other, as Bruce said the otherday. We'll get busy immediately," said Bud Weir.
"Well, first of all I think we should talk it over with Mr. Ford. Hewill be able to see flaws in our plans where we can't, you know," saidNipper.
"That was exactly my idea. And, by the way, did you notice that thepamphlet from the Mayor's office named Mr. Ford among the members of thejudging committee in this contest?" said Bruce.
"Yes, I did," said Bud, "and for that reason I think he would like to seeus boys try for the prize even though we don't win anything. Come on,we'll go over and talk with him."
Bud was quite right. When Mr. Ford learned that the boys had becomeinterested in the fight against the Brown Tail moth he was delighted.
"That's the stuff, scouts. Take an interest in everything in the natureof a public improvement. If you grow up with that idea in mind you willmake useful citizens," he said, when the boys informed him that they hadbeen studying the Brown Tail moth campaign and intended to try for one ofthe town's prizes.
"Well, I'm afraid that it was more of a selfish motive that led us totake an interest. The troop needs one of those prizes to swell itstreasury," said Bruce.
"Never mind, many of the noblest works in this world resulted from theselfish desire on the part of some one who wanted to win some kind of aprize. But I won't sermonize. Let me see what you have in mind as amoth exterminator," said the Assistant Scoutmaster.
The electrical engineer spent nearly half an hour in silent contemplationof Nipper's drawings after the plan had been explained to him. Finally,his eyes sparkling with amusement, he laid the drawings onto his desk andremarked:
"By Jove, you fellows are about the keenest observers I've met in sometime. It all grew out of watching a vacuum cleaner, eh? Well, well,well, I think that idea is remarkable. I'm certain it will work. Youshould have it patented immediately. Make another set of drawings forme, Nipper, and I'll send them down to my patent attorney in Washington.Perhaps you may have struck it richer than you expect. You may be ableto put the device on the market. Who knows? In the meantime get busyand build one and let me see how it works."
"We are going down and buy the material right away," said Bruce,enthusiastically, "and father says he will have the suction fan made overin his shop. It can be built of sheet iron and won't cost much, youknow."
"All right, go ahead. I'll come over to headquarters now and then andwatch you work," said Mr. Ford.