Quiet for Carver: Alan, Jim and Maurice were spending a week in North Devon hiking from Barnstaple to Minehead, it was late in the evening and the three Seniors were searching for a farm marked on the map as East Lynne. After seeking for the farm for some time, they asked a local where it was possible to camp for the night in the neighbourhood, and were told, "Anywhere over there, because it's common ground." As the tent was being pitched and supper cooked, Jim went to look for water; he eventually found a farm pump in the middle of some broken down walls at the other side of the wood.

Alan was awakened in the early hours of the morning by the rumble of passing hooves and the chink of metal. He sat up with a start and quickly shook Jim, who then poked a sleepy Maurice into life. All three listened for a snatch of the metallic jingle which seemed to be coming from the other side of the wood. Very quickly they dressed and crept out of the tent door to confirm that "this was the case. Maurice wanted to go back to sleep because, as he said, "It's nothing to do with. us", but Jim and Alan, lowering themselves carefully into the heather, worked their way through the wood to the other side.

The pump, which Jim had found earlier in the evening, was the centre of a fantastic scene; horses milled about, women were packing bundles into horse-drawn carts while children were crying and rushing from one group of people to another. Jim and Alan were too frightened to venture any further because all the characters in the clearing around the pump were dressed in period costume. The men were stocky, black haired and armed with pistols and swords, the women had long skirts and shawls, but the children were dressed in rags and went barefoot. The panic, instead of subsiding, seemed to increase until a man leapt on to the trough surrounding the pump and bellowed for silence. "Quiet for Carver," shouted a woman, and as a hush settled over the rest of the clan he started to speak.

"The dragoons will be here in a few hours, Jan Ridd is with them and we cannot afford to waste any more time here, so hurry up and get the rest of the things out of the houses and then we'll set off for our stronghold in the valley on the moor. Bring all your food and hurry up." Rapidly the chaos sorted itself out, spare children were packed into carts and the whole cavalcade started to move off.

Jim and Alan looked at each other. "Let's get Maurice and let him see what we have," said Alan. They raced back to the tent and dragged a bitterly protesting Maurice out of dashing through ferns and brushing aside low branches, As they burst out of the wood, the moon came out and brilliantly lit a scene of an old farm pump and some broken down walls.

"A pint of water weighs a mile and a quarter " or at least that's what Jim thinks.

"I'm systematic," said the methodical Guide Captain. "How do you do, I'm brother Stan," said the Rover Leader.

The Long Trek Home: " Over the edge you go," said Mick and the second team slipped over the tailboard of the lorry. They were now in enemy country and had to keep out of sight and make their way back to the church at Hamclap where a piece of paper waited in a tree for their signatures. The food ration for each man was one tin of baby food and about half a slice of mint cake.

The Troop were divided into teams, which consisted of Mick, Maurice and Bash, Bob, Dulles and Harold and lastly the two Jays. The two Jays were fifteen-year-olds called Jim and John who insisted that they formed a team of the younger element: this was their first expedition! Bob's team, first away at about 23.00 hours, had the luck to be overtaken by a bus going to Heathcombe. Harold stepped back into the darkness to escape being run down and stepped straight into irrefutable evidence of the locality of Heathcombe — the council tip. These incidents proved their locality and soon they started home at Scout's pace. The third group, under Mick's leadership, left the lorry at 23.35 hours and stood in a dark lane watching the tail lights of the vehicle disappear into the darkness. The team split into three and each member went for a short exploratory walk. When they re-met ten minutes later it was obvious that they were approximately, roughly, dueish, southish, westish of a village that they did not know the name of. After a brief argument the team moved off to the north. Suddenly, from the lane behind them they heard footsteps and voices; they dived into the hedge and watched the two Jays sprinting towards Hamclap. A little later the trio started homewards on a 50-minute walk and 10 minute rest plan. Maurice called this the instalment plan because, as he put it, " We do the walking now and pay for it later."

At 1.30 the three Seniors passed the two Jays sprawled out on a bench in front of a pub fast asleep. Soon after this it was decided to start the grand repast which had been provided by Skipper. The team had managed to get four tins, without labels but with two decorated by red blobs, and of course the ration of mint cake. With a certain amount of trepidation the first tin was opened, strained baby soup, said to be very nourishing — for babies: the trio voted " no ", and the tin was quickly buried in a nearby verge. The other three tins contained rice pudding and strained prunes. Maurice, in his efforts to get at his favourite rice pudding, without a tin opener, managed to splatter most of the rice pudding on the road. Nobody really fancied the prunes but the mint cake was very warming.

The team were only 10 miles from home when a Police car stopped them and demanded to know what they were carrying in their bags; they took a great delight in explaining that only a little while ago they had contained tins of baby food and half bars of mint cake. When the trio arrived at the Hamclap church, a snag arose. The piece of paper that they had to sign was in a tin hidden at the top of a tree. Who was to climb the fantastic height of 10 ft. after a 35-mile night hike. Lots were drawn, and eventually a protesting Maurice was assisted into the tree by gentle pushing motions initiated in the vague direction of the seat of his pants.

The two Jays arrived eight hours later and duly signed in before going home for a week or two's rest. Bob's team managed to get all the way home without attracting the attention of any local constabulary and so were declared the winners.

STAN N. ALLEN.