Publisher's Synopsis
"What's the matter, Joe, lost all your pep?" asked Tom Seymour, as he slowed his pace down so that his tired companion could keep up with him. It was a Saturday morning in May, and the two boys, in their scout suits, with heavy shoes on, were tramping through the woods, where the spring flowers were beginning to appear and the little leaf buds were bursting out on the trees. Both Tom Seymour and his chum, Joe Clark, loved the woods, and especially in early spring they got into them whenever they could, to see how the birds and animals had come through the winter, and then a little later to watch for the flowers and see the foliage come. But this day Joe seemed to be getting tired. They were tramping up a hillside, through mould softened by a recent rain, that made the footing difficult, and though Joe was trying to keep up, Tom realized that something was the matter. "Say, Joe, old scout, what ails you, anyhow?" he asked again. "Oh, it's nothing," Joe answered. "I've had a cold for a month, you know, and it's pulled me down, that's all. Ma's giving me some tonic. I'll be all right. But I do get awful tired lately."
