Summary
Summary of Roy Blakeley's Bee-line Hike
Key ideas
Key idea 1
A straight line invites trouble
Roy Blakeley and the Silver Foxes set themselves a simple, silly task: walk seven miles due west toward a big poplar tree without turning aside. Houses, rivers and hills must all be crossed on the same straight line. Pee-wee Harris comes along loaded with equipment, including a phonograph horn.
Roy tells this summer day's adventure in his own joking voice. The rule gives every ordinary obstacle a new importance, turning a walk around Bridgeboro into a test of invention and resolve.
Key idea 2
A silly vow still matters
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Key idea 3
An obstacle becomes a performance
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Key idea 4
Warde chooses the real adventure
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Key idea 5
Help across the river brings fear
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Key idea 6
Fear can shape what people see
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Key idea 7
Watchfulness matters more than force
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Key idea 8
Dora overturns the boys' expectations
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Key idea 9
The jokes carry a serious promise
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The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
Read the rest freeWho it’s for
Readers who love jokes and wordplay, comic scout adventures, and camp-style friendships will enjoy this. It suits anyone who likes a tough task told with a grin, a lively narrator, and one very funny small boy.
What this book is
Roy Blakeley's Bee-line Hike is a comic scouting adventure by Percy Keese Fitzhugh, written in the early 1920s for young readers. It is one of the Roy Blakeley books, and Roy tells the story himself in a rattling, joking voice. The whole tale covers a single summer day in and around Bridgeboro, New Jersey.
The idea is simple and silly. Roy's patrol, the Silver Foxes, vows to walk seven miles in a straight line due west, toward a big poplar tree on a far ridge. They may not turn right or left for anything, not houses, rivers or hills. With them goes Pee-wee Harris, a loud little scout loaded down with pots, rope and a phonograph horn. You get jokes, gags, a few real scares, and a lively picture of boy scout life. Let us start with how the vow is made.
In this summary
- 1A vow made over peanutsFree
- 2Marching through Bridgeboro
- 3A fat man, cookies and a camera
- 4Warde Hollister gets his invitation
- 5Across the river and into a scare
- 6A shack, a face and a shot
- 7The Ferris wheel catches a bandit
- 8Little Valley, a girl scout and a rescue
- 9A ridiculous siege and what the story shows
Key point 1 of 9
A vow made over peanuts
The story opens as Roy Blakeley, leader of the Silver Fox Patrol, loses one scout. Charlie Seabury leaves to spend the summer at his grandfather's farm near the Mississippi. Roy is left to look after the patrol and Pee-wee Harris, a Raven scout the Ravens have wished on them for the summer.
Pee-wee turns up on Roy's porch dressed like a walking hardware store. He wears a belt axe, a compass, badges and a cooking set. He says he has been playing missionary. He tried to win a boy named Warde Hollister for the patrol, and Warde only laughed. Warde thinks scouts do nothing but kind deeds.
Westy Martin then sights a big poplar tree on a far ridge and says it lies in a straight line from the porch. He proposes a bee-line hike. The scouts will head due west and turn aside for nothing, even if they have to go through buildings.
Everyone cheers, and Roy swears them in with a mock vow and a handful of peanuts. They will plant the patrol emblem under the tree by five the next afternoon and light a fire there. The oath is plainly silly, but the story keeps coming back to the idea that a promise is worth keeping.
That’s 1 of 9 key points.
The rest of the summary, written and spoken, and the whole book: free to start.
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Check yourself
What makes the bee-line hike a test of honesty?
Right. “The scouts must not cheat the line.”Not quite. “The scouts must not cheat the line.”
How does Warde's attitude toward scouting change?
Right. “He says he would like to come along on the hike and join the scouts.”Not quite. “He says he would like to come along on the hike and join the scouts.”
What does the scare at the shack reveal?
Right. “The scene also shows how one person's idea can make everybody see the same thing.”Not quite. “The scene also shows how one person's idea can make everybody see the same thing.”
Questions about Roy Blakeley's Bee-line Hike
What is Roy Blakeley's Bee-line Hike about?
It follows a patrol of Boy Scouts who vow to walk seven miles due west to a distant tree, turning for nothing. They meet houses, a river, a haunted Ferris wheel, a hat sign and many jokes along the way.
Who is Pee-wee Harris?
Pee-wee Harris is a small, loud Raven Patrol scout who has been wished on the Silver Foxes for the summer. He carries cooking gear and a phonograph horn, loves food, and keeps the patrol laughing.
What is a bee-line hike?
A bee-line hike means walking in a perfectly straight line toward a goal, such as a tree. In this book the scouts must go over, under or through whatever stands in the way, and they must stay honest about the line.
Is Roy Blakeley's Bee-line Hike a true story?
No, it is a made-up comic novel by Percy Keese Fitzhugh, part of his Roy Blakeley series for young readers in the early 1920s. It borrows real scout skills such as compass work and tracking.
Is it an easy book to read?
Yes, the book is told in a chatty first-person voice with short chapters, quick dialogue and plenty of jokes. The simple plan of walking straight west makes it easy to follow from start to finish.
