“We knew they had employed lawyers and were meaning to do everything they could to get the mayor’s acts called unconstitutional,” Hugh remarked.
“Oh! they’ve made up their minds, I guess,” Ralph continued hastily, “that when it comes to a show-down of law they haven’t got a chance to win out. Hugh, let me tell you again some of that bunch are the most desperate men going. Why, nobody would ever have believed we had such monsters here in little old Oakvale.”
“Whew! you’re going pretty strong when you use a word like that, Ralph!”
“They deserve it every time, I tell you,” persisted the other. “What else would you call men who even scheme to have a store in this town robbed, and then fix it so that marked bills or pieces of jewelry will be found in the pockets of certain scouts, you among the number?”
Hugh stared hard at Ralph as though he could hardly believe his ears.
“You haven’t been dreaming that, have you, Ralph?” he finally asked, as he took hold of the other’s sleeve and drew him around so that he could look straight into Ralph’s eyes, which, however, did not waver before his gaze.
“Not much I haven’t, Hugh,” he was told like a flash. “I give you my word of honor I heard that very scheme spoken of by three of the leading spirits in this fight against a clean town—Gaffney, who used to run that poolroom; Slimmons, the retired boxer, who used to be athletic trainer at the schools before somehow he took to drinking so heavy they had to drop him (and he’s hung around Gaffney’s place ever since trying to pick up some sort of living giving boxing lessons, etc.). There was a third man present, but he doesn’t really live in town. I suspect he’s been interested on the quiet in dodging the law here by supplying shady resorts with booze, and is losing money as long as they stay shut up.”
“Where did all this take place, tell me, Ralph?”
“Listen then, Hugh. I happened to be coming across lots down at the bowling alley corner when I saw those three men dodge into the place. You know it’s been closed to play ever since they found things were going on there that had no business in Oakvale. Well, I thought there was something queer about the way those three men acted before they dodged in, and my old sense of investigation at once began to urge me to take a peek and see what they might be up to. If any sort of game was going on, the police ought to know, you understand, Hugh?”
“Yes, and you were acting within your rights as a member of the regular police force, in figuring on doing so,” the other assured him.
Ralph smiled grimly as though pleased to receive that reassurance from the one in whom he placed unlimited confidence.
“Well, it was as easy as falling off a log for me to discover a window that I could crawl through,” Ralph went on to say, “and nobody saw me do it either. I haven’t been watching mink, otter, and foxes pull off their sly tricks without learning a thing or two. So once I got inside the old building it wasn’t much of a job to find where they were sitting, jabbering away like everything, in low voices, as if they didn’t want to be heard outside.
“Hugh, I couldn’t begin to repeat what I heard. All of them were excited, and in dead earnest, too. Each one had suggestions to make that sometimes made my blood run cold. Their well-paying business has been closed up, you see, and that’s what makes them so bent on striking a blow to end this silly ‘racket,’ as they contemptuously call the uplift movement.
“And, Hugh, just as I said in the beginning, they’re actually planning to have a robbery committed, and manage it so that some of the stuff that’s taken will be found on a number of the scouts. Just how this is to be done they hadn’t fully settled; but it’s all going to be fixed this very night, so that before another forty-eight hours have passed the dirty game can be worked. Why, I never dreamed so dreadful a thing would come slap up against us scouts. They want the people of Oakvale to suspect us of being common, every-day thieves.”
“Don’t worry, Ralph,” said Hugh, firmly. “I don’t believe the game could have been carried out successfully at any time, even if none of us so much as suspected a thing. Now that you’ve warned us, why, it’s bound to fall flat. Mayor Strunk and the women of this town know the scouts too well to ever believe they’d disgrace their uniforms and honor badges by stealing.”
“Do you know, Hugh, while I lay there straining my ears like everything so’s not to lose much of what those plotters said, I was thinking what a bully thing it would be if the scouts could turn the tables on ’em.”
“You mean, Ralph, fix things so the fellows who actually did the robbery would be nabbed in the act—with the goods on—before they found a chance to deposit any of the plunder in the pockets of the scouts, or at their homes, where it would be found when a search started?”
“That’s what I had in mind,” confessed the other, eagerly.
“It would be just what they deserved,” declared Hugh, “and what some folks would call retribution. We would save ourselves a whole lot of trouble and explanations, and at the same time might get rid of an undesirable bunch of crooked people that Oakvale never would miss.”
“Of course you understand, Hugh, that I was so worked up by what I managed to hear, I felt nervous about staying too long, for fear those men found me out. I tell you they’re mad enough to do almost anything to us scouts. So I concluded it would be wise to creep back, and get out of that same window again before anything happened to me. This I proceeded to do, and say, I breathed free again when I found myself under the blue sky once more.”
“The last you saw of them they were still sitting in the old bowling alley place talking things over, eh, Ralph?”
“Yes, and figuring on how soon they could do that nasty job, too, Hugh. From all I heard they won’t let the grass grow under their feet before getting things moving.”
“If only we knew whose store was to be robbed we would have something to work on,” suggested the scout leader, invitingly.
“Oh! I think I know that much even now,” admitted Ralph. “They seemed to be talking about the easiest way to get in, and I heard them mention old Mr. Ainslee several times, as if it was to be his jewelry store.”
Hugh would not have been human if he had not felt a chilling sensation pass over him upon learning to what extreme lengths the enemies of reform were willing to go in order to accomplish their purpose. This was to upset the prevailing conditions, and put the town back into the old rut that was winked at by the police and authorities, it being impolitic to notice them too closely.
His determination was immediately taken, for Hugh could often reach a conclusion as speedily as on other occasions he took time to make up his mind.
“Ralph, I was headed for home when you stopped me,” he went on to explain, “but after hearing what you’ve just said, I want to have Mr. Dobbs and the mayor know what those desperate men are thinking of doing. Would you mind coming with me and repeating your story to them?”
“Not a bit, Hugh; fact is, I expected that you would ask me to do so, and I’d made up my mind what to say. Sure, I’ll go along, and repeat every word.”
Accordingly the pair trudged their way to the parsonage, and were fortunate enough to find the minister in his study. Mr. Dobbs was a venerable man who always took a great interest in all the activities of the Oakvale boys. The scouts had no more sincere friend and advocate than he proved to be, even when the organization had been young, and much doubt had been expressed among the better people of the town as to the wisdom of allowing such a movement to crystallize.
He greeted the boys with his customary warmth.
“I’m very glad to have you drop in on me this way,” he told them. “If it is in search of any advice or other assistance, I shall be glad to know what I can do for boys I think so highly of. Tell me what your errand is this time, Hugh, my son.”
Of course the parson was highly indignant when he heard to what actual depths of depravity some of those men were willing to descend in order to undo the work of the loyal scouts, and the better elements among the residents of Oakvale.
“It all goes to prove how fearfully lax we had become here,” he observed after Ralph had told all he knew. “It also shows what a crying necessity for a radical cleaning-up movement there must have been when such criminal elements, working to undermine the characters of our young men and boys, as these, could effect a lodgment in our town. It was high time we woke up and took our coats off for business. Ralph, I want to thank you in the name of every respectable woman and mother in Oakvale for what you have discovered this day. ‘Forewarned is forearmed,’ they say, and before we are through with Gaffney, Slimmons and Company, they will realize that they have been up against a threshing machine.”
Hugh liked to hear the old minister talk like that, for he understood that Mr. Dobbs was really a Civil War veteran, and in the old days had once been known as the “Fighting Parson.” If those unruly men fancied that because he was a shepherd of a flock he would not fight to save his pet lambs from the devouring wolves they made the greatest mistake of their whole lives.
So Mr. Dobbs quickly got the mayor on the wire and asked him to come over to the parsonage without a moment’s delay; also to fetch Doctor Kane along with him if he could possibly do so.
“I’ve got something to communicate that will give you an electric shock, if that hint will cause you to speed your car any the faster, Mr. Mayor,” the boys heard the minister say in conclusion.
It was not a great while before they arrived, for apparently the mayor had either met Doctor Kane on the street or managed to find him at his house. Then once more Ralph was influenced to tell his startling story. He had deeply interested listeners. Hugh could see the mayor gritting his teeth as he had a way of doing when thoroughly aroused.
“These two wide-awake scouts have suggested,” said Mr. Dobbs, after everything had been told, “that we keep very quiet about this discovery, and lay a trap so that when the robbery is actually attempted we may arrest those who are implicated. If they are caught in the act, before they can have any opportunity to place the blame on any one else, we will have no trouble of ridding our town of unworthy citizens. Mr. Mayor, it rests with you to decide.”
“Nothing would please me better!” exclaimed the mayor, strenuously. “Before we go into details with regard to any plan I want to thank these brave boys from the bottom of my heart on account of what the scouts have done and are doing to purge Oakvale of every element that stands, as a blot on a town’s fair name.”
It was fine of the mayor to say that. Had the women who had labored so long and so arduously in order to accomplish this end overheard what he remarked, they might have whispered among themselves that it was a great pity Mr. Strunk could not have reached the desired resolution many months previously.
But then “better late than never,” and if his eyes were now opened to the enormity of the offenses that had previously been winked at as unavoidable in a bustling community of Oakvale’s size and rapid growth, there was good hope of the future.
Before Hugh and Ralph left the parsonage to hurry home to supper they had heard the whole thing thrashed out, and even found their opinions asked by the trio of deeply interested gentlemen.
A plan was fairly well arranged that would serve as a trap, for from what Ralph had caught, the conspirators would not be in position to attempt the daring robbery until then. In fact, as Ralph very well understood, it was actually Hugh who proposed the idea upon which the minister, Doctor Kane and the mayor finally settled as promising the best results. But then Ralph saw nothing strange about that, for as a member of the scouts he was accustomed to have Hugh Hardin naturally take the lead in almost everything.
Ralph was greatly pleased. He considered, and rightly, too, Hugh told him, that once again his knowledge of woodcraft and the Indian art of creeping up close to an enemy’s camp had proved of value to the cause he represented. Many fellows similarly situated, even if they had thought to make the attempt, might have bungled, and only brought down some sort of chastisement on their own heads for their temerity.
It was to remain a dead secret; even the rest of the scouts would not be told why Hugh ordered them to be at their place of meeting on the following night, prepared to have a number of the stoutest and most adept chosen for a special mission.
The mayor promised to see Chief Wallis on the following morning and get him interested in the matter, so that he and several of his men could have a hand in trapping the thieves. Just as likely as not these men would be in a desperate mood, and liable to show fight when they realized how completely the tables had been turned upon them. Hence it was deemed wise to have some of the regulars on the police force handy in order to assist the scouts make the arrests.
No doubt the home folks at the Hardin and Kenyon domiciles must have thought the boys were unusually serious all that evening, perhaps absent-minded, for often they would start when spoken to suddenly, as though wrapped up in some far-away subject.
However, as it was known that their hearts were concerned in the successful carrying out of the cleaning up of Oakvale, allowances were made for them. Fond mothers, though, may have found themselves wondering if it were really wise to allow such weights to rest upon young shoulders.
Another day came around, and its duties were taken up by the scouts with their accustomed alacrity. Every fellow seemed to vie with his mates in doing his share of the work in a way that would allow of no fault finding. There was indeed what might be called a healthy rivalry among the scouts, to see who could command the highest number of clean scores; for Hugh had arranged matters in the shape of a contest, to make it more interesting.
The opposition had not yet died out, for when men have fallen into certain bad habits that become as second nature, it is most difficult to break the bonds binding them.
True, the drivers and chauffeurs in and about Oakvale had by degrees become accustomed to the new order of things, which was moving along as smoothly as clockwork. They found there was absolutely no need of any friction, and that while occasionally held up by the amateur “traffic cop” in order to allow a safe passage for a squad of school children, they really lost little or no time. Besides, a vast amount of argument and hard words was saved by this orderly way of running things at congested crossings.
Already the new system had borne fruit, for the railway company, while not compelled to do so by any town ordinance, doubtless falling in with the general scheme of uplift, stationed a flagman at the perilous crossing, who would be on duty from six in the morning until sundown.
Those of the scouts who had the duty of searching for infractions of the health code ran across the greatest trouble, because they were dealing with private individuals, some of whom nursed petty “grouches” against them because compelled to do what the boys demanded or take the chances of being summoned before a Squire and heavily fined.
Hugh used considerable diplomacy in dealing with these offenders. He did not wish the scouts to make any enemies when it could be avoided. So when there happened to be some stubborn fellow who firmly believed he had a right to do things that were offensive to the neighbors and the community at large, just because he was on his own grounds, and threatened to go to law to resist, Hugh tried other measures besides violence and threats.
In several instances he performed what seemed next door to miracles, in the eyes of the boys, and the amused people as well. Hugh could “blarney” most any one into coming around to his way of thinking, given half a chance, was what Billy Worth always said, and in fact the young scout master proved the truth of this assertion in several instances.
One crabbed and rich old fellow in particular, who had little to do with his neighbors, but persisted in keeping several fierce dogs that barked most of the night, upon being threatened with the passage of a new law that would proclaim such animals within the corporate limits of the town a public nuisance if complaint were handed in signed by six neighbors, told them they could pass all the regulations they wanted and he would take out an injunction, which by the delay of the law would allow him to do about as he pleased the rest of his life.
Judge Coffin, from the town of Lawrence, whose acquaintance some of the scouts had made at the time of the famous flood,[1] when they were enabled to save several lives and win the esteem of the entire community, chancing to visit Oakvale on some official business just about that time, confided to Hugh the fact that unfortunately what Mr. Griffin claimed was true, and that by successive injunctions it was possible to fend off a decision for months, sometimes years.
This was not the worst of it, for if one man could baffle the desire of the community in that way his example might become contagious and the precedent thus set be copied by others, until all the good the reform wave had done would be lost.
So clever Hugh had figured out it was essential that Mr. Griffin be won over to the cause, even if it took much of his spare time to accomplish the seemingly impossible result.
Like a wise general, Hugh first looked over the field. He knew that when a battle is to be fought the side that knows the various conformations of the ground always possesses an advantage over those less posted.
In making all sorts of inquiries Hugh learned a lot about the past of this crabbed old man who seemed so like vinegar. There was a reason, it seemed, for his “drawing within his shell,” and refusing to have more than casual communication with his neighbors.
Mr. Griffin had suffered a cruel shock many years before, losing his wife and two lovely children in a fire. One girl was left to him, and she grew up to womanhood, gave him a great deal of trouble, and finally ran away with a worthless fellow. Some years afterwards, the old gentleman, now become estranged from the world that had treated him so cruelly, went away, and came back with a child he announced as his grandson, the last of his stock, for the daughter had died.
Alas! this little boy was a cripple and deformed. Hugh had seen him several times, but the old man kept a strict watch, and allowed no intruders in his grounds where those dogs roamed at night time.
The hunchback was now all of ten years of age, and when Hugh saw Mr. Griffin buying some boys’ books before Christmas he understood that the little fellow at least must love to read.
Here then was the scheme which Hugh worked out. He had plenty of books that told of the doings of Boy Scouts. Besides, he had an old manual that he could easily spare. So he bribed the grocer’s boy, who daily visited the Griffin home, and admitted that he chatted with the hunchback frequently, to give Archibald the package of books on the sly, and tell him the leader of the Wolf Patrol had sent them with his compliments to help a “shut-in” realize what scout life meant.
Hugh heard from his kind act, for on the very next day he received a splendid little note from the boy, thanking him heartily for his thoughtfulness, and saying that he would devour those books “ferociously,” he was so “crazy” about reading of what boys more fortunate than himself were doing.
Hugh kept it up after that, and before long there was a most friendly feeling springing up between the two. One fine day Hugh was surprised to have Mr. Griffin stop him on the street, and he realized that the severe look could leave the face of the well-named man when he chose to drop the mask.
“My little grandchild has been telling me about your kindness in sending him books to read,” the gentleman started to say. “Now, I have been very particular about the type of books I select for him, because I want the poor little fellow to know only the better side of life. At first I was afraid you had broken down the barrier I have erected, but when I came to look over the handbook of the scouts, and found what a splendid foundation the organization is built upon I felt sure that books written along similar lines could do a boy only good. I am pleased to say that upon glancing over those you sent him, I have been immensely satisfied.”
He offered his hand to Hugh, something no boy in Oakvale had ever known Mr. Griffin to do in all the years past. Hugh flushed with a sense of satisfaction upon realizing that he was on the road to success, and that his diagnosis of the stern old gentleman’s real nature had not been amiss.
“I am glad you do not think I was playing a mean part in getting those books to Archibald,” he said, simply. “We scouts feel for any chap who is deprived of the glorious chances we have to spend many good times in the open. I thought he would be glad to learn about scout life, even if he could never hope to enjoy it himself.”
“What is more to the point,” continued Mr. Griffin, “I’ve had my eyes opened to the fact that it is a bad thing for any man to allow himself to remain in ignorance with what is going on around him as the years progress. I am ashamed to admit that I never dreamed there had been such a vast revolution in the training of boys during the years I’ve kept aloof from the world. I’ve seen mention of the scouts many times in my papers, but never took the trouble to investigate—in fact, treated the whole matter as somewhat of a military movement copied after the Old World methods. I am delighted to learn that such is not the case.”
Then he went on to say Archibald was eager to meet Hugh, and that if only he could come over and take supper with them that evening it would give both of the “shut-ins” great pleasure indeed.
Such luck Hugh had hardly anticipated, but he was only too glad to accept the invitation in the spirit it was given.
“I have some more really splendid books I want you to let him read,” he went on to say with spirit. “If you don’t object I’ll come over this very evening,” for, as we happen to know, the scout master believed in “striking when the iron is hot.”
After that it was easy for Hugh. Once he had gained entrance to the Griffin home he found a means for occupying a place in the hearts of both the hunchback boy and his grandfather. By a wise system of approaching the subject discreetly Hugh quickly found a way of getting Mr. Griffin to change his mind about keeping those noisy dogs.
It was once more a case of the gentle sun’s rays accomplishing what even the most violent wind could not do.
Hugh never boasted of his victories, but in some way the truth became known. Possibly Mr. Griffin, now mingling more than in the past with his neighbors, secretly amused, told it himself. At any rate it served to add to the laurels Hugh had already won as a diplomat, as well as a scout leader.
So the good work went on. This incident connected with Mr. Griffin and his pests of barking dogs was only one example of how the scouts managed to accomplish their ends. It is not by mere promises of prosecution alone that nuisances can be abated, for sometimes reason goes a great ways toward effecting a cure.
A few threats had been made, but so far none of the boys had really suffered actual violence. Truth to tell, the cowards who had been bullies knew that when they assailed the scout uniform they really went up against the entire vested authority of the town as represented by the mayor, the police, and the better element of the citizens.
Speedy retaliation had fallen upon those astonished offenders who had laughed at the warnings given by the Auxiliary Police. They realized that because a fellow is under a man’s size and wears a khaki uniform, it is no sign that he cannot enforce his authority.
Things had apparently been going on swimmingly, and there seemed every indication that victory was in sight when Ralph by accident overheard that plot to bring about the undoing of the scouts in the estimation of the town people. It was plainly the last desperate effort of the opposition. If they were beaten in this round the chances were there would be a clean sweep to crown the efforts of those who were working so hard for home protection in Oakvale. It would have been proven conclusively that a new rule must hereafter be reckoned with, which was founded on order and the rights of the community as against private privileges.
Really, it was strange how things crowded into that particular day. Hugh was down doing some errand in the shopping district of the town when, by the merest accident, he chanced to see Benjy Sherwood again.
The sight of Tom’s high-strung younger brother would be apt to interest Hugh at any time nowadays, for it caused him to remember that he had as yet been unable to carry his promise into effect, owing to the great rush of matters accumulating on his shoulders.
He was particularly interested, however, when he saw what the boy was doing, for plainly Benjy had some silver coins in his hand which he was counting.
Hugh jumped to a conclusion that gave him a bad feeling in the region of his heart. When a fellow is seen coming out of a bird store where all sorts of pets are kept, and counting silver coins from one hand to the other, the most natural conclusion is that he must have been selling something there, and wants to make sure he has received the right amount.
Hugh chanced to know that Benjy had been deeply interested in Belgian hares, and received a present of a handsome pair of them on Christmas, of which he had been exceedingly fond. Hugh wondered if it could be possible that the boy, hard pressed for the means to pay some “debt of honor,” as he considered it, had actually sacrificed his pets.
The thought of what a hold that gaming habit must have gained upon poor Benjy filled the scout master with dismay. He took a few steps past the store, and then felt compelled to yield to an irresistible impulse to make sure; so, turning back, he walked into the place.
Hugh had often been there before, for he was himself interested in fancy pigeons, and had a coop of “homers” at home from which he anticipated raising some fine youngsters, which he could take many miles from home and find awaiting him on his return. Indeed, he aspired some day to possess famous fliers that might cover a thousand miles, and still find their way home inside of a few days.
So Hugh strolled around looking at the coops containing all sorts of pets both in fur and feather, from cunning pet dogs to fowls with pedigrees, and parrots that could say dozens of strange phrases, or even sing in a croaking fashion.
Finally Hugh approached the owner of the shop, who was busily engaged with some work.
“Do you happen to have any Belgian hares, Mr. Huggins?” he asked, in a casual way, as though he had looked around and failed to notice any in the various cages or runs.
“Why, that reminds me I forgot to put that pair in the cage, I was so busy after the boy left,” remarked the owner of the store, as he hurried over to an old basket that had a cover to it, and from which he drew a struggling object with long ears, which he tossed into an empty cage, to be presently followed by a second.
Hugh’s last doubt was now laid. He had recognized the Belgian hares by certain well-remembered marks, as once the property of Benjy Sherwood, who must have sacrificed them for a particular object.
When Hugh remembered what he feared that object might be he found himself shivering, he was so sorry for poor Tom, whose heart seemed so sore these days.
More than ever was Hugh bothered to know just how he should go about gaining the confidence of that high-strung lad. He had found a way to gain the heart of such a scoffer and doubter as Mr. Griffin, whom everybody deemed beyond hope. Surely there must be some method he could apply to reach Benjy’s confidence, so that he might coax him to join the scouts, and drop those suspicious companions.
“I’ll start right in to-morrow,” Hugh told himself, vigorously, as he left the pet shop and headed for home. “Until this other business is settled and the coast cleared, I mustn’t allow myself to be tempted to take up any side issues. But if all goes well, and to-morrow sees things turn our way, as I hope, then I promise myself that I’ll turn to Tom’s trouble and help him out.”
All the rest of that afternoon he could not keep his thoughts away from what he had learned about Benjy. It seemed as if the boy must be sinking fast in the quicksands of the treacherous stream into which he had so boldly waded. Unless prompt measures were taken for his rescue, Hugh feared Benjy would ere long be so deeply involved that such a thing as saving him must become three times as difficult.
“I’ll drop over and see Tom to-night,” he promised himself, as he sat awaiting the summons to supper. “I don’t remember meeting him all day, that is, to speak to. He’s beginning to believe by this time that I’ve about forgotten my promise. Poor Tom, I’m sorry for him as can be, and only hope we can convince Benjy he can get three times as much real fun out of joining the scouts as keeping company with that tough crowd.”
Hugh was not as sanguine as his words might indicate. He knew what a grip habit can take upon most boys, and how once they yield to the allurements of vices it proves very difficult for them to break away, or even acknowledge they are on the wrong path.
He had several half-formed plans, any one of which he might be able to work upon, after he had consulted with Tom. The latter was one of the sturdiest of the scouts, and Hugh particularly wanted him to be present on that night watch. He partly feared Tom might not feel inclined to come forth, and it was partly with the intention of gaining his consent that Hugh meant to drop around after supper and see him.
It happened several things came up to delay him. First a report was brought in by a member of the troop that was of sufficient importance to merit immediate attention. So Hugh had to talk with Chief Wallis over the wire. Then something else arose that took another half-hour of his precious time.
When finally the decks were cleared it was almost half-past seven, and the meeting had been called for eight.
“I must hustle if I mean to have a talk with Tom before we both go over to the meeting room,” was what Hugh told himself, as he snatched up his cap and made for the door.
He had hardly gained the street before he ran across two of the boys heading in the direction of the church, where a room had been placed at the disposal of the troop, together with the free use of electric light, and heat in winter time.
At the next corner, however, Hugh stopped short.
“Sorry I can’t go all the way with you, Chester and Dale, but I’ve got an errand over at Tom Sherwood’s house. I’ll be with you later on, and will fetch Tom with me. My lips are sealed about the object of this special meeting until then, so there’s no use trying to coax me to speak. Those who are selected will be told everything, and the rest put on their honor not to say a word about anything they suspect to-night.”
“Wow! you certainly have got us all guessing good and hard, Hugh,” laughed Dale Evans, who belonged to the Otter Patrol. “I sure hope I’ll be one of those lucky chosen ones, so I can know what all this mystery means.”
“Oh! any old thing is liable to happen in such exciting times as these,” said Chester Brownell, who was one of the best athletes in the troop, and would assuredly be picked out by Hugh as one of the guards of the night; though Chester, being in complete ignorance concerning matters, could not know this.
Hugh hurried as best he could toward the Sherwood home, which was some distance away from the corner where he parted company with the other scouts. There was little chance that Tom might have already started for the rendezvous, but somehow Hugh suspected the other was feeling too anxious to take any pleasure in going to a called meeting, when he could just as well stay at home and worry his mind with those questions that would not down.
Tom himself came to the door in answer to his knock, and seemed to be a little surprised to find who was there. Hugh thought he looked more gloomy than ever, though possibly that had been a faint gleam of revived hope that flittered athwart Tom’s long face at seeing the scout master.
“I thought you mightn’t come out to-night, Tom,” said Hugh, as he pushed in without even waiting for an invitation, “and so I made up my mind to step over and be sure of you. Fact is, Tom, there’s going to be something planned of great importance to our cause. I’ve depended on you to be one of six or eight of the brawniest fellows in the troop to stand by and help us win a great victory.”
Tom looked somewhat impressed, though he shook his head sadly as he went on to say in reply:
“Well, I had almost made up my mind, Hugh, that I didn’t care to go out to-night. Fact is, to tell you the truth, I’m so miserable these days that I don’t seem to care whether school keeps or not—lost my appetite, and even think of resigning from the scouts.”
Hugh slapped him on the back in his cheery fashion.
“Don’t let me hear you make that threat again, Tom,” he said, in pretended severity. “We need you too much every day to let you go. Besides, your influence is going to count for a heap after the town is cleared up. You don’t know how much it means to have a scout in good standing in a family. But what ails you, Tom? Has anything new happened to give you the blues again?”
“Yes,” came the reply, accompanied with a deep sigh from the heart.
“Tell me what it is all about, Tom, won’t you?” asked Hugh, as he followed the other upstairs to his own room. Somehow, Tom seemed to feel that they ought to be alone so his mother might not overhear what passed between them.
“I’ll just close the door, Hugh, before I say anything,” remarked Tom, “though for that matter there’s no danger Benjy will interrupt us, because he’s gone off for the evening. This time I’m glad to tell you it’s to a sociable they’re having over at our church for the young people.”
His manner when saying this showed that Tom would be a happy fellow, indeed, if he could only know that every night Benjy was away from home, he was enjoying himself in similar innocent amusements as on this particular occasion.
“It’s this way, you see, Hugh,” he continued, after finding a seat close to his visitor, “for a little while now Benjy’s been acting mighty decent, and I’ve come to let myself take on more hope than I had the last time you and I talked it over. He seems more like his old self, and was even asking some questions about the scouts, though up to now he’s never seemed to care a thing about our organization, you remember. But it was too good to last, Hugh.”
Remembering what he had seen that afternoon, with Benjy counting silver coins he had received from the bird fancier, Hugh himself was obliged to mentally confess that it looked very much that way.
“Go on, please, Tom!” he urged when the other paused.
“Well, this is how it happened,” explained the other, slowly, as though he hated to talk about such a painful subject, and had to force himself to take it up only because he knew it was necessary he should enter into details. “After supper this evening, just before Benjy went out, he gave me a quick look when he thought I wasn’t paying any attention, and then slipped upstairs. I waited for a little while, and then just couldn’t stand it any longer, so I managed to leave the sitting room and go up the back stairs.
“Keeping on my tiptoes, I moved along the upper hall in the half shadows to where I could watch the door of my room. It was partly open, and there was a light inside, but I couldn’t see Benjy at all, though I could hear him moving about as if looking for something. Then the light suddenly went out, and he came out. Hugh, it made me as cold as ice when I even heard him chuckling to himself as he hurried to his own room, just as if he thought he had played a good joke on me.”
“Of course he didn’t know you were so close to him?” asked Hugh when Tom stopped talking to swallow as though something seemed to be choking him.
“No, and as soon as he disappeared in his own room I slipped downstairs again, and took up the book I had been reading. He went off a few minutes afterwards, and called out good-night to all as cheery as he used to in the old days before he got going with that tough set.”
“Did you come up here and look around to find out what he had been doing?” asked the scout master.
“I wanted to the worst kind, Hugh, but it seemed as if I just couldn’t. I was almost afraid to look for fear of making some more discoveries that would upset me. Why, Hugh, honest to goodness, I feel so weary this very night you would think I was an old man, and yet I’ll be sixteen to-morrow, you remember.”
“Well,” Hugh told him, “it’s always my principle, when I’ve got a disagreeable task to perform, to get at it right away. The longer you wait, Tom, the worse it gets for you. The only way is to shut your teeth hard together, and pitch in.”
“I guess you’re right, Hugh—sure you must be. I’ve been silly to hold back. No matter what I learn, the truth can’t be any worse than this terrible uncertainty that’s gripping me, and making me shiver as if I had the ague again.” He jumped from his seat as though determined to carry his words into effect.
“I suppose the first thing I ought to look at is my trunk, eh, Hugh?” he went on to say, fumbling in a pocket for his keys.
“Well, you know better than I do where you keep your valuables,” said the other, trying to appear merry, though somehow, Tom did not respond to any appreciable extent. “I see that since that other time I was up here you’ve changed your way of leaving your trunk unlocked.”
Tom flushed, and shook his head.
“Oh! I tell you it galled me to think I was locking it against my own brother,” he said, tremulously, “but then I remembered that it is a sin to put temptation in the path of any fellow whose weakness you know. Though for that matter a common key would unlock this trunk.”
He soon threw back the lid and bent over, fumbling through the contents. Hugh stood close by, watching him with more or less curiosity and interest. He saw that Tom was evidently in fear and trembling, as though constantly dreading lest he make some unpleasant discovery.
As he proceeded he seemed to regain a portion of his former confidence.
“Here’s my little savings bank all right, Hugh, and no one could ever manage to get anything out of that in the short time he was in my room, even if the trunk could be opened. So far as I can see, nothing has been taken out of here.”
When he allowed the lid to drop again Tom was looking more or less relieved. Evidently his main concern had been in connection with the money, he had in that little metal bank, for if Benjy had meant to take anything it would seem that ready cash would tempt him more than all else.
“Oh! perhaps, Hugh, he didn’t come in here for that,” he broke out with. “I remember now that sometimes in the past when Benjy was going out to a party he used to want to fix his tie, and brush his hair before the mirror in my room, for he said the light was better here. It may have been that, Hugh, you know.”
The scout master understood that poor Tom was like a drowning man clutching at a straw in hopes of keeping himself afloat. Hugh himself might have been inclined to look at the matter from much the same standpoint only for that strange incident of the afternoon, which he could not explain, try as he might, save along very unpleasant lines.