“Let’s hope so, Tom,” he hastened to say, “though now you’re about it, in order to ease your mind, and leave no stone unturned, I should think you had better make a clean sweep in here.”
“Do you mean search every drawer in my chiffonier and dresser, Hugh?” demanded Tom. “I can do that easily enough, but surely he wouldn’t think to take any of my clothes. I might tell if he’d mussed around in the drawers searching for my savings bank, though, because I keep everything just so; and the clean shirt I expect to wear to-morrow morning I placed on the top of the pile. That’s my habit as a scout to have things kept as neat as wax. Why, Hugh, my mother laughs at me, and calls me a fussy old maid, you know, all on account of those habits of thrift and preparedness.”
He started in at the bureau drawers for some reason or other, and as he opened each one and ran his eye over the contents, Tom continued to talk.
“Seems like nothing has been bothered that I can notice, Hugh. Here’s another drawer containing some of my surveying instruments, for, with Bud Morgan, I’m still interested along those lines, though of late I haven’t been out afield with him. I was a little afraid one of these instruments might be gone. You see, they’re worth considerable money, and were made a present to me by an old uncle who’s interested in my career. But, so far as I can see, not a single thing is missing, Hugh.”
There was a positive air of relief in Tom’s voice when he said this. Undoubtedly the contents of that drawer of instruments had been giving him more anxiety than he had confessed, and he was glad that no unpleasant discovery had developed.
“The rest will be just an apology of a search, Hugh, because, you see, there’s absolutely nothing worth taking besides these things. Still, to satisfy my mind as you say, perhaps I’d just better run through the drawers of the chiffonier.”
He started at the top one. Hugh indolently watched his progress downward, never dreaming that there would come anything out of the ordinary. Suddenly, as Tom started to open the drawer that he said contained his clean shirts, the scout master saw him give a big start.
“Why, what’s this?” Tom stammered, at the same time taking out a long package carefully tied up, and with something written on the outside. Hugh also noticed that an envelope was pinned on to the paper covering.
Somehow or other Hugh experienced a thrill. It was as if he had a premonition that something in the nature of a great surprise was coming. Tom was staring hard at what he saw written on the paper. Then he snatched the note, and with trembling hands commenced to get at the enclosure, while the scout master strove to analyze his feelings from the flitting expressions that chased each other across his face.
He saw Tom read on, first with incredulity, then sheer amazement, and finally a look of supreme joy came upon his countenance that spoke even louder than his words could the revelation that had come to his faithful heart.
“Oh! Hugh! Hugh! would you believe it, Benjy’s all right? He’s—he’s—oh! I’m so happy I hardly know what to say! Read his note, Hugh, please!”
Hugh took the missive from Tom’s hand, and at the same time managed to see what was written on the outside of the carefully done-up package that the other had laid on the top of the chiffonier.
“To Brother Tom: Wishing him many happy returns of his birthday. From Benjy!”
“To Brother Tom: Wishing him many happy returns of his birthday. From Benjy!”
Even before Hugh read a single word in the note he believed he had a pretty clear comprehension as to the true state of affairs. His heart, too, was bounding with sudden relief over the happy outcome of the troublesome matter, although it was not to be expected that, being an outsider, Hugh could feel one-quarter the joy that filled Tom’s soul.
The letter ran as follows:
“Dear Tom:“Here’s the best thing I could think of to get you. It’s a whole lot better than your old racket ever was, which I am having repaired for my own use. I’ve taken a liking to tennis lately. And, Tom, you’ll be glad to know I’ve thrown that whole crowd overboard, and I mean to make an application to join the scouts the first chance I get. Perhaps you would like to propose my name. Many happy returns of the day, Tom. I’m beginning to realize what a whole lot I owe you for keeping everlastingly at me, even when I kept turning you down. But I want to forget all that now, for it can never happen again with me.“Your brother, Benjy.”
“Dear Tom:
“Here’s the best thing I could think of to get you. It’s a whole lot better than your old racket ever was, which I am having repaired for my own use. I’ve taken a liking to tennis lately. And, Tom, you’ll be glad to know I’ve thrown that whole crowd overboard, and I mean to make an application to join the scouts the first chance I get. Perhaps you would like to propose my name. Many happy returns of the day, Tom. I’m beginning to realize what a whole lot I owe you for keeping everlastingly at me, even when I kept turning you down. But I want to forget all that now, for it can never happen again with me.
“Your brother, Benjy.”
Hugh folded up that note with a feeling of delight he had seldom experienced before. Then Benjy was turning out to be a splendid sort of fellow! Hugh anticipated he might prove to be that once he made up his mind to break away from those evil connections that were pulling him into the mire.
He must have been really hunting for the old tennis racquet on that other occasion when caught rummaging through Tom’s trunk. He had appeared confused because he feared his secret might be discovered. He had not only taken every cent he had in his bank to pay for the new racquet, but had actually sold his valuable Belgian hares in order to make up the amount he still owed at the sporting goods store.
By now Tom had snatched up the package and managed to get it undone. He uttered cries of sincere admiration and delight when he saw what an elegant tennis racquet was revealed. His eyes were swimming with tears as he looked at Hugh.
“Oh! Hugh!” he stammered, “will I ever be able to forgive myself for thinking all those bad things about him? I never felt so ashamed in my life as I do now. But I’m going to make amends for it, see if I don’t, Hugh. Look what a dandy racquet he got me, will you? Spent every cent he had saved for his Fourth.”
Hugh hardly knew whether he ought to relate what he had discovered. The temptation to do so overcame his scruples. Besides, now that Benjy’s innocence had been assured, he thought it too good to be hidden under a bushel by silence.
“I’m going to tell you something, Tom,” he went on to say, with a smile. “Queer, isn’t it, that often the very things we fear for most turn out to be for the very best?”
Tom immediately began to show new interest. How his fine eyes sparkled, and upon his face that worried look could no longer be seen.
“What! is there anything more good coming, Hugh?” he cried, eagerly.
“You’ll have to judge for yourself,” replied the scout master, after which he proceeded to relate how he had seen Benjy coming out of the bird store kept by Mr. Huggins, and counting some silver, also how the discovery had filled him with dismay.
“It was only natural it should, you understand, Tom,” he went on to say in apology, “after what we suspected. But I made up my mind I would learn what he had been doing in there.”
When Tom heard about the selling of Benjy’s pet Belgian hares he lowered his head suddenly as though he did not want his friend to see that his eyes were swimming, for as a rule, boys have a prejudice against appearing weak. Hugh respected his brotherly emotion, for he knew that it must be complete joy that affected the other now, and not anxiety.
By the time Hugh finished speaking Tom managed to get a fresh grip on himself, even though his voice did tremble somewhat.
“Hugh, I’m bound to redeem those long-eared little animals if I have to borrow the money to do it with!” he exclaimed. “To think of his making that great big sacrifice just for me! I know how fond Benjy’s been of his pets! Oh! Hugh, when you came in here little did I dream what glorious news there was going to be sprung on me! I was feeling away down in the cellar, and now, well, I seem to be on the roof looking up into the beautiful heavens!”
That was not such a bad description of Tom’s feelings, considering the fact that he was only a matter-of-fact boy, and struggling along under unusual emotion.
Hugh did not attempt to explain how possibly it might be just as well to allow Benjy to make his sacrifice. It gave the boy more or less satisfaction, and would always be a link connecting him with his brother. Later on Hugh might urge upon Tom the wisdom of letting matters stand just as they were.
He handled the racquet and praised its good qualities.
“It was pretty smart of the boy hiding it in the drawer containing your shirts,” Hugh went on to say, laughing; “especially as he figured that to-morrow was your regular morning for putting on a clean one, and you would be sure to discover the package the first thing on your birthday.”
“Wasn’t it, though?” said Tom, chuckling. “That shows, Tom, that Benjy would make a good scout, because he has the sense of observation well developed to start with.”
“Just what it does, Tom, and some day before long I hope to see your brother wearing the honored khaki. It’s a proud family that can boast oftwoscouts, let me tell you. And once Benjy joins—no danger of his ever going back. A world will open up to his eyes that he never dreamed existed. Old things will have passed away and everything become new, once he has put on the magic spectacles of scoutcraft. I’ve been told that by a dozen fellows, and I know what a change it makes in most boys.”
Tom began to wrap the precious racquet carefully up again in the paper that had been around it when he made his startling discovery. How tenderly he handled the present given by his brother. Hugh even thought that all other gifts showered on Tom in times past must sink into utter insignificance when compared with this special one; for it represented, in his eyes, the dissolution of those serious doubts that had of late been weighing down his spirits until his heart felt like lead.
“I’m meaning to put it back just where I found it, you see, Hugh,” he explained, “and make things look as if no one had touched it. Luckily the envelope wasn’t sealed, so I didn’t destroy the same. You may wonder why I do that, and I’ll tell you. I want to open it again in the morning just as if I had found it for the first time. Then there’s another reason, you see, Hugh; Benjy might get home to-night ahead of me, and finding that I hadn’t shown up yet, take a notion to step in here just to have a last peep and a pat at his package. I wouldn’t like him to know I had been investigating ahead of time, you understand, Hugh.”
The scout master could read between the lines. He realized that not for the world would repentant Tom want Benjy to suspect he had been looking all through his room in the fear and expectation of making a distressing discovery that would implicate the younger brother. Nor could Hugh blame the other for wanting to conceal such a humiliating thing as this.
Accordingly the packet was carefully put on top of the clean shirts in the drawer. To all appearances it lay just as Benjy had placed it, and if he did peep in the receptacle, there was nothing to tell him that the well-tied bundle had been disturbed.
“There, that’s a big load off my shoulders,” said Tom, with a look of relief. “Now, Hugh, I’m ready to go with you, and do anything you ask of me. Why, I feel that light-hearted I could almost fly,” and he flapped his arms as though they were wings, an action that caused Hugh to laugh aloud.
“Well, just hold your horses a bit, Tom,” he advised. “I have need of your services to-night, and it would be a shame to have you take a flight. Suppose you get your cap and come along with me to the meeting.”
“There must be something serious doing, Hugh, if all this mystery counts for anything.”
“There certainly is, Tom. You’ll learn about it as soon as I’ve picked out the scouts I want to serve with me. They’re all going to be husky fellows like yourself.”
“You’ve got me worked up to top-notch speed, Hugh, with what you say,” said Tom, scurrying around, and looking for his cap, which he found behind a chair where it had evidently fallen when he tossed it aside earlier in the evening. “But no matter what it all means I’m with you to the last lick. I feel as if I could whip my weight in wildcats. Lead the way, and every scout you want will follow you, Hugh.”
And so the twain passed out and headed for the rendezvous, where they were likely to find full twenty-five fellows in khaki impatiently awaiting the coming of their leader, and an explanation of this unusual “called” meeting.
Hugh had figured it all out, and decided that the first thing he would do after the business part of the meeting had been carried through, would be to pick the fellows who were to help guard the jewelry establishment with some of the regular police force, so as to surprise the thieves, if they should come as expected.
He believed it might be unwise to tell the others anything about the plan of campaign. This was not because he had reason to suspect the loyalty of a single scout, but boys will talk as well as girls, and unwittingly a fellow might let something escape him that, through devious channels, would be carried to the ears of those who were concerned in the contemplated raid on the store.
This plan was carried out to the letter. Those whose names were not on the list of lucky ones felt a little aggrieved, but at the same time they knew it would do no good to enter a complaint. Hugh had promised they were to be given full particulars as soon as possible. He assured them also that it was a move in the interests of the grand project that engaged their labors—cleaning up Oakvale.
Once he found himself left with seven stout chums, Hugh proceeded to gather them around him, and explained what was in the air. He had a most attentive audience, and it would have been amusing to any one interested in boys to watch the expressions of wonder and growing delight that gradually crept over their faces as they drank in his words.
Say what you will, the seed of adventure has always taken root deep down in the hearts of every healthy boy. The mere fact that they were scouts, and had promised to observe the rules of the organization whose badge they so proudly wore, did not mean that they must stifle this feeling, which, if directed along the right channels, does a boy ten times as much good as harm.
Dozens of eager questions poured in upon Hugh as soon as he had managed to tell them about the dastardly plot that had been hatched up by those desperate men who realized they were getting near the end of their rope, and that the energy of the scouts was primarily responsible for the whole thing.
Hugh acted with considerable patience and answered as best he might. He realized that under similar conditions he, too, might have felt inclined to ask for further information, because it was a tremendous subject, truth to tell, and difficult to grapple with in the beginning.
“We’ll make our way by a round-about route to a place appointed,” he went on to explain, “and there we’ll find Chief Wallis waiting for us. He will have three of his men along with him, all that can be spared from their night duties. Between us we’ll probably fix it so that a complete cordon will be thrown around the jewelry store they’ve picked out for robbery.”
How they hung upon his every word! Hugh would know just how to place them in order that they might be able to throw themselves upon the night prowlers after the latter had actually started to break into the store. Hugh had explained that they must not be premature in unmasking their batteries, or the thieves might find a loophole by means of which they could escape from the meshes of the law.
When Hugh decided that it was time they started to effect a junction with the regular police; he warned his followers for the last time how to act.
“If it comes to actual fighting,” he said, impressively, “remember, you must leavethatto the officers, who are armed to bear the brunt of the attack. We can throw ourselves on any fellow, if the chance offers, and hold him down. But all that will be arranged exactly after we meet the other guards.”
He took them along an unfrequented street and by making several detours, the little group finally found the threatened store looming up close by.
Hugh gave a prearranged signal and received a soft reply.
“The Chief is over there in that dense shadow,” he whispered to the rest. “We must slip along and join him. First, Tom, here, can go, and drop down when he finds himself in the dark spot. Then Alec will follow, and in regular order Buck, Ralph, Jack, Bud and Sam are to imitate him. I’ll fetch up the rear. Make a move, Tom.”
They were all on their mettle, and besides, had the reputation of being clever scouts, well versed in most of the secrets of woodcraft. Consequently the maneuver was carried out without a single hitch. Before many minutes passed Hugh, having arrived on the spot, found his chums crouching there close by the Chief.
In low whispers the head of the Oakvale police force now explained their plan of campaign. It was not known whether any hostile eye kept watch over the threatened store or not, but they must always believe that such might be the case, and act accordingly.
That principle was also in line with a scout’s education, and pleased the boys exceedingly. They had been taught never to underestimate an enemy, and that it were far better to waste time in taking precautions than have over-confidence ruin the best-laid plan.
One of the police and three of the scouts were to remain outside the building, and their part in the enterprise was easily guessed. If the thieves were like most of their class they would very likely leave one of their number without to keep watch and give a signal should any sudden peril loom up. It was to secure that sentry that the force detailed to stay in the open had been marked off.
Hugh with the rest and the Chief meant to enter the store. He had visited it often and ought to be well acquainted with its every detail. Even at that Hugh never left a thing to chance when he could help it. That very afternoon, after he had left Ralph and the others, the boy had made some sort of excuse to drop in at Ainslee’s establishment. With his scout ability he had been able to make a mental map, and had noted every particular of the store, so that he believed he could, if necessary, get around in the dark without colliding with showcases or pillars or counters.
Chief Wallis must have found a way to communicate with the proprietor of the store, for he certainly had a key that opened the side door, through which numerous shadowy figures now silently slipped.
Here again Hugh proved of considerable value, for it was he who really directed the others where to hide so that they might divide their force. The Chief had a pocket electric light along with him, but he hesitated to make use of it, lest some one passing and repassing the front of the store, and looking in, take notice of the strange glow, and communicate the alarm to his fellows.
Talking was absolutely forbidden among the scouts. They could only indicate the tremendous interest they were taking in the proceedings by numerous sly digs in the ribs, after the manner of lively boys unduly repressed. None of these were given with such vigor as to elicit a gasp or groan.
How still it seemed after they had been posted in their hiding places. Some of the scouts must have thought they could actually hear the beating of their own hearts, such was the stress under which they labored.
Luckily Hugh had used discretion when making his selections. He had not chosen them merely for brawn alone, but for an ability to keep a good grip on their spirits, and bravely face exciting conditions that might well try the nerves of experienced officers.
An hour passed. It did not slip by, as most of the waiting scouts would have readily agreed. In fact, that was one of the longest hours they ever knew, and as ten boomed from the church clock, they could hardly believe their ears, for surely, they figured, it must be that a longer time had elapsed.
Hugh allowed them a chance to change their positions when cramped, but insisted that it be done with due regard to caution. They could not tell when suspicious ears would be listening for any sound to indicate trouble. When the thieves did come they would do so—silently, and without any trumpet to announce their mission.
The second hour was worse by far than the first. How their lower limbs did seem to want to “go to sleep,” as the boys termed it when circulation of blood ceased, and a species of numbness resulted. Various were the remedies resorted to in order to overcome this unpleasant feeling. When eleven struck some of the crouching figures moved uneasily and came as near groaning as they dared.
Still, it could not be long now before something was likely to happen, Hugh whispered to Tom, with orders to pass it along the line, and then become mute again.
Hugh himself was wondering whether or not all these preparations were doomed to disappointment. What if the grand scheme had fallen through, or the intended robbery been postponed because of good and sufficient reasons? He felt that he would be grievously disappointed, for somehow he had come to set much store on being able to strike this telling blow against the worst of the offenders of decency in Oakvale.
He had an impression that this would mark the final effort to break down the new order of things; that if the robbery of the jewelry establishment, and the subsequent placing of the crime at the door of certain innocent parties, could be balked in its perpetration, the last barrier would have yielded, and after that the reform people would have a clean order of things.
It must have been pretty near the midnight hour when a door was heard to close. That little piece of carelessness on the part of the thieves was likely to cost them dear in the end, since it gave ample warning of their coming.
One soft hiss from Hugh and every scout flattened himself as low as he could, so that discovery might not follow in case those who had entered the store produced any sort of light.
They were not experts in this profession, Hugh guessed, for they took certain chances of being discovered while at work. Nevertheless, they depended on the vigilance of their outpost stationed on the street, as well as the reputation acquired by the town night officers for shirking their work when on beat.
When it was seen that the two men had actually commenced operations on the big safe, as though meaning to break into it, and have “the game as well as the name” now that they had gone to all this trouble, the concealed boys could hardly keep from leaping up and throwing themselves upon the robbers. Only the mastery which Hugh possessed over them prevented such a break; for it had become second nature now with them to wait for orders before making a move.
Apparently, there was no need of waiting further before showing their hand. Those outside could take warning when they heard a sudden sound of confusion within, and pounce upon the “outlook.”
The Chief had reserved to himself the giving of the signal, and every one, man and boy alike, knew what his particular part in the surprise attack was to be. If everything went right it would be like the mechanical action of clockwork machinery. Hugh hoped no cog in the wheel would miss connections, because that might interfere with the ultimate success of the whole scheme.
The two men were bending low when there came a sharp exclamation. They would have started up like a flash, but even then their action was just a trifle too late, for something heavy dropped upon them, and flattened both out upon the floor.
It was really the body of the Chief that had accomplished this coup. Before either one of the astonished rascals could squirm out from under his ponderous form the scouts became as busy as beavers. Hugh flashed the little light handed over to him by the Chief, and kept it playing full upon the focussing point where all their interest was centred. Consequently Tom, Sam and the rest of the fellows had no trouble in distributing themselves along the length of the recumbent figures of the disturbed thieves.
Hugh felt sure that, as Billy Worth would have said, it “was all over but the shouting,” when he saw how well pinned down the desperate rascals found themselves. He advanced closer so as to be in a position to carry out any wishes of the astute police head, such as slipping the waiting handcuffs over the wrists of the prisoners, and rendering them harmless, so that they might be stood up and looked over.
Several loud outcries from beyond the door announced that those who had been given the task of trapping the third member of the audacious set had taken a hint just as soon as they heard the first sound within the store. They soon came into the building pushing a man before them, who was lined up with the other pair.
Three more disgusted-looking fellows had likely never before been paraded in front of the scouts. Just as Hugh and Ralph had suspected, they turned out to be Gaffney, the former owner of the poolroom and gymnasium that had been abolished by orders of council; Slimmons, once the athletic trainer in the public schools before he took so heavily to drink that he had to be let go; and that third man, a stranger whom Hugh believed must be secretly interested in seeing Oakvale’s reform movement slump, perhaps because he had some connection with the interests of those who had been defying the law.
Caught in the act, it was likely to go hard with the three. Gaffney did tell his mates not to open their mouths, but to leave it to him to get them clear. Hugh believed they were leaning on a broken reed if they entertained any hope that political influence was going to keep the outraged law from taking its course. That day had gone for Oakvale, and the degrading elements which such men as Gaffney represented, would have to emigrate to other quarters if they hoped to be able to continue to ply their evil vocations.
The trio of prisoners were marched through the now deserted streets to the lockup, where Chief Wallis would see to it that there was no chance for a getaway. The seven scouts, who accompanied Hugh and the little group of officers surrounding the prisoners, would never be able to forget the exciting experiences of that night. It would have to go down upon the annals of scout achievements, and serve to add one more glorious event to the string of exploits carried to a successful conclusion by the boys of the Oakvale Troop.
Before Hugh dismissed his followers he took occasion to thank them warmly for having acquitted themselves so splendidly. Tom Sherwood, in particular, squeezed his hand with peculiar emphasis at parting, as he said in a happy tone:
“This has been a white letter night for me, Hugh, and one I’ll never, never forget. You know why, Hugh, and the first thing to-morrow morning I’m going to buy those Belgian hares back if they are still in the market. So good night, and thank you a thousand times, Hugh. It’s bound to be a happy birthday for me, I tell you.”
On the following morning, when the news was circulated through Oakvale that some of the disorderly elements had attempted to make a raid on the Ainslee jewelry establishment, great was the consternation of the good people of the town. Then when it was added that the supposed robbery was only a part of a miserable scheme to try and bring the organization of Boy Scouts into disrepute, the indignation of the citizens knew no bounds.
“It is the culminating stroke of wickedness,” Mrs. Marsh declared as she spoke at a hurriedly arranged meeting of the best ladies in the town, “and proves that we did not commence this uplift movement a day too soon! Heaven only knows what might not have happened if not for those dear boys making up their minds that conditions had to change in Oakvale. I am free to confess that all our efforts to arouse the citizens had been marked by little success until Hugh and his comrades took it upon themselves to start the ball rolling.”
“Well,” said Mr. Dobbs, the minister, who chanced to be present so as to congratulate the Ladies’ League on the splendid success that was meeting their efforts, “it has often seemed to me that when Providence wants to overwhelm bad men in the toils, first of all their common sense is taken away so that they commit foolish acts that bring about their own downfall. By great good luck we have managed to turn the tables on these schemers, and they are hoist by their own petard.”
“And after what has happened,” added Mrs. Beverly earnestly, “there should not be a single dissenting citizen who cares a shred about his or her reputation. Bold, indeed, must the man or woman be who would dare side with such desperate rascals as Gaffney and Slimmons. The town is well rid of an encumbrance, and let us all be thankful in our hearts on this wonderful day that the sun can look down on our beautiful little city and not shine on a single evil spot. Our boys and girls can go to and fro from this time on without that constant anxiety mothers have been feeling. I wish to state that much of this sense of security, I believe, we owe to the sterling efforts of Hugh Hardin and his sturdy comrades of Oakvale Troop. I love every one of them, and shall never be weary of sounding their praises, for they are boys of whom any town might well be proud.”
It is human nature to want to be on the winning side. Hugh believed there would be comparatively little trouble ahead for himself and comrades. The rapidity with which the men who had been taken to the lockup were brought to trial and punished for their misdeeds was going to deter others from attempting opposition.
In the midst of all this excitement, together with so much cause for congratulation, Hugh did not forget Tom Sherwood, and what had happened to brighten his life. The next time he met Tom he found his face radiant with the joy of living. Any one could see without being much of a reader of human nature that Tom was thoroughly happy. Many were the conjectures that his friends gave as to the reason for the boy’s sudden return to his old self. Tom kept his own counsel, and only told those who persisted in asking questions that a little trouble he had had on his mind had come out all right.
Hugh would keep the secret, of that Tom felt assured, and no one need ever know what terrible fears he had been entertaining on account of Benjy.
“Hugh,” he went on to say, as he clapped his hand on the shoulder of the scout master, with a movement that stood for deep affection, “it’s all come out right, and I’m the happiest fellow in Oakvale, let me tell you. Benjy and I understand each other now, and I’ll see to it that after this never a cloud is going to come between us. Hugh, he’s going to drop over tonight to see you.”
“I hope he doesn’t know that I felt worried about him the same way you did, Tom?” remarked Hugh.
“Oh! I was too ashamed of my fears to ever tell him aboutthat,” replied the other, quickly. “Benjy has been explaining to me what a fight he had with himself before he could break off connections with that crowd. I think a dream he had one night had a heap to do with his making a decision. He wouldn’t explain just what it was, only shuddered as he spoke of it. You can govern yourself as you think best, Hugh, when you’re talking with him.”
“He’ll never learn a single thing from me about your worrying, Tom. Although you haven’t said so, I imagine he’s coming to make some inquiries about joining the scouts?”
“Yes, that’s what he’s got in mind now, Hugh. He’s found himself interested in a lot of things we’ve been doing the last year or so. Somehow, they seem to look different from what they used to. Benjy has waked up, you see, and once a fellow gets to feel an interest in scout doings he’s bound to go on wanting to know more. When the fever begins to burn in his veins he never finds any rest until he throws his lot in with the wearers of the khaki, and starts to learn things for himself.”
“Tell him I expect to be home to-night after supper,” said the scout master, “and will be glad to have him drop over. We need a few more good fellows to fill out the vacancies in several of the patrols. Lieutenant Denmead, you understand, may be home the end of this week, and assume his old position of head of the troop.”
“He’ll be surprised to learn what’s been going on here during his absence, believe me,” observed Tom, grinning.
“Oh! I keep in touch with him, and I’ve written an inkling of what we’ve been doing,” Hugh admitted. “All the same he’ll be pleased to find Oakvale so changed. The ladies say it must never go back again to where it was before. We scouts are of the same mind. Homes are going to be protected against those whose evil influence is all for pulling them down. That’s going to be the slogan of the scouts from now on. Tom, every new member we take in means one more timber in the structure we’re building on this safe foundation. Work all you can to spread the gospel of scout activities. There are dozens of fellows still around town who ought to be given an opportunity to learn the great benefits that go with scout membership.”
When Benjy came around that same evening, Hugh was primed for him. He went about his task with diplomacy, knowing that some boys can be led but never driven. So successfully did Hugh accomplish his labors that before Tom Sherwood’s younger brother left the house he was fairly wild to have his name brought before the nominating committee at the very next meeting.
“I feel that I’ve already lost a mighty fine time by my silly opposition to the scouts,” Benjy frankly admitted. “I was all wrong, and I guess it was only my natural pig-headedness that kept me so. But I’ve seen a great light, Hugh. They say it’s better late than never. I want to enjoy some of those good times you fellows have. Besides, I expect I’ve got something to wipe out, because of late I’ve given my brother Tom more or less worry.”
When a scout goes about recruiting in the happy way Hugh did there is hardly a limit to his capacity for bringing new members into a troop. Those boys of Oakvale who wore the khaki had been highly favored by fortune in that opportunities for doing big things had ever knocked at their door.
Those readers who have had the pleasure of enjoying many of the previous books in this series will remember with satisfaction how they followed the fortunes of Hugh and his chums at the time they set out to improve the sanitary conditions of the community in which they lived.
Then there was the time of the great flood in a neighbouring town where several of the boys chanced to be visiting, during which they proved that they were made of the right kind of stuff, and won the admiration of the people of the inundated district.
The temptation is strong to mention several other instances where scout pluck and endurance won the day against heavy odds. For example, there was the time when the lads were camping in the vicinity of a great plant where a strike broke out, and rioting resulted. It may be remembered how they took hold and showed what they knew of “first aid to the injured,” winning the approbation of the Red Cross doctor and nurses when later on they came upon the scene.
During the County Fair the scouts also played a part that made them many new friends, acting as messengers and guides to the exhibitors and visitors, and even running a successful field hospital in the fair grounds.
To continue a little further it may also be remembered how they were unexpectedly called upon to fight the forest fires that threatened to ruin many farmers and others who had their homes within reach of the flames. Those boys who read that story will not soon forget how Hugh and his mates acted their part against heavy odds, and how splendidly they convinced a doubter that scout activities always made a boy more manly, as well as rendered him a far better citizen, of which any community might well be proud.
Then there was the time some of the Oakvale boys in khaki met with a remarkable adventure in connection with the motion picture players, which has been narrated at length in a recent volume.
Last, but far from least, while mentioning some of these interesting and instructive facts, it would hardly be fair to omit the occasion, not so far in the past, when some of those same fellows earned the right to have their names written on the Scouts’ Roll of Honor, as well as managed to receive the valuable medal which is presented to those members in good standing who save human life at the risk of their own. If you have not already enjoyed reading that story lose no time in securing it, as you will be well repaid for your time and money.
But passing over these never-to-be-forgotten happenings of the past we must once more come back to Hugh and his chums at the time they labored so zealously to create a new moral atmosphere in the home town where they lived, and of which they were naturally very fond.
As the spring days went on the difficulties that had at first beset the reform wave in Oakvale gradually died down, until it seemed as though things were going along like clockwork. Men, women and children took a keen interest in helping the matter along. There was a healthy rivalry between certain cliques of boys with the idea of winning the highest praise for keeping their section of the town free from all nuisances, and so long as this spirit lived, the community was bound to profit.
Once the citizens began to enjoy full freedom from repulsive and unpleasant customs, they found the change so agreeable that no one had the temerity to sigh for the old régime; at least, if he did, he wisely kept his longings to himself.
Even the railroad company, that had up to that time absolutely refused to do anything that would necessitate the expenditure of money, seemed to have been shamed by the action of the scouts in looking after those dangerous spots, where the lives of the smaller school children were placed in danger.
First, a gate guarded by a flagman was placed at the point of most danger. That was an entering wedge, and as the citizens sent in a letter of thanks for the favor the railroad people awoke to the fact that the Oakvale station was a pretty dingy-looking affair after all. To the surprise and delight of the population word was received that it had been unanimously decided at the last meeting of the Directors to build the finest station on the whole line, of course outside the big cities, at Oakvale.
One portion of that communication made some fellows in Oakvale feel pretty well satisfied, for it was hung up where every one could read it who wished. This ran after the following fashion, and few there were in Oakvale who did not know the wording by heart, most of them were so proud of the distinction:
“We desire to state for the benefit of those who may have doubted the substantial benefit of a certain movement that has been sweeping over the land, that one of the chief reasons why Oakvale is selected for the honor of this new and beautiful station is the fact that her citizens have in their midst an organization that has done wonders in improving the living conditions in their town. We refer to the local scout troop; and wish to say that having after a full investigation learned how loyally these boys have striven to do their duty, and served as best they knew how to uplift the community in which they lived, it is our earnest hope that other towns and villages along our line may take pattern of these boys of Oakvale, and hasten to emulate their splendid example.”
That letter was deemed so precious a recommendation that Hugh afterwards obtained the right to have it suitably framed. And to this day it hangs in the meeting-room of the Oakvale Scouts, where any member of the troop will esteem it a privilege to show it to you if you take the trouble to drop around.
Every time Hugh saw Tom on the tennis court swinging that splendid new racquet, he told himself how unsafe it was for any one to judge wholly from appearances, and that he must consider the delightful outcome of that little affair as a never-to-be-forgotten lesson. Circumstantial evidence has hung many a man who was afterward found to be innocent. Hugh shivered to remember how Tom, yes, and he himself, had been condemning Benjy as they might a criminal when, in reality, the other was only working out a noble scheme to surprise his brother.
One thing must not be forgotten. Hugh—believing that Tom, in his spirit of brotherly love, might hasten to buy back those Belgian hares for Benjy, and thus in a measure weaken the spirit of sacrifice, that had made the other sell his pets—went around to the bird store early on the next morning, and purchased the pair of long-eared animals. He planned to keep them for a while, and then let Tom have them to give to Benjy on his next birthday, for by that time the other would have obtained all the good possible from his impulsive action.