THE BOY SCOUTS
FOR
HOME PROTECTION

BY
SCOUT MASTER ROBERT SHALER

AUTHOR OF “BOY SCOUTS OF THE SIGNAL CORPS,” “BOY SCOUTS OF PIONEER CAMP,” “BOY SCOUTS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,” “BOY SCOUTS OF THE LIFE SAVING CREW,” “BOY SCOUTS ON PICKET DUTY,” “BOY SCOUTS OF THE FLYING SQUADRON,” “BOY SCOUTS AND THE PRIZE PENNANT,” “BOY SCOUTS OF THE NAVAL RESERVE,” “BOY SCOUTS IN THE SADDLE,” “BOY SCOUTS FOR CITY IMPROVEMENT,” “BOY SCOUTS IN THE GREAT FLOOD,” “BOY SCOUTS OF THE FIELD HOSPITAL,” “BOY SCOUTS WITH THE RED CROSS,” “BOY SCOUTS AS COUNTY FAIR GUIDES,” “BOY SCOUTS AS FOREST FIRE FIGHTERS,” “BOY SCOUTS WITH THE MOTION PICTURE PLAYERS,” “BOY SCOUTS ON THE ROLL OF HONOR,” ETC., ETC.

NEW YORK
HURST & COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

Sterling Boy Scout Books

Bound in cloth Fifteen titles

1 Boy Scouts of the Signal Corps. 2 Boy Scouts of Pioneer Camp. 3 Boy Scouts of the Geological Survey. 4 Boy Scouts of the Life Saving Crew. 5 Boy Scouts on Picket Duty. 6 Boy Scouts of the Flying Squadron. 7 Boy Scouts and the Prize Pennant. 8 Boy Scouts of the Naval Reserve. 9 Boy Scouts in the Saddle. 10 Boy Scouts for City Improvement. 11 Boy Scouts in the Great Flood. 12 Boy Scouts of the Field Hospital. 13 Boy Scouts with the Red Cross. 14 Boy Scouts as County Fair Guides. 15 Boy Scouts as Forest Fire Fighters.

You can purchase any of the above books at the price you paid for this one, or the publishers will send any book, postpaid, upon receipt of 25c.

HURST & CO., Publishers
432 Fourth Avenue, New York

Copyright, 1915, by Hurst & Company

CONTENTS

CHAPTER PAGE I. [Time Things Began to Mend] 5 II. [Help Wanted] 15 III. [“Strike While the Iron Is Hot!”] 29 IV. [Waiting for the Good News] 39 V. [Oakvale’s Great Clean-up Day] 49 VI. [The Promise of a Scout] 58 VII. [How the “Uplift” Worked] 69 VIII. [One Use for Woodcraft Knowledge] 80 IX. [The Goal in Sight] 92 X. [Benjy’s Suspicious Actions] 106 XI. [The Revelation] 115 XII. [Clear Sailing Ahead] 124 XIII. [Putting the Clamps On] 133 XIV. [For Home Protection] 147

The Boy Scouts For Home Protection.

CHAPTER I.
TIME THINGS BEGAN TO MEND.

“Here it is springtime again, boys!”

“Yes, and I’m beginning to catch the spring fever. I just feel—well, torpid would describe it. I hate to study, or do any work that requires the least exertion.”

“Hey, Billy, there’s one great exception you’ll have to make when you say that—you’ve never let that torpor interfere with your rapid locomotion when you heard the welcome sound of the dinner bell.”

The fat boy in the new khaki suit allowed a broad, good-natured smile to spread over his freckled face.

“Oh, that’s different!” he exclaimed quickly. “I said work, please remember, Alec, and as for feeding, why, I always class that under the head of undiluted, unadulterated pleasure.”

“Well, winter has come and gone, with a whole lot of talk about town improvement in the air, and nothing done, just as you were saying, Hugh.”

The manly looking young fellow who answered to the name of Hugh Hardin was patrol leader and assistant scout master. This could easily be learned by any one at all familiar with the various devices used by Boy Scouts to designate rank. On the left sleeve of his coat, just below the shoulder, he had first of all two white stripes, and underneath that a red first-class scout badge.

Hugh, as well as a number of other members of the Oakvale Troop, had for some time been authorized to wear certain medals signifying that at some previous date they had been instrumental in saving human life at the risk of their own.

If the reader does not know under what stirring conditions these medals, typifying the Boy Scout Roll of Honor, were earned, he can have the pleasure of reading all the particulars in previous books of this series, as lack of time and space prevents our mentioning them here.

Besides the leader of the Wolf Patrol there were present on this occasion Billy Worth—the stout member—Alec Sands—who had once been Hugh’s most bitter rival for honors, but since heading the Otter Patrol he had grown to be very chummy with him—and Buck Winter.

They attended Oakvale High School and were dismissed about half-past one in the afternoon. They thus had considerable advantage over the boys and girls in the lower grades.

Indeed, at the late hour in the spring afternoon mentioned, numerous little folks were heading homeward in knots, having just been given their freedom. Hugh and his three companions had stopped to chat, having met by accident at that point where traffic was congested—the wagons from the mills crossing in one direction and many big and little cars swinging around various corners.

Somehow or other that particular spot always had a peculiar sort of fascination for Hugh. It had tragic memories, too, for on several occasions serious accidents had occurred here, owing to the speed which some drivers persisted in making while approaching the dangerous crossing.

When Buck Winter, the boy who surpassed most of his chums in animal photography, spoke to Hugh about the dim prospect of anything being done in the matter of improving certain glaring defects in the government of the town, the scout master frowned and shook his head.

“I never saw anything hang fire like this,” he remarked, at the same time watching what was going on close by with keen interest. “There’s that crossing over yonder, and some other bad places where children pass over several times a day—it ought to be protected but it isn’t. An officer should be stationed there morning, noon and night, to see that traffic slows up when the children are going and coming from school.”

“That’s right, Hugh,” burst out the impulsive Billy, whose heart was just as big as his waist was expansive, “and some of these fine days there’s going to be something awful happening here! It’ll wake this sleepy old town up! For one, I don’t believe in waiting till your horse is stolen before you think to lock the stable door. ‘A stitch in time saves nine,’ they say.”

“Just see how the driver of that big touring car swings down with a rush, will you!” exclaimed Alec, indignantly. “He sounds his siren to beat the band, just as if he expected everybody to scatter like chickens crossing a road, and run for their lives. It’s a beastly shame!”

“Something’s got to be done, that’s all!” said Hugh, with compressed lips, and a flash in his eye that spoke volumes, as he looked after the reckless chauffeur of the car, now speeding away, with a nasty grin of conscious superiority on his face.

“If I was the mayor of this burgh in place of spineless old Strunk,” the impetuous Alec went on to exclaim, “you’d soon hear something pop. I would call the Council in session, and have ordinances passed that would keep these speeders under control. After a few of them had been locked up for a spell, as well as heavily fined, you’d notice a big difference.”

“That isn’t all, by any means,” Hugh chimed in, watching the approach of a bevy of small school girls with apprehension, for the traffic seemed to be at its heaviest. “There are a number of other bad spots in town that need attention. The railroad crossing is utterly unprotected, and last summer one man was killed there, you remember, while twice vehicles have been wrecked.”

“There were some other things you mentioned the last time we talked this over, Hugh, I remember,” said Buck Winter.

“Lots of them,” came the ready reply. “The whole town has grown careless again. True, people don’t litter the streets with waste paper now that they know about the cans placed for such trash—the scouts cured that evil—but there are other defects that ought to be attended to. For instance, some people persist in keeping garbage standing open for the flies to breed in. Others have nuisances about which their neighbors hate to complain of. I know six or seven places where this sort of thing is going on, and I reckon the scouts could trace dozens, if once they had the authority to start in on the job.”

“Oh, I guess I know what you’ve got in mind, Hugh!” exclaimed Billy, with sudden animation. “I was reading the other day how that very thing is being carried out with great success right down in New York City. Boys are given badges to wear, and are called the Auxiliary Police, or something like that. They have their precincts to watch, and report every sort of nuisance or infraction of the law to their friend, the police captain, who sees that it is abated. They say you would be surprised to see how well the boys do their duty. Things have taken on a new look since the scheme was started.”

“It could be done here a whole lot easier than in such a big city,” affirmed Hugh, eagerly. “We haven’t got such a raft of ignorant foreigners to handle, you see. A good many people up here have just fallen into careless ways, and all they need is to be waked up.”

“We did that other job first class,” said Billy, proudly, “and we’d win out again if only we had half a chance. But I don’t know what keeps on interfering. They must be asleep, and only some terrible accident will startle them to action.”

“Some of the boys have told me in secret about a blind tiger that is being operated since the saloons were shut out of Oakvale,” declared Hugh. “Then I’ve also learned that some of the mill hands get together and gamble, which is against the law. The police, thinking of the votes those fellows can control, seem to wink at such things. There’s no use talking, the women of Oakvale have got to be roused, and join hands with every church in town to clean up the place again, this time for good. The scouts stand ready to do their part.”

“Every time!” added Billy, sonorously, as he whacked Buck Winter on his back, as if to emphasize his remark.

“There are heaps of things that ought to be bettered,” asserted Alec. “They never will be until the scouts and the women join hands with all the good people of Oakvale for a genuine old clean-up time. All they seem to want is a leader. Everybody is waiting for some one else to make the start. Hugh, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s going to be up to you.”

“I was talking with Professor Marvin, the school principal, only yesterday,” said the scout master, “and he agreed with me that there was great need of all the moral forces in the community uniting for a big fight before things got too bad. He said he would see Mayor Strunk last night, and asked me, as acting in place of Lieutenant Denmead, who is away, to drop around to his house this evening, for he had invited the mayor, Mrs. Marsh and several of the leading ladies of the T. I. A., to take supper with him.”

“Good for that!” cried Billy. “Make sure you rub it in like everything, Hugh, once you get the chance. I hope to hear great news tomorrow morning, and I’ll be ready, for one, to take off my coat and get busy with a broom—of course, figuratively speaking, I mean.”

Alec nodded his head as if pleased.

“Something in the air tells me there are going to be warm doings in this town before a great while,” he asserted positively. “It’s always darkest before dawn, they say, and things have about reached their limit here. Once the new broom gets agoing it’ll sweep out a lot of nuisances that have been an eyesore to all decent people for a long while back. My folks get quite worked up every time they begin to talk about certain things that are objectionable.”

“I’m going to begin and make a list of nuisances right off,” said Buck Winter.

“Well, I don’t like the way you look at me when you say that, Buck,” complained Billy, in affected uneasiness. “I’m going to reform, sure I am. Gimme half a chance, and I’ll even try to reduce my weight, if that bothers you, though I’d hate to cut my rations down to half.”

“Now look at all those vehicles and cars coming along from four directions at once!” exclaimed Alec. “That bunch of kids on the curb has been waiting all of five minutes for a half-decent chance to cross, but do you see any driver holding up to let them go over? They’re a lot of selfish and reckless—— Say, hold on, kids, don’t you dare to try it! Oh! Hugh, look there, one of them has run out! Hi! hi! Hold your horses—stop that car!”

CHAPTER II.
HELP WANTED.

Hugh Hardin was known to be a boy of action. When other fellows were stupefied by some sudden peril, Hugh was doing things.

So in the present instance. He saw the peril of the child even before Alec did, but without uttering a single word, Hugh darted forward as an arrow from the bow, or a hawk pouncing upon some bird.

It was all over in a flash. Alec and the others had started to jump forward, but they would have been too late to be of any real service. Hugh, however, darted in among the congested wagons and moving cars, and, snatching the frightened little child from under the very hoofs of a team, carried her across to the other side of the street.

There was considerable confusion, for drivers were shouting at each other and chauffeurs were trying to push their way past the congested crossing. Apparently they were more concerned with the fact that there had been a mix-up than because a precious human life had just been in jeopardy.

Alec, backed by the other two scouts, pushed out on the street and held up their hands to stop the traffic until the cluster of school children could cross. Some of the drivers seemed to think it a joke, being held up in this fashion by boys in khaki, and laughed good-naturedly at it; but others swore, and made threatening gestures with their whips.

Then, the children having crossed in safety, thanks to their protectors, Alec gave the signal for the wagons and cars to proceed with as much show of authority as any member of the traffic squad in a great city could assume.

The boys were “boiling over” with indignation, as Billy aptly expressed it, as they walked down the street toward the heart of Oakvale. More than ever, Hugh was now determined not to rest until something had been done toward an eradication of the numerous nuisances that infested the town.

“I’m going to attend that little, informal meeting to-night, boys,” he told his chums, “and unless I miss my guess something will be done. If only the women folks can stir up Mayor Strunk! I understand that several of the pastors will drop in during the evening, and it begins to look as though the last straw has been put on the camel’s back.”

“I only wish,” ventured Billy, wheezing still from his recent violent exertions, “that some of them had seen what happened just now, and how that poor little Anita Burns would most likely have been run over but for Hugh here. It was an object lesson that might have moved even such an old mossback as Mayor Strunk, or Chief Wallis, of the police force.”

“Wait!” was what Hugh told him, and a short time later the group separated.

Hugh performed the errand that had taken him to the business section of town, and then, inspired by a desire to do a little preliminary work along the lines he had had in mind, he dropped over and greeted the head of the local police.

Chief Waller liked Hugh, for he knew what a manly young fellow the other had always proven himself to be. Besides, Hugh was something of a favorite with the better element of Oakvale’s population. He had led a number of movements that, by their success, had brought more or less fame to Oakvale, particulars of which may be found in the earlier books of this series.

So Hugh, using considerable diplomacy, began talking about other things, and after he managed to get the chief in good humor, he introduced the subject that was nearest his heart.

“The women are bound to have the town cleaned up, Chief,” he went on to say, “and you know that when they once set their minds on anything it’s got to happen. They expect to have all sorts of help from you and your men; and the scouts mean to offer their services as they did once before. It’s a great thing to be on the winning side, Chief, so I heard Doctor Kane say to the minister the other day when they were talking over this very matter.”

Now, the Chief was a shrewd man. He knew on which side his bread was buttered. It was true that the politicians and their votes had put him in his present comfortable berth, but the Chief was a married man, and he realized from experience that the home “influence” could be counted on to sway elections when once the people were thoroughly aroused.

“There’s just this about it, Hugh,” he said, impressively. “If the women want a clean town, they’re going to have it, and nothing can stop them. If they get this movement started they can count on the police backing ’em up. All we want is to know just where we stand.”

Thus encouraged, Hugh went on to tell what he had read about the boys of the big metropolis being made Auxiliary Police, and wearing badges that were meant to be respected by the populace.

Chief Wallis apparently had never read about the movement. He seemed to be interested, however, for it was plain to be seen that if things had to be done that offended the politicians, there would be a scapegoat handy on whose shoulders the blame could be cast.

“Well, now, to tell you the truth, Hugh, that isn’t such a bad idea,” he went on to say. “Boys can find out heaps of things that are beyond my men; and once we learned about these nuisances we’d soon abate ’em. All we want is to be shown.”

Hugh understood well enough that the police knew about most of those infractions of the law, but that for various reasons they had pretended not to see them. If only the moral elements of the town were aroused, and firmly demanded a cessation of the law breaking, no doubt the scales would fall from the eyes of the police like magic. It always happens that way, Hugh understood.

Still, Hugh felt that he had gained a point in arousing the interest of the head of the police. It was better to have a combined force working against the evils than a divided one. If the officer realized that his retention in office depended on his active co-operation with the ladies’ league, and the various associations connected with the town churches, he would work like a beaver to do his duty.

After leaving Police Headquarters, Hugh started for his home. His mind, very naturally, was filled with the matters that just then took precedence above all others. Since the preceding fall, Hugh had been trying to figure out how things could be brought to a focus, for they seemed to gradually get worse.

He was in sight of the white picket fence enclosing the Hardin grounds when he heard his name called in a boy’s voice. Turning around, he discovered that it was Tom Sherwood, one of the members of the Otter Patrol, who came hurrying along in his wake.

Tom had long been known as an exponent of water athletics and surveying. He meant to become a civil engineer when he left school, and anything connected with this work always interested the boy greatly.

More than a few times, when others of the scouts would go off on a junketing trip such as a school picnic, Tom might have been seen tramping across lots, with a theodolite over his shoulder, accompanied by some boy he had influenced to assist him as chain bearer—bound to some field where he could practice his pet hobby to his heart’s content.

Hugh noticed that Tom had a long face when he drew near. This surprised him because as a rule the other was a cheery fellow, and wont to give back smile for smile. It also told Hugh that Tom must have followed him with some purpose in view, for somehow a number of the members of the troop seemed to consider Hugh in the light of a mentor, and often came to him for advice, strange as it might seem, considering the fact that they were all boys.

“Why, hello, Tom! What’s the hurry?” he called out, as the other scout drew near.

“Let me get my breath a bit, Hugh, and I’ll tell you,” panted Tom, which fact seemed to prove that he must have run quite some distance in order to overtake the scout master.

Possibly his mind being so filled with the idea of town improvement and the contemplated uplift movement, Hugh immediately began to wonder if the agitation of his boy friend could spring from anything he had learned bearing on this subject.

At any rate, he would soon know, for Tom was getting his breath back again. He looked confused, almost ashamed, Hugh thought. There was an expression amounting to positive pain on his face, and it also showed in the way he eyed Hugh, as if he hardly knew where to begin.

They leaned against the nearby fence, as boys are wont to do when talking. Presently Tom broke the silence.

“Of course, you’re wondering what under the sun I’m going to say, Hugh. I can see it in your eyes. Well, I had made up my mind to ask your advice the very next time I saw you, because I happen to know you’ve managed to get a number of other fellows out of bad holes before this.”

“Well, you’ve certainly got me guessing good and hard, Tom,” said Hugh, with a smile of encouragement. “But if there’s anything I can do to help out, tell me what’s gone wrong now.”

Tom drew an extra long breath.

“The fact of the matter is, Hugh, I’m worried about Benjy, and as I haven’t any father to go to, and women don’t understand boys as well as men do, I hardly knew who to talk it over with till I happened to think of you.”

Hugh was immediately interested, though at the same time relieved to know that Tom was not in any trouble on his own account. Benjy Sherwood was the younger brother of Tom, a bright, aggressive sort of boy, whose faults possibly lay along the line of wanting to have his own way most of the time.

“What’s he been doing to bother you so, Tom?” Hugh asked, quietly and soothingly.

“Why, you know that Benjy is a pretty high-spirited boy,” began Tom. “I’ve tried to check him several times, but he just won’t listen to me, and in so many words gives me to understand he knows his own business, and that I’d better attend to mine.”

“Oh, but that’s generally the way with younger brothers,” said Hugh. “Lots of the fellows will tell you that. So far as I’ve seen, Benjy is no different from the rest. It’s too bad he hasn’t a father, though, because as you said, I believe a man can control such high-spirited boys a lot better than most mothers, who don’t exactly understand how a boy feels.”

“Well, here’s the way it stands,” continued Tom confidentially. “Benjy has been giving mother and me more or less anxiety by going with several fellows that I don’t approve of at all. I happen to know he’s been smoking cigarettes. I didn’t dare tell mother. She has such a silly dislike for tobacco in every shape, you know. Worse than that, I’m afraid Benjy has been led into playing cards for money.”

Hugh shook his head as though worried at hearing this.

“What reasons have you for saying that, Tom?”

“Several,” the other immediately replied. “For one thing, I found part of a burned card in our kitchen stove one day not long ago. I supposed Benjy discovered he had it in his pocket, and wanted to destroy it before some one found it on him.”

“That might be so,” Hugh mused, “and then again he might have had some better reason for wanting to get rid of the cards. Perhaps he’s realized, that he was doing something that would grieve his mother, and so made a clean sweep of things.”

Tom sighed.

“I only wish I could believe that, Hugh. I’m a whole lot afraid Benjy doesn’t give up things he likes so easily. Then there was another suspicious circumstance. I’ll tell you about it, Hugh. Just three days ago I found that Benjy had gone and opened his little savings bank at home, in which I knew he had something like three dollars, which he had been laying up towards his summer vacation down at the seashore. When I asked him what he had done with the money he got red in the face, and told me hurriedly that the money was his, and he guessed he could do what he pleased with it.”

“And you fear he has used it to pay some debt he owed over the cards—is that it, Tom?” asked the scout master, secretly afraid lest there might be some truth back of Tom’s declaration.

“That’s what flashed through my mind, Hugh,” the other confessed; “and, oh, you can’t understand how it’s worried me! Why, I’ve laid awake nights since then wondering what I could do to save poor Benjy. In spite of his high temper, he’s a fine boy, if I do say it myself, and I love him with my whole heart and soul. Mother almost worships him. You know he looks so like father! And, Hugh, the idea struck me that perhaps you could think of some way we might make him change his habits.”

Hugh would not have been human if he did not feel highly complimented by this blind faith that Tom Sherwood seemed to feel toward him. At the same time, it added to the burdens he was bearing; for as assistant scout master, with Lieutenant Denmead, the regular official head of the troop, away from town so often, it seemed as though Hugh had more than his share of trouble.

“I’ll do all I can to help you out, Tom,” he said. “Perhaps I may find a good chance to talk with Benjy, and get him interested in the scout movement, for he’s really old enough now to think of joining the troop.”

“If you could only do that, Hugh, I’m sure it would make a great difference,” Tom hastened to exclaim. “Joining the scouts has been a good thing for thousands of boys all over the country. They are put on their honor. No fellow can subscribe to the twelve cardinal rules of the organization with his whole heart and still do things that he would be ashamed to have his folks at home know. I hope you can coax Benjy into joining. I tried it once or twice, but somehow he didn’t seem to enthuse worth a cent. But there’s Benjy coming down the street right now. Guess I’ll be going.”

“Leave it to me,” said Hugh, as he shook hands with Tom, who was turning away. “I’ve had some experience in approaching fellows who pretend to scoff at scout doings, and perhaps I can manage Benjy. I’m glad you spoke to me, Tom. Be sure it’ll go no further. So-long! Meeting to-morrow night, remember!”

CHAPTER III.
“STRIKE WHILE THE IRON IS HOT!”

Hugh made up his mind, on the spur of the moment, that it might be unwise for him to attempt anything at once. He wanted a little time to think things over, and lay out some plan of campaign, for Hugh did not, as a rule, believe in doing things hastily.

Besides, Benjy must have noticed him talking with Tom, and would immediately jump to the conclusion that it was a conspiracy between them. The result would be disastrous for the success of any future missionary work.

When Benjy came face to face with Hugh, the latter spoke pleasantly. He noticed that the boy colored up, and, although he answered the friendly salutation, he immediately assumed a reckless, indifferent air, and went along whistling as though he had noticed their heads together, and would snap his fingers at them.

Hugh found himself wondering whether it could be conscious guilt that made Benjy fire up so, or simply boyish indignation over being suspected and watched in that way.

“It’s going to be some job managing that boy,” the scout master candidly admitted to himself; but, then, somehow, he always found additional interest in a task that tried his patience, and his powers of endurance, for there could be very little satisfaction in beating an antagonist who was handicapped.

Hugh was unusually quiet on that evening at the supper table, a fact his folks may have noticed. But then they were accustomed to seeing the boy look grave, for owing to the position he held in the scouts, Hugh often had to wrestle with matters that did not give most of the other fellows a moment’s thought.

Later on, Hugh, having gotten his lessons, observed that he was going over to the home of Professor Marvin, where there was to be a little meeting of people interested in town improvement.

The smile that broke over the face of his mother at hearing him say this so modestly told of the pride she took in the fact that Hugh, as the assistant scout master, should be consulted at all when events of considerable magnitude connected with uplift movements were being discussed.

It certainly must make any mother’s heart beat with joy when realizing that her son, though only a boy in years, had become a factor in town, that he has to be consulted, and his aid asked whenever there is a movement on foot looking to bettering conditions of living in the community.

When Hugh reached the house where Professor Marvin lived, he found a little company assembled. Besides a number of the leading ladies identified with the league that had already done so much for the betterment of the town, there were three pastors present, the mayor of Oakvale, Doctor Kane, always to be relied on in things of this sort, and three influential citizens, who like many other people had begun to despair of any concerted movement directed to change the wretched conditions then prevailing.

There had been rambling talk going on. Evidently they had been waiting for the arrival of Mayor Strunk, whom Hugh had seen pass in.

Mr. Marvin now opened the meeting, which he said would be an informal affair.

“We know that every person in Oakvale who has taken the trouble to pay any attention to the way things are going,” he began to say, “has been pained by the conditions prevailing. It is the consensus of opinion that something must be done, and that immediately, to better things. The only question that has kept this movement from crystallizing before has been the lack of cohesion; no one seemed to be able to present a proper plan that would unite all the different organizations interested in the good name of our town. And that is the object of this meeting to-night. We must all get together, and put our shoulders to the wheel.”

Mayor Strunk, seeing that most eyes were immediately directed toward his quarter, got up to say his little piece. As usual, he was for procrastination. He had attended several other meetings during the winter just passed and always advised going slowly, so as not to make any mistake. The ladies had now become indignant, and quite out of patience with him.

So when the suave politician commenced by saying that he realized as well as any one the need of something being done to improve living in Oakvale, and then went on to repeat the old advice not to be too hasty, because Rome was not built in a day, and all that sort of thing, there were quick glances passing around, and one lady had to be held down by main force, so eager was she to take the speaker to task, regardless of parliamentary rules.

Hardly had the mayor finished speaking, than she was on her feet, with flashing eyes. A ripple of applause greeted her taking the floor, because those present understood how fluently Mrs. Beverly could speak when her heart was full of a subject.

“Mayor Strunk advises delay, and delay,” she broke out with, indignantly. “I decline to agree with his policy. I have heard it advocated many times before, and nothing was ever done. The time to strike is when the iron is hot! Conditions are daily growing more unbearable. To-day our fair town has fallen from the position we once so proudly boasted. There are hidden snares for the feet of our young men and boys, about which the police must know. They should be wiped out pitilessly. There are numberless nuisances that are painful to the eyes and noses of sensitive people; these should be rigorously pursued with fines and other penalties until they are abated. If we have not laws on the books to cover all these offences let us see to it that they are immediately placed there. Then there is another crying evil that should be stopped without delay. I refer to several dangerous crossings where accidents have been known to happen, and at any day a terrible tragedy may stun the community. Listen while I tell you something that by the merest accident I witnessed myself, and only a few hours ago.”

Then, in graphic language, she went on to describe the affair at the crossing.

“Those little children were anxious to get home. They waited all of five minutes, and there was not the first chance given them to cross over, so stupid and selfish have the drivers and chauffeurs in Oakvale become, because the law is not strictly enforced. Then that one little chit, Anita Burns, bravely started across, eager to get to where an anxious mother waited for her. I saw a team of horses towering over her, and my heart literally stood in my mouth with fear.”

She had everybody intensely interested by this time. Hugh drew back a little for he feared she might mention him by name, and he shrank from publicity.

“Just in the nick of time I saw a boy dart forward,” continued the lady passionately. “He was lost to my sight for a brief period, and then when I thought I should faint with fear and suspense, I saw him appear on the opposite walk, carrying the child, uninjured, in his arms. He set her down on her feet, waved his hand to her, and then walked off with several of his scout chums, just as unconcerned, apparently, as though it might be nothing unusual; nor was it, my friends, for by this time we have all become accustomed to hear about—Hugh Hardin doing valiant things like that.”

She paused, because there was a wild outburst of cheers.

Hugh was as red as fire.

“If I had known that you saw that little happening, Mrs. Beverly, and meant to speak of it here, I might not have come over, though I certainly did want to hear what was said and done,” Hugh managed to stammer, at which there was another round of cheers accompanied by hand clapping.

“That is the best part of it all, Hugh,” said the lady. “The fellow who can do a clever thing like that and still shrink from publicity, doubly wins our admiration. But, my friends, I only mentioned the incident to show you how at any day there may take place a terrible tragedy at one of these unprotected crossings, where our innocent children have to pass over, going to and coming home from school. Now what shall we do about it? Must we wait until a fatality comes about before we combine all forces for good to crush these menaces to our peace and happiness? I say to you the hour has struck, and the women of this town are at last determined to sweep every obstacle out of their way in order to attain their end.”

Mayor Strunk threw up his hands.

“I surrender, ladies!” he hastened to exclaim, with the air of a man who knew how to get in out of the wet when it began raining. “Just as you say, the time for delay has passed, and from this night forward you can count on me as being with you, heart and soul. That little girl, Anita Burns, is my own grandchild, some of you may remember, and if anything had happened to her could I ever forgive myself? I guess it needed something like this to take the scales from my eyes.”

Everybody looked happy when they heard the mayor say this. Really, it had been his system of procrastination that had kept matters from reaching a climax long before. No one professed to understand just why he should have acted as he did, since his position as mayor carried no salary with it.

Professor Marvin later on called upon Hugh, as representing the scouts of Oakvale, to outline the idea he had in mind of having the boys made assistant police, with authority to wear badges, and power to order arrests in cases of emergency.

The mayor was somewhat dubious about the propriety of so radical a proceeding.

“It would be almost revolutionary,” he observed, “but then we happen to know how well Hugh can be trusted to keep his troop under strict control, and they have before this amply proven worthy of the citizens’ full trust. I shall call a meeting of the town council for to-morrow night, and as many of you as can, be present; I’d be glad of your backing when this scheme is thrashed out there.”

So at last the uplift movement had come to Oakvale, thanks in part to Hugh Hardin and his fellow scouts.

CHAPTER IV.
WAITING FOR THE GOOD NEWS.

“For home protection! That’s the slogan, fellows, Hugh has given us. We’re going to take our coats off, figuratively speaking, you understand, and purify the atmosphere around the place we live in.”

When Billy Worth gave utterance to these rather boastful remarks he was standing, with a bunch of other fellows in khaki, near the building where the town council, as called together by the mayor, was still in session.

Undoubtedly the fathers of Oakvale were having a warm discussion, since they had been at it for more than two hours. Indeed, the scouts had held their meeting in the room under the church, and made all their arrangements for carrying out their part of the programme, if everything went smoothly as they expected. A goodly number of the energetic lads had immediately, after the meeting was adjourned, decided to hurry around to ascertain what had happened at the council chamber, to which citizens were admitted to the capacity of the room, but the line was drawn at fellows under the voting age.

“Yes,” Jack Durham immediately added, with his characteristic energy, “Oakvale is going to take its periodical bath, so to speak. This time we’ll scrub to the bone, and make an extra clean job of it.”

“The impudent drivers and chauffeurs must be made to respect the law, if fines and imprisonment will do the trick!” asserted Dick Ballamy, who, for a wonder, seemed able to turn his thoughts from fishing to a subject that was of far more importance.

“Huh! Not only that,” Sam Winter burst out impetuously, “but those sneaking dives known as ‘speak-easies’ have got to be squelched. Some people don’t believe any liquor is being sold in Oakvale just because we’re called a dry town. That fire the other day proved the foolishness of that joke, let me tell you, boys.”

“Just what it did!” declared Mark Trowbridge, who often lisped when he talked, an infirmity that was likely to follow him through life; “why, I thaw with my own eyeth two barrelth of bottleth half covered with a blanket, that had been carried from the cobbler’th thop.”

“Worse than that, even,” asserted Arthur Cameron in disgust. “I saw a man deliberately lift the cover, take out a bottle, and drain it there, with a dozen people standing around and laughing. Shows you how some of our laws are being made a joke. The police are aware of what’s going on, too; but they believe the sentiment of the town has heretofore been against enforcing certain statutes.”

“Well, they’re going to get a rude shock pretty soon, believe me,” said Billy. “Half an hour ago the mayor and Council sent for Chief Andy Wallis. He’s in there with them now, listening to the law being laid down. I reckon the Chief knows by this time that it’s going to be a clean town or we get a new head of police. The women have taken things in hand, and mean to purify the atmosphere, so that Oakvale boys and girls can breathe without being contaminated.”

“How fast the news spread all over town this morning,” observed Walter Osborne, the leader of the Hawk Patrol, a fine, manly looking fellow well liked by all his associates of the troop. “Why, my mother says they were talking of it in every store she visited, and father added that he was buttonholed half a dozen times by men who seemed chock full of the subject.”

“Old Doc Kane,” added Sam Winter, “carried the news wherever he went. He said it was going to be next door to a millennium for Oakvale, and that when the movement had exhausted its force he expected to have his business reduced one-half, because of the improved sanitary conditions that would prevail. That was one of the Doc’s little jokes.”

“He’s loaded to the muzzle with ammunition meant to boost the good cause along,” asserted another scout. “It’s among the mill people the good doctor does most of his missionary work. He knows how much a clean town means to fellows who haven’t comfortable homes to spend evenings in.”

“Of course, there’s no danger that the members of the town Council will try to dodge the question again, as they’ve done so many times?” Jack Durham was saying.

Billy gave a scoffing laugh.

“Not much they will!” he ejaculated; “with that wide-awake Mrs. Marsh present, backed by a lady who can strike out from the shoulder like Mrs. Beverly.”

“Besides,” added Walter, “don’t forget what Hugh told us about the sudden change of front on the part of Mayor Strunk. He saw a great light when he learned how his favorite little granddaughter had come near being run over by a team at that dangerous crossing of the three roads in town.”

“Then there’s another thing that’s bound to cut some figure in the decision of the town Council to-night,” said Billy. “Public sentiment has been aroused, and is at white heat. It seems as if everything combined to happen all at once, for this very afternoon old Mr. Merkle was knocked down by a speeding car that got away without anybody learning its number. He was badly hurt, and they took him to the hospital; but we’ve been told that the brave old chap, nearly eighty-five years of age, has sent a message of cheer to the ladies from his bed, telling them that he glories in being a martyr to the good cause.”

“Every fellow take off his hat to old Mr. Merkle, for he’s made of the stuff our Revolutionary fathers had in them when this country dared defy Great Britain,” and as Walter Osborne said this, each scout raised his campaign hat with a touch of respect for the grand old hero lying on his bed of pain, yet able to think of the reform movement that was sweeping through the town.

“Here comes Hugh now!” called out a fellow on the outskirts of the group.

“And he looks as if he felt satisfied with the way things were going,” another hastened to say.

The young assistant scout master quickly joined them. He was besieged by numerous questions. Indeed, so thick and fast did these come that Hugh laughed and threw up his hands, as though to shield himself from a fall of hailstones.

“Hold up, fellows,” he told them; “what do you take me for? When you send them at me like that it makes me feel as the street urchin did who crawled into an empty sugar hogshead, and, seeing the riches around him, wished for a thousand tongues. Give me a fair chance and I’ll tell what little I’ve been able to pick up.”

Accordingly they quieted down, though still pressing around Hugh, and hanging on his every word. Confidence in their leader is one of the highest attributes of praise scouts can show; and the members of Oakvale Troop felt this to the limit in the boy who had been elected to serve them in that capacity. So often had Hugh Hardin proved his ability to fill his exalted position that no one ever dreamed nowadays of contesting the leadership with him.

“I managed to interview Zack Huffman,” explained Hugh, “who had been inside, but had to go home to his family because his wife is sick. He could stop only a minute or so to talk, but he told me the sentiment was overwhelmingly in favor of carrying out the whole sweeping programme. The ladies have got in the saddle, so he said, and mean to ride at the head of the procession. You remember Zack is something of a scholar, and you ought to have heard him tell how they expect to beat the record of Hercules in cleaning the Augean stables.”

“Hurrah for Zack!” cried one enthusiastic scout, for the boys were by this time so roused up over matters that they felt in the mood to cheer anybody and anything that favored their cause.

“Every now and then,” continued Hugh, “I could hear applause from above there. I’ve got an idea Mrs. Beverly was talking. If she was, you can wager not a single member of the Council will dare vote against the mayor’s programme after it’s been announced. It’s going to be carried with a whirl.”

“If it is, we ought to burn a few barrels to celebrate to-night!” suggested Sam Winter, for such a programme always pleased him immensely.

“Hold on,” Hugh instantly told him. “We want none of that sort of thing to-night. For once let’s show that boys can be dignified. This is no Fourth of July affair. Some of the church people have even contemplated holding prayer meetings after the Council adjourns, if everything seems favorable, for their hearts are right in this uplift movement. It wouldn’t seem just the right thing for scouts to be seen running like wild Indians all over town, and shouting their lungs out. We’ll just go home in a quiet way, and get ready to commence business on Monday. Time enough for a jubilee when the ladies appoint a day for celebrating the victory. Just now we’ve got work, and plenty of it, ahead of us.”

“Hugh, you’re right!” asserted Arthur Cameron.

“Forget that I said it, Hugh!” begged the impulsive Sam, abashed by the argument advanced by the scout master, because his better sense told him that was the proper way of looking at it.

“Hey, there comes Chief Wallis out of the Council chamber!” called a voice, and immediately every fellow turned his eyes in that direction, anxious to decide for himself what the appearance of the head of the police force would indicate.

Chief Wallis walked straight toward them. His face was inscrutable, but as he reached the group of scouts, with Hugh at their head, he thrilled the boys by raising a hand in salute.

“Come in and see me on Monday, Hugh,” the Chief said, dramatically, “and we’ll fix it up about what sort of badge you and your fellow Assistant Police can wear. The women have carried the day, and Oakvale is going to be purged,” and as he strode on the boys broke into a series of stirring cheers.

CHAPTER V.
OAKVALE’S GREAT CLEAN-UP DAY.

According to the universal agreement, every pastor in Oakvale made some mention in his sermon on the following Sunday of the new movement that had been inaugurated by the better elements in the town. They urged every one of their flocks who wanted to see a cleaner Oakvale, morally and actually, to back up the committee.

It was the talk of the day wherever two or more persons came together, and there were places where the action of the town Council was either severely criticized or else condemned. No one need be told that as a rule these were the dens of vice that had been insulting the law and flaunting their brazen defiance in the teeth of the citizens.

Everybody seemed to be waiting with pent-up breath to see whether things would begin to move immediately Monday opened up.

By noon on Monday posters began to appear all over town, signed by the mayor, stating in concise, legal phrases how from that hour forward the law was going to be strictly enforced to the letter, and telling all about the plan to enlist the active co-operation of the Boy Scouts in helping to make a clean town.

After school that afternoon the fellows belonging to Oakvale Troop to the number of thirty marched to police headquarters. That three of the boys did not respond to roll call before marching through the streets, Hugh ascertained, was because in two instances they were sick at home with a mild attack of grippe, while the third boy was evidently kept away because he had an uncle who was believed to be the worst offender on the list, so that his folks were hardly in favor of appearing to go against their own flesh and blood.

But the boys, as they marched the full length of the main street, were cheered by shoppers and shopkeepers and clerks, as well as others who crowded to the doors and windows. For it was well known what part Hugh and his fellow scouts were going to take in the redemption of Oakvale. Their previous success in ridding the town of cluttering rubbish gave people confidence in their ability to do even greater things.

The Chief had his men lined up in front of the headquarters. He believed in doing things according to rule, and meant to receive the scouts as fellow workers in the good cause.

To hear the speech Chief Wallis made the new Assistant Police any one would have believed his heart had always been in the laudable enterprise of trying to clean up the dives, and protect the dangerous crossings. Perhaps it had, but the Chief being a politician dared not show his hand so long as he felt that public sentiment was against any change of policy. He knew better now. He had heard the ringing words that fell from Mrs. Beverly’s lips, which speech, according to all accounts, eclipsed any oration ever delivered in the town hall; the Chief was fully enlisted in the cause.

“We will have official badges made without delay for each and every member of the Assistant Police,” he told the listening boys, who interrupted his speech with frequent cheers. “In the meanwhile, as the posters issued by His Honor the Mayor state, your regular scout emblem will be badge enough, and must be respected everywhere within the limits of this town. Possibly some people will at first be inclined to treat your show of authority as a joke, and laugh at any orders you may issue. After a few of them have been arrested by my regular officers, and either fined or placed in jail for some days, they will have their eyes opened.”

Then the Chief went on to explain just what their line of work would consist of, and where they must draw the line. Certain duties they could proceed to carry out, but the regular officers would be used to make most arrests, especially where there was any danger involved.

“You understand,” he told them, “it is not intended that the boys operating with this movement are going to become spies, to find out what their neighbors may be doing, but we expect you to keep your eyes open to discover any glaring infraction of the laws, as mentioned in that poster, and your leader will thereupon report any such discovery at headquarters, from where it will be attended to.”

He then earnestly besought them to be on their dignity, and guard against any unnecessary show of being conceited, or too proud of their new positions.

“Go about your work without any display of authority. People will begin by sneering at you, but if you do your duty faithfully they will soon come to respect your badge. Never forget that the best people of the community are behind you in all you may attempt. Hugh, we look to you to be a safe guide for your followers, and the mayor told me to inform you that he expects every scout to do his part manfully. That’s about all I have to say to you to-day, though from time to time I expect to confer with your leader, and lay out new plans. I salute you all again as members in full standing of the Police Force of Oakvale.”

Hugh had his plans pretty well laid out, though everything could not be accomplished at once. He had selected certain members of the troop for duty at the dangerous crossings, beginning on the very next morning. In doing this, Hugh had used much discretion, for he expected that there would be more or less trouble, since drivers and chauffeurs had become so accustomed to having their own way that they would object strenuously to any interference.

It turned out, however, that Chief Wallis foresaw this very source of trouble, and had delegated several officers to stand near by in readiness to arrest the first driver who failed to pull up when a scout raised his white-gloved hand as an order for him to do so.

That was a pretty warm day in sections at police headquarters. Arrests came in quick succession, as though a regular scheme had been arranged to make the new order a laughing-stock. But the mayor had a magistrate ready, and those who were brought in charged with breaking the traffic rules, as well as in some cases resisting an officer had heavy fines imposed upon them, with the alternative of several days in the lockup if they refused to settle.

It was astonishing how quickly the news went around that the mayor actually meant to stand by the ladies and the scouts in the crusade. For the first time that evening in many moons, every questionable and shady resort about Oakvale was closed as tight as a drum, as Billy Worth explained it, after a walk about town.

“Why,” he told Hugh, with glistening eyes, “you can see the fellows who used to spend most of their time in those places standing on the street corners watching to see what next is going to happen. They look dazed and glum, I tell you; yes, and ugly, too, because their business is going to be all busted up. They’re telling each other that the way things are starting in it looks like more than just a joke.”

“‘A new broom sweeps clean!’” quoted Hugh. “I never doubted but what once the people of this town woke up it could be done, and in a hurry. The only question is how long will it last? A whole lot of persons will soon get tired of the novelty, and public sentiment may swing around to indifference again. That is what we have to fear more than anything else. Those bad men will just wait for things to take a change, and as scouts we’ve got to see to it that the enthusiasm never dies out.”

After an exciting day, Hugh felt pretty tired that Monday evening. He had received special reports from all the scouts who had been on duty. These covered a multitude of things from difficulties at the crossings when traffic was held up at such times as the smaller children were going to and from school, to infractions of the laws of cleanliness and health persisted in by certain citizens who ought to have known better.

Hugh carefully read every one of these reports, and they were numerous, for the boys had been extremely vigilant, as if to prove their right to be called Auxiliary Police. Hugh used his own discretion about keeping some of these reports. A few he smiled at, and made a mental note to warn the writer that it was not intended to enter into private property in order to spy around, but that the complaints must be of such things as offended the public eye or ear or nose; after which he tore these up.

The others he carefully filed with a good deal of satisfaction, to be later on submitted to Chief Wallis, after copies had been taken for the scout records. On the whole, Hugh believed the boys had made good that day, despite all the novelty of the thing, and the troubles they had met with. As time passed on and people came more and more to recognize them as a part of the regular system for carrying out the laws that were upon the books, much of this friction would die away, and the wheels of machinery could be expected to move more smoothly.

Hugh, feeling that he must not neglect his studies on account of this outside occupation, had just taken out his books, and was about to settle down to an hour or so of “grind,” when he heard the doorbell ring.

Then he caught a familiar voice asking if he were at home. It was Tom Sherwood, stationed that day at the most dangerous crossing in all Oakvale, and who Hugh understood, from all accounts, had acquitted himself splendidly.

The sound of Tom’s voice suddenly recalled to Hugh’s mind the fact that he had promised to help the other. It had been utterly impossible for Hugh to attempt anything along the lines he had suggested, concerning an interview with Benjy Sherwood, for his day had been crammed full of duties, great and small.

But when Tom burst into his room impetuously Hugh could see from his face that the other had more bad news to communicate.

CHAPTER VI.
THE PROMISE OF A SCOUT.

“Hello, Tom! Glad to have you drop around to see me!” was the friendly and cheery salute of the scout master, as he nodded to the newcomer.

Boys do not usually wait on ceremony when visiting, so Tom, without bothering to be asked to take a seat, dropped into an easy-chair.

Like most fellows of his age, Hugh had his room fitted up in as cozy a fashion as suited his fancy. There were the customary college flags decorating the walls, and some well-selected pictures that showed the bent of Hugh’s mind toward art, a small matter, perhaps, in the opinion of most people, but of moment with any one really desirous of knowing the nature of the boy who lives and sleeps inside those walls.

One thing Hugh had noticed particularly. This was the exceeding great care his guest took in making sure that he had properly closed the door after him when entering the room. As a rule, Tom was inclined to be more or less careless in this respect, being a breezy sort of a chap. Hugh guessed that there might be a reason for this unusual caution, and it so proved.

“Hugh, it’s getting worse all the time!” was the first remark the newcomer made, and in a low voice, at that, as if he did not by any chance want to be overheard by others in the adjoining room.

Hugh could easily guess what those depressing words meant. If he had entertained any sort of doubt, the sigh that followed would have dispelled them. Tom was in deeper trouble than ever, and that active younger brother of his, Benjy, was undoubtedly the cause.

“What’s Benjy been doing now, Tom?” he asked, in as soothing a voice as he could summon to his aid.

Tom scratched his head, as though a trifle puzzled to know just how to begin.

“To tell you the truth, Hugh, I don’t know what he is after, but he’s doing some mighty queer stunts. I never knew him to try to steal before.”

“Oh, come, that’s a pretty hard word to use, Tom!” remonstrated the scout master, trying to appear unbelieving, although he had felt a little chill on hearing Tom say what he did.

Poor Tom shook his head as if very downcast.

“You don’t know how much it knocks me to even suspect such a thing, Hugh,” he presently managed to say, and there was a plain tremor to his voice, usually so robust and strong. “In spite of his headstrong ways, Benjy has always been such a lovable fellow that—well, I’d go through fire and water for him if I could do him any good.”

“I’m sure you would,” ventured Hugh, consolingly, as the other boy stopped, to gulp several times, as though nearly choking with emotion.

“Ever since he started going with the set that trains with the newcomer in Oakvale, Park Norris,” commenced Tom, “Benjy seems to have changed ever so much, and all for the worse. It worries me heaps, and I don’t know how I’m to get him back again. He seems to listen, with a curl to his lip, whenever I speak about it, and I’m sure I try to act the big brother to him, with my arm about his shoulders.”

“Tell me what’s happened since I saw you last, Tom,” urged the scout master, desirous of getting at the “meat in the cocoanut” as quickly as possible, for he had an hour or so to put in at studying, and, besides, was pretty tired after a strenuous day.

“I will, Hugh. That was what brought me here to see you. When we talked matters over before, you promised to help me.”

“I repeat that promise, Tom. As the temporary head of the troop, I could do no less; and as your old chum I’d go far out of my way to give a helping hand to Tom Sherwood.”

The other heaved a sigh, and his eyes glistened with a sudden moisture.

“Thank you, Hugh,” he managed to say, half steadily. “I knew I could depend on you. I wanted to keep these things from our mother as long as I could. She doesn’t suspect anything like the truth, for I heard her say only the other day when Benjy had been rather irritable that she feared he must be unwell, and perhaps she ought to have Doctor Kane drop in to look him over.”

“There may be a little truth in that, Tom, don’t you know!” suggested Hugh, but the other boy shook his head ominously in the negative.

“I’d like to believe it, Hugh,” he said. “It would be only a matter of a dose of calomel or some other medicine that old Doc Kane likes to give, and my brother would be himself again. But there’s something more than that the matter. However, I said I’d start in and tell what happened, and so here goes, Hugh.”

“Please get to the facts as soon as you can, Tom,” requested the other.

“It happened this very afternoon,” began Tom. “I came home, and started up to my room to get something or other, when in the glass at the end of the hall I happened to see something move through the open door. You know, Hugh, I have a little room all my own at our house, and Benjy’s is at the other end of the hall. When I saw that it was my brother in my room I was surprised, for of late he hasn’t bothered dropping in to visit with me like he used to be so fond of doing.

“Well, to make a long story short, Hugh, something tempted me to move softly along the hall and look in past the partly open door. Hugh, would you believe me, I was shocked to see Benjy, whom I once believed the soul of honor, actually rummaging in my trunk.”

“Do you keep your trunk locked?” asked Hugh quickly.

“Not as a rule,” replied Tom, “unless I happen to have something in it I don’t want a servant to see, or some Christmas presents I’ve hid away. I guess it wasn’t locked to-day, in fact, I know it wasn’t.”

“Well, I’m glad to hear that,” said the scout master, really relieved. “Younger brothers often think they have a right to rummage when the notion strikes them, I understand. Why should you think it so strange, Tom?”

“Perhaps I wouldn’t have felt so badly about it some time ago,” admitted Tom; “but so many suspicious things have happened, you see, to make me think Benjy is going along the fast road. There was his taking that money from his savings bank, and answering me so impudently when I asked him what he was spending it for, instead of waiting till the Fourth of July. Hugh, I keep my own savings bank lying in my trunk, along with a lot of other stuff!”

“Do you think he meant to open that, and extract some of the contents?” asked Hugh, feeling uncomfortably chilly at the thought.

“I’d hate to say what terrible thoughts chased through my brain when I saw him turning things upside down as though he couldn’t find what he was looking for,” the grieved Tom went on to remark.

“What did you do?” inquired Hugh.

“The first thing I thought of doing was to step right in and ask him what he meant by getting in my trunk while I was away. But somehow, Hugh, I just couldn’t bring myself to do that, so I slipped down to the head of the stairs, and then started to whistle, and make a noise with my feet, as if I might be coming up from the lower floor.”

“Yes,” said Hugh, greatly interested, as Tom paused to gulp again.

“When I stepped into my room, Benjy had managed to get the trunk closed, for I had heard the lid bang down. He was going around looking up at the walls in the most innocent way possible, and as soon as I came in he asked me if I would mind lending him my old tennis racquet for a little while.”

“Well, perhaps he wanted to have a game with some of the fellows over on the courts,” explained Hugh. “I noticed that several sets were on this afternoon for the first time this season. You were always a crackerjack at tennis, Tom, and it may run in the blood with all the Sherwoods.”

“That’s just where the trouble comes in, Hugh. Benjy never cared a red cent for playing, though I often wanted him to take a hand. No, I’m afraid that was just a sudden idea that flashed into his head, so that I wouldn’t think it strange that I should find him prowling in my room. Besides, he was as red as a beet when he asked me that simple question, and mother would never have thought he looked pale and sick if she had only seen him then.”

“You didn’t say anything to him, of course, Tom?”

“If you mean accuse him in any way, Hugh, certainly not,” came the ready answer. “To tell you the truth, my heart was just too full and too sore to think of scolding, or anything like that. I stepped over to where my old racquet stood behind the door, for I meant to have it restrung this spring, as it was getting in poor shape at the close of last season; and I handed it to Benjy, trying to look natural, too. I’m afraid, though, he must have seen something queer in my face, for I noticed he gave me a quick stare just as he took the racquet and hurried off, with muttered thanks.”

Hugh pondered over the matter. He hardly knew what to say. It might be a very innocent thing, on the part of Benjy. Again, there was a chance that the worst Tom feared might be only too true.

Hugh did not like the new boy in town, Park Norris. He had too much spending money for his own good, and it was said that his influence was not of the best upon several fellows who seemed to be fascinated by his manner and ways.

“I’ll tell you what, Tom,” the scout master presently remarked seriously, “leave this matter with me, and I promise you I’ll take it up very soon. I’ll try and learn how much Benjy is under the influence of Park Norris, and then find out if I can’t win his confidence. I seem to have a pretty good knack that way; at least, fellows tell me so, and I glory in it, too.”

“Oh, I’m sure that if only you could get Benjy to promise to break off with the set he’s been running with, Hugh, it would come out all right. It’s the cigarette and card habit I’m most afraid of. He’s such a lovable boy, you know, and I guess he is more easily led than I. So Park Norris has managed to get a grip on him. I don’t know of a single fellow who could win him back to his old way of living as well as you.”

“I give you my promise, Tom, remember, and I think I have the reputation of always keeping my word. I’ll do everything I can to make Benjy see that he’s on the wrong track. Will that satisfy you, old fellow?”

Tom suddenly clutched his friend’s hand and squeezed it convulsively.

“Oh, thank you, Hugh, thank you ever so much!” he went on to say, trying to restrain his emotion. “I’ve got such confidence in your way of doing things that somehow I seem to believe it’s just bound to come out all right, now that you’re going to go up against the evil influence of that Park Norris. Benjy will give in if he’s approached in the right spirit, and nobody knows how better to do that than you.”

“Try and keep on feeling that way, Tom,” advised the other, as his visitor picked up his hat preparatory to leaving. “Above all things don’t let Benjy see that you suspect him. Be particularly kind to him. Every time you do things for him it’s going to be a fresh stab at his conscience, you know. In the end it’ll make my job the easier. That’s all there is to do. Leave the rest to me, Tom.”

And the look of brimming gratitude which Tom Sherwood gave his chum spoke more eloquently than any words he could have uttered would have done. When he went forth again into the night air his brain was calmed by the thought that Hugh had again promised to help him; and past experiences and observation told Tom that the young scout master nearly always did everything he attempted.

Hugh, on his part, had hard work keeping his mind on his studies the rest of the evening.

CHAPTER VII.
HOW THE “UPLIFT” WORKED.

As the days went by, every one became convinced that a great change, and for the better, had come upon Oakvale. The scouts had entered upon their share in the uplift with boyish enthusiasm. They had already, most of them, seen service along somewhat similar lines, and felt as though they were veterans. Besides, they were constantly encouraged by the kind words and praise of the women whose weighty influence was back of the movement to encourage everything that was for the betterment of conditions in and around Oakvale, so as to make it a model town for clean living.

There were mistakes, plenty of them, but the scouts learned from experience, and it might be noticed that the same fellow seldom if ever committed the same blunder.

As the days went by, they became more and more proficient in their tasks, earning hearty praise from all those who were so deeply interested in the work. After a few drivers and chauffeurs had been fined, and some of them locked up for a spell, they began to realize that the scouts were not to be reckoned with as a big joke. When a boy, in the now respected khaki, standing in the middle of the street at that dangerous crossing, held up his white-gloved hand, traffic came to a sudden stop, and there was safe passage across for the groups of small children on the way to and from school.

It only delayed things for a minute at the most, but precious young lives were rendered safe from accident. Those boys who were given this privilege in regular rotation showed by their manner that they felt proud to fulfill their duties; nor did they in any instance abuse the privilege their badges gave them above their fellows.

What had at first seemed like a lark in the eyes of other boys not members of the troop presently became a serious matter. When some of them started to annoy members of the new Auxiliary Police they were soon startled by a visit at their homes by the stern Chief himself, who warned their folks that a second offense would mean severe punishment. Possibly some of those parents took it upon themselves to start operations by selecting a nice stout switch and keeping it in view.

However, gradually order came out of chaos. Hugh worked faithfully trying to remedy whatever proved to be faulty, and, of course, there were numberless things that constantly required attention.

Those were busy days for the regular police, and it kept them on the go, warning offenders against the sanitary code that affairs must be speedily altered; for those wide-awake eyes of the thirty scouts on duty all the time seemed to discover a myriad of things that were not being conducted according to law, and were a disgrace to any decent community.

The mayor was now heart and soul in the work. He realized that he had the backing of the solid people of the town, as well as all the church members, and the women besides.

Once Oakvale had experienced the delight of being really clean it would require an upheaval to make them change back to old conditions. There was an element, however, as is always the case in every community, that looked upon these happenings with more or less angry mutterings and frowns, for with the change had passed their source of gain and livelihood. They knew better than to talk openly against the new order of things, but whenever and wherever the opportunity arose they would try to excite derision for the “uplift” movement.

It seemed as though these people who loved darkness rather than light felt especially sore toward Hugh Hardin and his scouts. They believed that somehow the khaki boys were the backbone of the whole business, as they were the ones whose eyes detected offenses and reported the same to headquarters every day. With a score and a half of bright lads constantly on the scent it was difficult for anything unlawful to escape notice.

Without the help given by Hugh and his scouts the movement could never have attained such wonderful success from the beginning—that was as good as acknowledged by almost every one on both sides. It was not singular then that some of the lower elements, finding themselves hedged about with so many difficulties in gaining a livelihood in such a spick-and-span town, should get their heads together with the object of devising some shrewd method by means of which the old conditions might be brought back again.

Plainly then to do this the easiest way would be to conjure up some means whereby the new order of things would be brought into contempt. Hugh himself had more than once been given obscure threats that unless he relaxed his vigilance and shut his eyes to certain things if they started up again, he would find himself in a peck of trouble.

Not once did the boy flinch, even though he felt that some of these men were of a desperate nature, and would descend to almost any mean depths when their former lawless habits were interfered with. Hugh consulted with the minister, Mr. Dobbs, and the mayor of Oakvale, both of whom promised to stand by the scouts through any difficulty.

These things aroused the women greatly when they heard of them. Plainly the enemies of the community were becoming alarmed, thinking they had been cast out for good. If conditions did not soon improve there would have to be considerable emigration to other communities that did not have ambitions to merit the name of “Spotless Town.” But it was believed that before they yielded up the fight these people would very likely make one last great effort to turn the tables on the reformers.

They had been engaging legal talent in Oakvale to look up the law and ascertain whether the mayor had not overstepped his authority when he ordered certain resorts closed where young fellows had been in the habit of congregating to play pool. Although no actual proof had as yet been produced, it was widely understood that other games far less innocent had also been played there, and that indeed liquor could be procured on the premises by those who “knew the ropes.”

But there were other lawyers on the side of the mayor, backed by the women and the reform element. They made certain that things were kept within the bounds granted by the law. Then the town Council, now wholly committed to the new order of things, announced themselves ready to pass any additional law necessary to continue things as they were.

A week later and Hugh began to breathe easier. He felt that matters had advanced so far that they could plume themselves on making the movement a success. He was every day hoping to hear that the elements they had cause to fear were commencing to leave town. As long as they continued to abide in Oakvale the danger was that of a snake “scotched, not killed,” and liable to come to life again at any time.

All this while he had not found a good chance to keep his promise to Tom Sherwood, mostly on account of the press of business. With so many things depending on him while acting in the place of Lieutenant Denmead, still absent from home, as well as his studying for the spring examinations, Hugh certainly had his hands full.

But whenever he happened to meet Tom, and saw that look of entreaty on the other’s face, Hugh took himself to task for not finding time to enter upon the little side campaign for the redemption of Benjy Sherwood.

So far as he knew, the latter did not seem to be in the company of the Norris boy on the various occasions when Hugh had noticed the latter on the street. That was no reason, however, that Benjy did not seek his society at other times, and perhaps visit at Park’s house, where possibly cards were not prohibited as a source of boyish amusement.

“I’m going to start something doing in that direction by to-morrow,” Hugh was telling himself as he walked toward home one afternoon, after making a report to the Chief and receiving the usual congratulations on his proficiency.

It was the sight of Benjy across the way that caused him to say that, for the other had come out of the store where all sorts of games, from baseball goods and skates down to playing cards, were for sale and exhibited in the windows.

It seemed to Hugh, although he admitted that perhaps his imagination made him think so, that Benjy Sherwood glanced to the right and left as he came out, as a fellow might who was trying to hide something, or else felt conscience stricken. He noticed that the other was also trying to keep a package he carried close to his body as he walked on.

Suddenly Hugh saw Benjy turn and hurry down a side street, almost running, in fact. He hardly knew what to make of this until, chancing to look further along, he discovered Tom Sherwood in sight. It hardly seemed likely that the other had noticed his younger brother’s very suspicious action in wanting to elude him.

Hugh felt a strange fascination in connection with the matter. It was growing more interesting than ever, and more mysterious, he admitted. What had Benjy been doing in that store that he should dislike to have his brother see him, and actually turn and slink away?

“I’ll know something about this before a great while,” Hugh was telling himself as he walked slowly on, trying to figure out what his best plan of campaign might be under the circumstances. As a wise scout he always tried to make ample preparations before starting in on a game.

As once before, Hugh had gotten almost within sight of his home fence when he heard his name called from the rear. It was not Tom Sherwood this time who came running after him, but Ralph Kenyon.

Ralph had always been a great favorite of Hugh’s. There was a time when the other had been making money trapping small fur-bearing animals up above Oakvale, and proving himself quite a woodsman, in so far as having a knowledge of the habits of these four-footed forest denizens went.

That was before Ralph became interested in the scouts and finally joined the troop. He could not be induced to set a single cruel steel trap now, because he looked at things in an entirely different light from those other days. But he was without a peer in the whole troop when it came to a question of following a trail, or being able to understand what the thousand-and-one little signs in the woods stood for.

Ralph looked excited, Hugh saw, as the other drew near, and the first thing the scout master thought the cause to be some fresh insult from the rough element in town opposed to the new conditions.

Hugh was ready to turn right-about face and go back to the office of the Chief, if Ralph’s complaint seemed serious enough to warrant it. He was determined that the work so well begun should not be put back by any underhand methods.

Ralph soon came up, gulping in big draughts of air. His face was red, and what seemed to be a look of indignation, according to Hugh’s mind, could be seen there.

“Something got twisted and needs straightening out, eh, Ralph?” asked the scout master pleasantly.

“Worse than that, I’m afraid, Hugh,” replied Ralph.

“None of the boys hurt, I hope?” quickly inquired Hugh, for the one thing he had been dreading was an open rupture between the rival forces in town, with stones flying and a near-riot in the process of forming.

“Well, not yet, Hugh, but if things keep on there’s going to be the dickens to pay,” panted Ralph, leaning against the fence as he spoke. “Fact is, those gamblers and law breakers have got desperate, and they’ve schemed to put us scouts in a bad hole, so the mayor will have to discharge us and start the whole uplift game tumbling in the soup; that’s what makes me look so scared like, Hugh!”

CHAPTER VIII.
ONE USE FOR WOODCRAFT KNOWLEDGE.

“What do you mean by putting us scouts in a bad hole, Ralph?” asked Hugh, quickly, for what the other boy had said startled him.

Ralph glanced hurriedly about, as though to make absolutely certain that no eavesdroppers were near by to overhear what he said. Then he drew closer to Hugh and assumed a most mysterious manner that could not help having an effect upon the surprised scout chief.

“Oh! they’re as mad as hops, let me tell you, Hugh,” Ralph commenced.

“Of course you mean, Ralph, those fellows who were hurt when we put the lid tight on Oakvale, and stopped their sneaky business, whatever it may have been?”

“Yes, and they’ve got together and mean to fight back, that’s how it stands now, Hugh,” he was told.

“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.