vidently by the scattered cohorts of Ted; but while valiant, the members
of the Fox Patrols were wise and prudent as well, copying the cautious
attributes of the wary animal after which their new organization had been
named.

They declined to explore the dense forest, seeking a foe that might only
be bent on luring them along, until ready to pounce on them in a body, to
make them prisoners of war.

And so finally the march came to an end, with all hands satisfied that
the last meeting of the little host of new scouts had been attended by
several of the most exciting circumstances that ever befell the boys of
Stanhope.

Paul and his chum walked on together, until reaching the first home they
said good night. But neither again brought up that subject which had been
worrying Jack Stormways for so long a time.

If Paul had conceived any sort of an idea in connection with the strange
disappearance of the old coins, he kept it to himself.

Once, however, on the way home after leaving Jack, he stopped to clap his
hand down vigorously on his knee, and whispered to himself:

"Now, I wonder if that could possibly be so?"

But no matter what idea had struck him, further words didn't come to tell
whether his thoughts were connected with Jack's personal trouble; or on
the other hand if the annoying enmity of Ted Slavin, Ward Kenwood, and
their would-be scout troop, was still on his mind.

Nevertheless, as Paul passed up to the front door of his home, and
stopped a minute to look up at the bright moon sailing across the eastern
heavens, he considered that he had good reason to feel more than
satisfied with the magnificent results already attending the new methods
of the Boy Scouts.

On the following day he sent off the letter containing a check which his
father gave him in place of the money, so that it might not be lost.

Then followed a period of anxious waiting, during which many of the
members of the Stanhope Troop No. 1 felt touches of envy at sight of
their rivals parading the streets, decked out in the full regalia of
Scouts, and carrying themselves with the proudest of airs.

They knew that Ted and Ward were busily engaged in drilling their
followers in many of the devices prominently mentioned in the manual
book. For that matter, though, it did not require regulation suits of
khaki to excel in those same things; and so the Foxes also studied and
experimented, and burned candles at night in the endeavor to learn a