h! pardon me, my dear boy!" cried the other, "I was forgetting that it
wasn't the hand of a tiller of the soil I squeezed. I'll be more careful
next time. But your news was so unexpected, coming at a moment when I had
received some depressing information by mail, that I quite forgot myself.
Please continue to keep these facts to yourself for a little while
longer, Paul."

"Yes, sir; until you give me leave to speak I won't tell anybody, not
even my own folks at home. And if we are so fortunate as to get that
letter from you, Stanhope Troop will have a big advantage over other
competitors. You know, sir, we are competing for an elegant banner; and
the other patrols have been working all summer; so that we've just got to
get busy if we hope to have a show in."

"I don't care if they've been going along a year, I'd be willing to wager
that Stanhope will win the prize. That shows what faith I put in the
leader of the Red Fox patrol. Nothing is going to ever hold you back. I
can see the spirit glowing right now in your eyes," and Mr. Pender nodded
his head wisely as he said this.

Paul turned red under the praise.

Mr. Pender was apparently anxious to know all he could about the place
around the abandoned mill.

"Have you seen this party named Solus Smithers?" he asked, presently, as
they walked slowly on in company.

"Yes, sir; several times. He's a very tall and thin man, with a face I
never liked. He's driven some of us boys away from the mill pond this
last summer. We have always fished there, and nobody ever said a word;
but he acted as if he had an idea some of us would steal his old house.
He even brought out a gun once, and warned three fellows off. After a
while no one cared to go up there. Some of the boys even said they
believed the old man was daffy, and that he might shoot if anybody made
him real mad."

"Oh! yes; I see; and he didn't want trespassers on his farm, eh? Does the
mill pond stand on the ground he's rented?" asked the gentleman.

"Oh! yes, and all the ground around there. It must cover four hundred
acres, but most of it is in woodland, you see, sir," replied Paul,
promptly.

"Can you tell me what Smithers looks like, Paul?"

"He's very tall, stoops quite a lot, uses snuff like they do down in
North Carolina, and has small blue eyes and a queer nose. Some of the
boys say it looks as if it had been broken. That man in the red car knew
it when Jack called it a hooked nose, sir."

Mr. Pende