h--brothers, Master Odell, Master French, Master Horrigan, Master
Ferguson, Master Dunworthy, and Master W. Smyth--nowise related to the
foregoing Masters Smith, the name being spelled, as will be noted, with
a y.
I was particularly pleased that Master Percival Pope should be included
in our little band, for he was one to whom instinctively I had been
attracted by reason of the gentle and almost seraphic expression of his
mild blue eyes, his soft voice and his great politeness of manner.
Next in order there arose for consideration two very important
matters--the selection of a title or cognomen and the choice of a
suitable costume. Charging myself with the working out of an appropriate
costume design, I invited suggestions for a club name, at the same time
proffering several ideas of my own. Among those that were tendered I
recall the following: the Young Gentlemen Forest Rangers, the Chevalier
Bayard Wildwood League, the Rollo Boys, the Juvenile Ivanhoes, the
Buffalo Bill Kiddos, the Young Buffaloes of the Wild West, the Junior
Scalp Hunters, the Desperate Dozen, and the Johnnies-on-the-Spot.
I deem it well-nigh unnecessary to state that the first four suggestions
emanated from my pen: the remaining five being fruitage of the inventive
fancies of my young friends.
We spent some time canvassing over the proposed cognomens, rejecting
this one for one reason, that one for another reason. None seemed to
give general satisfaction. Those which especially pleased me--such, for
instance, as the Rollo Boys--met with small approbation from my young
compatriots, and vice versa.
At length, in the interests of harmony, I proposed that each member
should confer with his parents, his guardian or his kind teacher, with a
view to striking on a suitable choice, always bearing in mind that the
proposed name should carry with it a thought of the woody glade, the
craggy slope, the pebbly beach--in short, should remind one of Nature's
choicest offerings. As I said: "Not infrequently two heads are better
than one; how much more desirable then to enlist the aid of a large
number of heads?" So saying, I gave the signal for adjournment until the
following Monday evening at the hour of eight-thirty of the clock.
Pursuant to adjournment we met at the appointed hour and speedily
arrived at a solution of our problem. One of our group--which one I
shall not state, since he was the son of that same gentleman who had
used such unwarranted
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