ch them a lesson!"

"That's the ticket, Paul. I can stand just so much of this being meek
and forgiving; but it ain't in boy nature to keep it up everlastingly.
Some fellows think it a big joke. And a sound licking will open their
eyes better than soft soap. Ask William if that isn't so!"

"It's all to the good, I'm telling you, and that's no lie," observed the
party in question, whom they found sitting on the fence adjoining the
green fronting the handsome high school, and whom Jack had discovered at
the time he was venting his views.

"Where's Bobolink?" demanded the leader.

"Oh! he was here a bit ago," returned William, who had always been
considered ready to fight in the old days before the scout movement
struck Stanhope; and who was loth to forsake his former ways, even while
endeavoring to remain a member in good standing in the troop.

"But why didn't he stop with you? I told him to wait here," returned
Paul.

"You see, we talked it over," explained William, "and got the notion
that, as we didn't know how long you might be getting around, one of us
had better begin to scratch gravel. So he drew the prize, and hiked
around to the church to stand guard."

"Oh!" observed Paul, relieved that it was no worse, "in that case
perhaps we'd better be moving along. Now, it may be that the Slavin
crowd have a picket out so as to watch the gym, and see if any of us
come around. We must be careful how we crawl up to the door. Come on,
both of you."

They talked in whispers as they made a long detour, so as to approach
the church from the rear.

"Got the key to the gym door, haven't you, Paul?" asked William.

"Sure I have," replied the other, readily enough, "I asked old Peter for
it this afternoon. Thought that perhaps I might want to get in to look
over the stuff for the last time."

"That's good. D'ye suppose they would break a window if they found the
door locked?" continued William, who always wanted to know all
particulars.

"Huh!" grunted Jack, at this remark; "such a little thing as breaking a
pane of glass wouldn't stand in their way long, if they had a big job to
tackle. I wouldn't put it past such reckless fellows to set fire to the
church if hard pushed. If they stopped at that it would only be from
fear of being found out, and punished by the law, not anything else.
Huh! don't I know that Ted, though?"

"'Sh!" came from Paul at this juncture, and all of them lapsed into
absolute silence; for they