. More than
that, he had a small face, and piercing eyes like those of a badger. And
every scout felt a thrill as he realized that he was face to face with
the notorious moonshiner, Phin Dady, whom the whole United States
Government had tried for years in vain to capture.

CHAPTER XII.

AN HONORED GUEST.

THE boys looked at the moonshiner, who returned their stares with
interest. He seemed utterly indifferent as to whether they chose to
receive him either as a friend or a foe. From this Thad was almost
certain that there must be other fierce mountaineers close by, ready to
back up their chief, should he provoke a quarrel with the strange boys
in uniform.

That fact meant serious trouble for the scouts, if it happened to come
to pass. Thad knew that these lawless men of the mountains, who snap
their fingers at the authority of the courts, and feel safe in the
security of their secret fastnesses, deep in the unknown regions back of
the trodden trails, think very little of human life. They are usually
engaged in some vendetta between rival factions, or families, and blood
is frequently shed.

Understanding how thin was the ice upon which he and his comrades were
skating, the patrol leader felt that he could not be too careful how he
provoked this man of strong passions to violence.

A little to his surprise Phin Dady wheeled, and faced him directly. But
then the mountaineer was gifted with a sharp vision, and he could
readily guess which one of the scouts served in the capacity of leader.
Perhaps there was that in the manner of Thad to tell him this fact. Or
he might have been watching and listening long enough to see how the
others all deferred to Thad's judgment.

"I gut yer letter O. K.," he said, simply.

Thad's anxious face brightened up instantly; he saw that for the time
being the other meant to put aside his hostility. Curiosity had
supplanted enmity. He wanted to learn more about what that term "Boy
Scouts," used in the message left in the cleft of the stick, might mean.

"And I hope you read what we wrote, Phin Dady?" the boy asked, eagerly.

A whimsical smile flashed athwart the thin face of the mountaineer.

"As fur me, I ain't much o' a hand ter read, any more'n I am ter write;
but thar chanced ter be a feller along as hed sum schoolin'; an' him an'
me, we managed ter figger it out. Thort as how I'd like ter run up agin
ye all, an' larn wat all this hyar bizness consarnin' Boy Scouts be.