. They had
come to think a great deal of Mr. Witherspoon. He seemed to have a
great love for boys implanted in his heart, and was thus an ideal
scout master; for there was always an exchange of sympathy between him
and his charges.

"You want to know what I think of it, boys?" he started to say.

"It would have a heap of influence on our actions, sir--even if we did
hate to play second fiddle to that crowd," admitted Felix.

"But I can see no reason why we should do that," the scout master
immediately told them, and at this the anxious look on many faces gave
way to one of satisfaction.

"Then you don't want us to give up the Big Bear Mountain hike, and make
up another programme; is that it, Mr. Witherspoon?" asked Tom, who had
not been quite so much concerned as some of the others, because he
believed he knew the nature of their efficient scout master, and that
he was not one of the "back-down" kind.

"Why should we do that?" replied the other, quietly. "We are not
supposed to be aware of the fact that these four rowdies have gone off
in that direction. Our plain duty is to follow out our original plans,
go about our own business, interfering with no one, and at the same
time standing up for our rights."

At hearing this some of the boys turned and exchanged expressive grins;
others even shook hands with each other. Fair play was something they
admired above all things; and this manly stand on the part of their
scout master pleased them immensely.

"We're all glad to hear you say that, Mr. Witherspoon," the chairman of
the meeting told him. "I'm sure I voice the sentiments of every scout
present when I say that while we'll try to avoid trouble up to a
certain point, there's going to be a limit to our forbearance."

"And the frog-pond cure is always available as a last resort," added
the new boy from Winchester.

"Now let us try to forget all about this disagreeable topic, and go on
with the discussion concerning the things we should take with us," the
scout master suggested. "Scouts should always be able to meet an
emergency, no matter how suddenly it is forced on them. We'll be
prepared, but at the same time not borrow trouble."

Accordingly all mention of Tony Pollock and his scapegrace cronies was
avoided as they once more entered into a warm but perfectly friendly
argument.

There was one among them, however, who seemed to still look troubled.
This was no other than Carl Oskamp. Glancing toward his ch