and
there'll be a lot of people disappointed this afternoon when we fail to
show up, if we do."

"Sure thing," grunted Seth, "I c'n see our friend, Freddy Rossiter,
going around with that sickly grin on his face, telling everybody that
he always knew we were a lot of fakirs, and greatly overrated; and that,
like as not, even if we did show up we'd a been carried many a mile on
some hay-wagon. But go on, Paul; let's have the funeral quick, so a
feller c'n breathe free again."

"I'm going to put a motion, and every scout has a right to vote just as
he thinks best. Only before you decide, stop and think what it all
means, to that poor man as well as ourselves," Paul continued.

"Ready for the motion," mumbled Fritz, who looked as though he had lost
his very last friend, or was beginning to feel the advance symptoms of
sea sickness.

"All in favor of changing our plans, and trying to rescue the lost
balloonist right now, say yes," the scoutmaster demanded, in as firm a
tone as he could muster.

A chorus of affirmatives rang out; some of the boys were a little weak
in the reply they made, for it came with an awful wrench; but so far as
Paul could decide the response was unanimous.

He smiled then.

"I'm proud of you, fellows, yes I am," he declared heartily. "I think I
know just what each and every one of you feels, and when you give up a
thing you've been setting your minds on so long, and just when it looks
as if we had an easy walk-over, I'm sure it does you credit. Some of the
Beverly people may laugh, and make fun when we fail to turn up this
afternoon; but believe me, when we do come in, and they learn what's
happened, those for whose opinion we care will think all the more of us
for doing what we mean to."

"Hope so," sighed Seth, who could not coax any sort of a smile to his
forlorn looking face, "but because I talk this way, Paul, don't you go
and get the notion in your head that if the whole thing depended on me
I'd do anything different from what we expect to. There's such a thing
as duty that faces every scout who's worthy of the name. For that he
must expect to give up a whole lot of things he'd like to do. And you'll
find that I can stand it as well as the next feller."

"P'raps when they know what happened, the committee'll be willing to
give us a chance to make another try next week?" suggested Jotham.

"Good boy, Jotham, and a clever idea," cried Fritz.

Somehow the suggestion seemed to give e