Robert Shaler

“ Hugh felt easier in his mind after what he had said to the padrone. If those three meddling former guards did attempt to stir up trouble between the strikers and the sheriff’s posse, he believed the firm hand of the padrone would be able to check the mischief in its beginning.
“I want you to come over to our camp just before dark,” Hugh continued, “and take supper with us all. Have you ever met with any Boy Scouts over in your country, for they are to be found all over the world these days, even in Japan, and out in the Philippines, I understand?” ”

“ Campertown for his grandson must have been evident to every member of that crowd standing by at the time the sheriff and his posse had stopped for a minute or two on the way to oust the hired guards. It would not be unreasonable to suppose that some of the wilder spirits among the men rendered furious by a contemplation of their supposed wrongs, and the presence of those wounded comrades, should plan to hit back at the rich man in his only vulnerable spot.
Hugh turned his eyes on the padrone. He felt a sudden chill in the region of his heart. Could the wily old man be guilty? ”

“ In cases of this kind, when the scouts were out in force, they had a systematic way of doing things. Those who were recognized as their leaders must be accorded the first privilege. Consequently there was no jostling and crowding now, as they made toward that coveted place of observation. While every fellow would be glad of a chance to see, he was ready to await his turn, if need be.
It was with considerable eagerness that Hugh and Ralph, having been given first chance by virtue of their recent labors, raised their heads and glued their eyes to the soiled glass. ”

“ While doubtless in many things it was far from the finished product of a graduated surgeon, at the same time there was much about it to cause the surgeon to commend the boys.
“I want to tell you, my boy,” he said directly to the blushing Arthur, when Hugh informed him that most of the work had been done by that modest member of the scout troop, “you’ll make the mistake of your life if you fail to continue along this road, for you have it in you to accomplish wonders. Take my advice, and think very seriously before you commit the blunder of putting a square man in a round hole.” ”

“ Billy,” exclaimed Alec Sands, “that’s hardly fair for you to judge everybody by your own standard of thinking. We all know your weakness, and how many a time you’ve confessed to dreaming of big feasts. There goes Hugh over to talk with the padrone again. I wonder what he’s telling him now.”
57
The scout master had considered it a good time to sow some seed in the mind of the man whose will swayed the strikers. That was always present with Hugh. He knew these poor foreigners would soon be in a pitiful condition unless they had a chance to take up their former work again. ”

“ WELL WORTH WHILE.
“Get around to the door, everybody; they’re trying to escape!” shouted Hugh, as he whirled away from the window that had been engaging his attention.
Ralph was alongside as he turned the corner of the old smithy. The other scouts had hardly known what to do, although several of the most active seemed to be in motion, headed for the exit of the old house. These were Alec and Bud and big Tom Sherwood, and the trio presented quite a formidable phalanx. ”

“ He has the Campertown stubbornness, sir, which will stay with him to the end.”
“And it will come from me!” declared the millionaire firmly. “I have repented of my folly long, long ago, but never knew what had become of poor Allan. To-morrow, my dear granddaughter, you shall take me to him, and we must be reconciled. I am an old man now, and with but few years more to live. I hope to make up in part for what you and my son have suffered.”
Then he turned to Hugh and shook him by the hand. Indeed he insisted on doing the same with each and every one of the scouts. ”

“ Hugh looked the officer squarely in the eye as he replied calmly:
“You evidently do not know much about the rules governing Boy Scouts, Mr. Sheriff, or you wouldn’t hold out that reward as an inducement for us to try and find the poor little chap. We are not allowed, as a rule, to accept pay for any service we render, and especially to those in trouble. All the same I’m sure every fellow around this campfire will be wild to offer his services in the search.” ”

“ Hugh remembered that he had made out the time as about nine o’clock just before the unexpected coming of the sheriff and Mr. Campertown with their startling news.
Not that the scout master carried a watch with him, or had even asked one of the others to inform him as to the time. A scout’s clock is usually in the heavens. If he has learned his lesson properly he is able to tell pretty accurately, in case the sky is clear, what hour of the day or night it may chance to be. ”

“ Hugh was telling himself; “that and the dark looks on the faces of the men and women in the crowd. He never dreamed what was going to happen to him this day when he started out with his little grandson for a ride in his car. I hope it’s going to be a red letter day for Mr. Campertown, that’s all.”
As the boys could not carry all the cots, supplies of bedding, and the heap of groceries as well, they gladly promised to come back for a second load. Hugh was about to also pack some of the hams and other things over to the settlement when Mr. Campertown laid a detaining hand on his arm. ”

“ To go on with my story, Hugh, I want to say that I don’t think much of that same posse of the sheriff. Why, he’s just picked up a lot of ordinary men in a hurry, and armed them with guns and badges to back him up. They might fight all right in a pinch, but let me tell you they would never be able to guard that plant against a troop of wideawake Boy Scouts. ”

“ Hugh remarked, as they stood and watched the ambulance move along the road, to come back again for another load later on.
“That was just what I meant to do,” replied the other, seriously. “I wanted to impress the fact on him to start with, that it was not a battle, but a massacre, for as far as we know all the injuries are on the side of the strikers. Then again, it struck me that a wealthy man like that Mr. Campertown, who is a millionaire I believe, ought to pay more attention to what is being done in his name. ”

“ In doing this Hugh believed he was favoring his comrades truly. They could enjoy the delights of camping at almost any time, but an opportunity to work in conjunction with the Red Cross did not come every day, and they would show their wisdom if they took advantage of the golden chance.
All scouts are supposed to learn a certain amount of surgical work, and what is known as “first aid to the injured”; but it rests with each individual as to whether or not he cares to continue the study beyond a certain point. ”

“ They saw that everything seemed to be very quiet over in the foreign settlement.
“I guess the padrone has brought them to their senses,” said Billy; “and it’s a lucky thing, too, because they’re going to win the strike. The very thing that seemed to be a calamity for the poor fellows has proved the stepping-stone for a big advance.”
“Better still,” added Hugh, “there’s a new Mr. Campertown now at the head of the cement works. By that I mean he’s seen a light, and guided by the love of his granddaughter never again will he be the stern employer he’s been in the past.” ”

“ Hugh was satisfied with the way things were going. For a little while he had secretly confessed at being worried; that was when he feared the men might be making for some station on the railroad; because once they managed to reach a city, the difficulty of finding them would be increased many fold. Scouts are more at home in the great open than on stone pavements, where most of their knowledge of woodcraft would be wasted. ”

“ Boiled rice is always a favorite of mine, hot or cold, so it isn’t apt to go to waste.”
“Some of the same’ll go to my waist if the other grub gives out, you hear me!” declared Bud Morgan, who was giving the finishing touches to a third cooking fire that Billy had thought they might need.
So the good work went on, and as the sun sank out of sight behind the western horizon, supper was within hailing distance, to judge from the way some of those always hungry boys went about sniffing the delightful odors that filled the air. ”

“ NURSE JONES MAKES AN APPEAL.
“Gee! that’s talking some, Ralph!” exclaimed Billy. “Hit it up, then, and tell us who’s the guilty party. It’s going to make our job a whole lot easier if we know who we’re chasing after right in the start.”
“Yes, Ralph,” added Alec, impatiently, “put us on the track, if you know so much. I hope it isn’t the old padrone, after all.”
Hugh looked fixedly at Ralph. ”

“ Looking around at those bright youthful faces, the Red Cross surgeon felt that he had been amply repaid for taking this hurry call trip out to the scene of the riot, when that message asking for help had come to them in Farmingdale. ”

“ The big sheriff was very greatly impressed with what Hugh said, as his next words proved.
80
“That sounds fine, son. I reckon I don’t know enough about the scout movement to make such an error of judgment as that. In all my experience this is the first time I ever heard anyone decline to be rewarded. If that’s the way you scouts do things there’s some hope for this old world yet. But we must not lose any more time. Padrone, are you willing to stir up your people, and start a general alarm for the missing boy?” ”

“ Richter, who with Nurse Jones had accepted the warm invitation extended by the scout master to join them in the meal.
“Yes, if only they go away, and stay away, there should be no more trouble,” ventured Hugh. “If Mr. Campertown could only talk with the old padrone, and see for himself how little can be bought for the wages his men have been earning in the past, he might hold out the olive branch toward them. But I’m afraid from his looks that he’s a pretty strong-willed man.” ”

“ If we only had a dog now, one of the right kind that’s accustomed to following a scent, a hound like they use to hunt escaped convicts from the turpentine camps down South, all we would have to do would be to let the dog sniff at some article of clothing worn by the kid. After that he’d pick out the trail, just by his sense of smell, and lead us straight to the spot.”
“But Ralph is a crackerjack of a trailer, you remember, Billy,” said Whistling Smith; “and he’s bound to do his level best this time.”
“Oh! I reckon Ralph is as good a hand as any ordinary scout can be,” Billy admitted. ”

“ Blake Merton remarked to the boy on his left, when there could be no doubt about their having covered a good two and a half miles.
“Well, we ought to be as able to keep it going as long as those men,” said Tom Sherwood. “What’s the use of scouts training at long-distance walking, mountain climbing, and all that sort of thing, if they can’t beat out a pack of men who have never practised such stunts?” ”

“ My poor father, too, can now be able to enjoy something of life, since it is money he needs most of all in order to restore his health. And we will never, never forget you, Reuben and I.”
She even pinned her Red Cross badge on Hugh’s sleeve, for him to keep as a reminder of these strenuous times when he and his comrades assisted the hospital corps in their duties in caring for the wounded strikers. ”

“ Hugh told him. “In Europe boys become scouts with the idea of serving their country as soldiers later on. Over here, in America, we never hold that notion up before our recruits, because our motto is to help those in trouble, and avoid all fighting, when we can do it with credit to ourselves.”
The doctor and Nurse Jones also promised to join the scouts again at supper time, so Billy Worth and a corps of assistants hurried off to start preparations for the evening meal. ”

“ Accordingly he told Ralph, Alec and Billy to step aside so they could figure out a program.
“We mustn’t go at this thing blindly,” he said in the beginning, “and rush around without any method. The more haste the less speed in the end. First of all we ought to try and figure out who has carried the child off, or whether he simply strayed away as a little tot often does.”
“The padrone acted as though he was mighty sure none of the strikers could have had a hand in the game, you noticed, Hugh?” remarked Billy. ”

“ Thrilled by this request, Hugh was only too happy to obey. He knew he could relate a number of things connected with Oakvale Troop of Boy Scouts that would prove interesting to Mr. Campertown. And all the while he hoped to be able to work in a few words that might serve to make the rich man consider the wisdom of bridging the chasm that lay between himself and his former employees. ”

“ So the scout master speedily appeared in the midst of the other members of the troop, who, with Nurse Jones, had been impatiently waiting just outside the office. Of course all of them were rather surprised when Hugh spoke, for they had believed him inside the building all this time.
“We’ve found the trail,” he told them quickly, and thinking it best that every one should know the facts without delay, Hugh went on to add: “There were three of the abductors, just the same number of guards Ralph saw hiding in the brush and watching the plant this afternoon. ”

“ Being “chief cook and bottle-washer,” for the occasion, as he termed it, Billy had set a number of the fellows to doing different tasks. Harold Tremaine and Ned Twyford sat with their backs against a tree, peeling potatoes; Tom Sherwood, who often boasted of his strong eyes, had been delegated to prepare a big mess of onions, and, though bravely sticking to the job, despite the smarting, was already crying over his job. ”

“ We mean to stop this foolish business before more blood is shed, if we have to bundle out every one of those hired guards, and take charge of the safety of the plant ourselves. The majesty of the law must be upheld, no matter who suffers. ”

“ Campertown has offered for the safe return of little Reuben, and no questions asked, have organized a searching party. Five thousand dollars will spur most men to doing stunts, let me tell you, Blake.”
“I should say, yes!” declared the other, with a sigh, as though he could picture quite a few glorious things that might come his way should a kind fortune allow him to win that prize, which, however, was too good to be true.
Meanwhile Ralph, with Hugh close beside him, was in the van, carefully following the trail. ”