"I think they are telling the truth!" Seth answered.
"Oh, I guess you know better than that!" laughed the leader. "You're interested in them because they claim to be Boy Scouts, and I suppose you're taking in everything they say."
"I think the boys are all right!" insisted Seth.
"It doesn't make any difference what you think!" replied the other angrily, "If they don't tell the truth, they're going to swing in less than half an hour!"
"I can't stand for that, Pete," Seth answered.
"Who's sheriff of this county?" demanded the man who had been called Pete. "I suppose you think you're boss of this expedition."
"I don't think anything of the kind," was the reply, "but I'm not going to see these Boy Scouts murdered without a hearing, and if you attempt anything of the kind, you'll never be sheriff of this county again! I can tell you that much."
The four other members of the party were now whispering together some distance away. As they whispered, they glanced furtively from the boys to the man who was trying to protect them.
"Look here, Pete," one of them said, as they all stepped forward, "we don't see any necessity for this halt in the proceedings just because Seth has a lad that belongs to the Boy Scouts."
"That's right," another member of the party declared. "Just you say the word and we'll string these boys up in a holy minute!"