"Well, what happens then after they show their teeth?" questioned the tall boy.
"You make up your mind which one of the lot you like best, and hang on to him with tooth and nail, as if you thought he was your long-lost brother. Get that, Lil Artha?" Elmer continued.
"I understand," came the reply. "You want me to count for one hold-up, so as to leave the other three to you fellows?"
"Well, you wouldn't be greedy, would you, and cheat us out of all the fun, after we've come all this long way, and risked breaking out necks time and time again?" remarked Nat, reproachfully.
"He understands, Nat," remarked Elmer, pouring oil on the troubled waters as he frequently did when little frictions arose in the khaki troop. "And there's no need of wasting any more time. Be off, Lil Artha, and success to you."
"Same here, fellows," came the merry reply; "and more power to your elbow, Nat"; from which last remark it was very evident that Lil Artha knew full well the impulsive character of the Scott boy, and how his desire to engage in "scraps" had not as yet been wholly tamed down by his becoming a scout in good standing.
Nat's father was the principal of the public schools in Hickory Ridge; and from the time that Nat started to attend he had possibly given the professor as much trouble as any lad in the whole town. Not that Nat was naturally bad, but his quick temper, and readiness to use his fists to settle argument, had drawn him into innumerable scrapes.
Accordingly, Lil Artha once more started along the darkening road, swinging out with those long strides which his length made possible.
Elmer calculated to a nicety just how far they ought to allow their chum to get before starting to follow. It was important that they should be concealed from the eyes of the four in ambush; and yet, on the other hand, he did not want to drop back to such a distance that they might be cheated out of hearing what happened when the surprise came.
In order to maintain a certain distance in the rear he had instructed the one ahead to keep up a steady whistle. Lil Artha was known to be a whistler, and often amused his chums by his accomplishment in this line. It was a gift, such as an occasional boy finds himself in possession of. And more than once had Elmer told his friend that he would make a good woodsman if only he turned his talent toward imitating the various clear sweet notes of wild birds.