“No!” shouted Plum. “But some of us decided that we have had enough of this camp and that we are going home. You can’t stop us, Thorn.”
“I don’t want to stop you,” replied Ted, quietly. “If you want to go, you can go ahead. I can’t keep you here by force and I wouldn’t try to. Only, you are doing the very thing that the unknown person wishes you to do. Somebody is trying to scare us out of this camp and they haven’t succeeded in doing it yet. Now you decide that you will go home and admit defeat to this man who wishes you to clear out. Not very brave, is it?”
“Never mind about brave!” growled Plum. “There is only one reason why you don’t want to give up the encampment and that is because you are afraid the trustees will say that you gave it up and they won’t ask you to be big boss another year!”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way,” smiled Ted. “Are you thinking of starting for home tonight?”
“No, but we will the first thing in the morning,” promised Plum.
“All right,” nodded Ted. “When the daylight comes if there are any of you who still think that you want to go home, why, just march right ahead. The rest of us will finish out our vacation here in Black Riders’ Camp.”
“You bet we will,” said Bob Gilmore.
“You are welcome to do it,” retorted Plum. “It is as plain as can be that somebody doesn’t want us around here, so why should we hang around?”
“Who has a right to chase us out of this camp?” demanded Buck.
“I don’t know, but I do know that I won’t stay here any longer,” said Plum flatly, and he walked off with his own friends, one of whom Ted was surprised to note was the small Clayton boy. He excused the little fellow in his mind.