“I don’t believe in knuckling down to any ugly lot of fellows that chooses to knock up against us,” and Josh must have expressed the feelings of most of those present when he said this, for there was a chorus of “my sentiments exactly,” as soon as he finished.
Then, somehow, all eyes began to turn toward the scout master. They had come to think a great deal of Mr. Witherspoon. He seemed to have a great love for boys implanted in his heart, and was thus an ideal scout master; for there was always an exchange of sympathy between him and his charges.
“You want to know what I think of it, boys?” he started to say.
“It would have a heap of influence on our actions, sir—even if we did hate to play second fiddle to that crowd,” admitted Felix.
“But I can see no reason why we should do that,” the scout master immediately told them, and at this the anxious look on many faces gave way to one of satisfaction.
“Then you don’t want us to give up the Big Bear Mountain hike, and make up another programme; is that it, Mr. Witherspoon?” asked Tom, who had not been quite so much concerned as some of the others, because he believed he knew the nature of their efficient scout master, and that he was not one of the “back-down” kind.
“Why should we do that?” replied the other, quietly. “We are not supposed to be aware of the fact that these four rowdies have gone off in that direction. Our plain duty is to follow out our original plans, go about our own business, interfering with no one, and at the same time standing up for our rights.”
At hearing this some of the boys turned and exchanged expressive grins; others even shook hands with each other. Fair play was something they admired above all things; and this manly stand on the part of their scout master pleased them immensely.
“We’re all glad to hear you say that, Mr. Witherspoon,” the chairman of the meeting told him. “I’m sure I voice the sentiments of every scout present when I say that while we’ll try to avoid trouble up to a certain point, there’s going to be a limit to our forbearance.”
“And the frog-pond cure is always available as a last resort,” added the new boy from Winchester.