“I hope you’re right,” Gilroy said.
He turned toward the barricaded cave but halted at the very entrance.
“What was it you said,” he asked, “about the boy who warned you in the thicket being a Boy Scout?”
“He answered the challenge all right,” replied Frank.
“If he really is a Boy Scout,” asked Gilroy tentatively, “he ought to be loyal to his comrades, don’t you think?”
“Yes, he ought to be,” Jack answered, “but then, you know, there are renegades in all grades and ranks of society. Still, this boy may have been acting under compulsion.”
“I have read a great deal about Boy Scouts being loyal to each other,” Gilroy continued, “and I can’t help thinking that this one will in time do something to make amends for his seemingly hostile act in delivering a fraudulent note. I have faith in the Boy Scout league!”
“And so have we all of us!” declared Jack. “We have found Boy Scouts in all parts of the world, and we have always found them loyal and trustworthy. This lad may yet prove to be so.”
“Why,” Jimmie interrupted, “he did show that he was made of the right kind of stuff when he took the pains to follow us into the forest and advise us to get out of the country.”
“Yes,” Jack laughed, “but he returned from that excursion and delivered a lying note to Ned. Still,” the boy went on more mildly, “we don’t know anything about the circumstances surrounding the matter, so we’ll give him the benefit of every doubt.”