A little later the entire company of scouts sought out Mr. Trevor on his front porch. Connie was spokesman.
“Mr. Trevor,” began the young leader, “I’ve been talkin’ to father, and he told me we’d have to see you. We want to ask something.”
“Go ahead,” answered Mr. Trevor.
“We don’t like to see them kids locked up in the calaboose, an’ we hope they won’t have to go to jail!” began Connie.
“Haven’t they violated the law?” asked Mr. Trevor.
“Mebbe they have,” replied Connie. “But so did we the day we went over there lookin’ for a fight. An’ I reckon that when Sammy Addington hit Nick Apthorp with a rock he could ’a’ been arrested for assault an’ battery. An’ we was all violatin’ the peace. They was goin’ to lock us up, too, only you got us off.”
“An’ we want you to get ’em off,” broke in Art. “Bygones is bygones!”
Mr. Trevor’s previous smile disappeared as he looked carefully at each boy. “But,” he answered at last, “you know why I did that. You bought yourselves out of trouble by reforming, as it were. But these boys may not be penitent. It may save them from something worse.”
“But mebbe they’re scared, too, now, like we was,” suggested Ware.
“Mr. Trevor!” exclaimed Connie with sudden animation, “do you know what! Hank Milleson and Nick Apthorp are stuck on Boy Scoutin’ worse than we are, only they pertend they ain’t. They both got books about it. I’ll bet they’d turn Boy Scouts quick as a wink if you could get ’em out of this scrape.”