“Best of all,” added the patrol leader, “it doesn’t make any inroads on the harmless little animals of the woods and swamps. You can get them at home, and learn more about their nocturnal habits than by any other known means.”
After the negative had been dried later on in the day, Rob printed several copies, and passed them around. Even Mr. Jeffords declared they were very fine, and when he learned how his boy had begun to take a great interest in the modern way of making the acquaintance of the timid woods folks, he encouraged Ralph in every way possible to enlist in the cause.
“Things like this always go to make boys more humane,” the farmer remarked. “That counts a whole lot. As a rule, they are apt to have cruel instincts, handed down from their ancestors, who used to have to depend on killing game to keep themselves alive. It’s about time something were done to soften some of those savage traits; and I believe your organization of scouts will do this without making boys soft, or sissies at the same time.”
Plainly, the seed had fallen on good ground these days around Wyoming. It seemed to be a foregone conclusion that before a great while there would spring up an enthusiastic troop of scouts bound to be a credit to the community.
That whole day passed and still there was no sign of the absent one. Some of the fellows spoke of it as a strange thing, and also went so far as to hint to Ralph that it looked as though Peleg may have concluded he didn’t care to work on the Jeffords’ farm any longer.
Rob noticed that Ralph declined to be drawn into any discussion that had for its subject the doings of Peleg Pinder. He just shut his teeth together, and made no comment when Tubby and Andy started discussing this matter. At the same time Rob was quite positive Ralph had not forgotten; and he imagined that when another day came he might make up his mind to start toward Wyoming, bent on settling the bothersome question once and for all.
During the day no word had come from Pete, so it could be set down as pretty certain that the second wildcat had not been hovering around the preserves where Ralph was trying to raise fancy-priced fur.
“If anything had happened we would have heard,” the owner of the fox farm told the rest of the boys. “Pete had orders to drop down and let me know. I’m just about fixing a little telephone service between my cabin up there and the home place here, so we can talk without all this running back and forth.”
“Queer how you didn’t think of that long ago,” said Sim. “I’d have done it in the start.”
“Well, the fact of the matter is,” laughed Ralph, “I put every dollar I could scrape together or borrow from dad into my first blacks; and the fencing of that big tract cost a whopping sum besides. But now I begin to see an outlook ahead; and I’ve also convinced father that there’s money in the project, so he’s loaning me another bunch of money.”