The boys felt the serious import of the words and each vowed to forego the delight in playing hookey when fishing was good, or when baseball was being played in town ten miles away.
“Have any of you boys ever been in a printing plant and watched the process of turning out papers?” asked Uncle Ben.
Almost every boy raised his hand instantly in answer to this question, for what boy had not stood at the village printer’s yearning to set type or run one of the fascinating presses?
“Fine!” smiled Uncle Ben. “And now how many can set type or do small jobs on the press?”
Very few could do this, but the Starr boys and Jinks often helped Ned with printing the Chirp on his small press, and a few other boys knew something of the work.
“Well, I’ll have to explain to you what kind of work is required of a firm that prints papers or publishes a magazine. You may think this has nothing to do with your organization, but you will soon see,” said Uncle Ben.
As the speaker turned to take up several sheets of paper, a noisy chatter was heard outside the house and in another moment all of the Blue Birds, accompanied by Mr. and Mrs. Talmage, Mrs. Catlin, and Miss Selina, entered the room.
“In passing, we heard the harangue going on in here, and found out from Mr. Talmage that a secret meeting was under way. We would love to hear the motive and perhaps suggest an idea now and then,” laughingly said Mrs. Talmage.
The Bobolinks looked at each other, and Uncle Ben said, “Members, shall these intruders be ejected, or shall this organization extend the first courtesy to one we hope to assist in the future?”
The boys giggled, for the manner of presenting the case appealed to every one of them, and eliminated any feeling of intrusion from the Blue Birds.