"Good for you, boys," he said, smiling; "you held your own well. I watched from behind the fence, and was delighted with the way you stood up to those big fellows."
Tommy blushed with pride and pleasure. "They would have whipped us," he replied, modestly, "if Dom Pedro hadn't scared them off."
"At any rate you brought the field-gun back, and you deserve great credit for the way you stuck to your colors. But what is this that Kinney tells me about setting a barn on fire?"
"It belonged to Tommy," said the others. "It was an old tool-house which his father gave him to keep our things in. It made a beautiful fire." Regretfully.
"And you burnt it up just so as to decoy the boys?" Incredulously.
"It was the only way to get the cannon," Tommy answered. "And the roof leaked, anyway."
"It certainly was a clever scheme, though rather a risky one," said Mr. Scott.
"I asked my father," Tommy hastened to explain. "And first he said no, we mustn't do it, but when I told him that it was military tactics, and how we wanted to prove to you that we were not such miserable cowards, he gave in and said to go ahead."
"Well, you certainly have proved it, and fulfilled your part of the contract with honor, so now I want to do my part. So you may invite everybody you want—the whole town, if you wish—in my name, to a grand exhibition of fireworks in honor of the Raleigh Reds."
The little Sergeant beamed from ear to ear. "Guy!" he ejaculated, fervently, "what a slick old time we'll have!" Then, turning to the smiling and embarrassed line, he cried, "Squad, salute!" and every hand went up while the demoralized fife and drum favored Mr. Scott with their wildest and most discordant tones.