"Were you ever a Boy Scout?"

"Hardly," was the reply, "but I have a son who is very much interested
in the organization. He belongs to the Eagle Patrol, at Lander, and I
hear nothing but Boy Scout rules, and tactics, and that sort of thing,
from morning till night."

"Well, he must be a good lad if he's a faithful Boy Scout," Will
suggested. "He certainly must be all right!"

"Indeed he is!" Seth answered. "He's a good boy, and I hope some day
that he'll have the right to wear a badge like that," pointing to the
Scoutmaster emblem on Will's hat.

"How many of these medals has he?" asked George, pointing to the
Ambulance, Stalker, Seaman and Pioneer medals on his sleeve.

"Oh, I don't know," Seth laughed. "He comes home every day or two and
says he's going to have a new one! Look here, lad," the man added
glancing apprehensively back at his companions, "why don't you tell the
truth and get out of this scrape in the easiest possible way?"

"We have told the truth," was the reply, "except that we didn't come out
just for the fun of the thing. We came out for a purpose which we can't
disclose at this time. We blundered on the train robbers, and have no
more idea of where they went than you have."

"Look here Seth," the leader of the party exclaimed. "If you can't make
those boys tell the truth, just cut out this conversation. We've got
work to do tonight!"

"I think they are telling the truth!" Seth answered.

"Oh, I guess you know better than that!" laughed the leader. "You're
interested in them because they claim to be Boy Scouts, and I suppose
you're taking in everything they say."

"I think the boys are all right!" insisted Seth.

"It doesn't make any difference what you think!" replied the other
angrily, "If they don't tell the truth, they're going to swing in less
than half an hour!"

"I can't stand for that, Pete," Seth answered.

"Who's sheriff of this county?" demanded the man who had been called
Pete. "I suppose you think you're boss of this expedition."

"I don't think anything of the kind," was the reply, "but I'm not going
to see these Boy Scouts murdered without a hearing, and if you attempt
anything of the kind, you'll never be sheriff of this county again! I
can tell you that much."

The four other members of the party were now whispering together some
distance away. As they whispered, they glanced furtively from the boys
to the man who was trying to protect them.

"Look here, Pete," on