bar or wooden pin,
Paul had arranged in his mind just how such fastenings could be broken
without trouble. He had noted quite a good-sized log lying near by,
used by the vagrants in their seclusion to chop their firewood on. And
Paul had decided that this log would make an admirable battering ram.
The door was old and feeble, so that one good slam would doubtless
hurl it back, and give them free ingress.

There was no need of all this display of energy, however, for upon
investigation Paul discovered that he could easily move the door, once
he got his hand on the wooden latch.

He only waited to make sure that the others were ready, and then fell
back into his pre-arranged place, leaving to Tolly Tip the honor of
opening the way.

When the woodsman felt a hand jab him in the short ribs he recognized
this as the signal from Paul for which he had been waiting. He
immediately threw the door back with such violence that it crashed to
the floor, its weak hinges giving way under the strain.

In through the opening the whole six of them poured. The boys' hunting
guns were instantly leveled in the direction of the astounded tramps,
who started to scramble to their feet, but, cowed by the display of
force, sank back again in dire dismay.

"Hold up your arrms!" roared Tolly Tip, just as he had been instructed
to do by the scout-master.

Both hoboes made ludicrous haste to elevate their hands as far as they
could. In the excitement of the moment, having only caught glimpses of
khaki uniforms, they imagined that a detachment of the State militia
had been called out to search the woods for the firebugs guilty of
trying to destroy Mr. Briggs' establishment in Stanhope.

By the time they realized that five of the invaders were only boys it
was too late to attempt anything like defiance. Besides, those
shotguns and rifles, even when held in boyish hands, had just as grim
a look as though gripped by grown-up warriors.

"Jud, you've got the thongs I supplied!" called out Paul, "so get
busy, with Jack to help you, and tie their hands behind them. Slip
those mitts on before you do it, because we've got a long way to go,
and it would be cruel to have their fingers frost-bitten on the road
to Stanhope."

The men dared not offer any objections, though they kept using strong
language, much to the disgust of some of the scouts.

"Paul, tell them that unless they close their mouths and quit that
swearing we'll gag them both," said