s though there could not be anything to conceal. He
took a leaf from the example set by Thad. The latter knew that in all
probability there had been more to the wigwag talk than Allan chose to
state; but he was willing to wait until a more propitious time to hear
it.

Taken in all, he believed they had come through the operation of baiting
Phin Dady much better than any one could have expected. The old man was
interested in what he had heard; and only for the fact that he bore a
deadly hatred for the family of young Bob Quail, they would have little
to fear from the king of the moonshiners, whose influence among the
other mountaineers was such that he could easily sway them one way or
the other at will.

Thad caught a wink when he looked into the face of the Maine boy. It
told him that Allan had news to tell, which Bob had sent on ahead,
knowing how anxious his chums would be to hear whether he had met with
any measure of success or not in his undertaking.

When Thad turned around again he found that Old Phin had slipped away,
taking advantage of their attention being directed for a minute toward
the scout who had just come into camp with the lantern swinging at his
side.

And Thad heaved a sigh of genuine relief when he found that this was so.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE RETURN OF THE EIGHTH SCOUT.

"HE'S gone!" exclaimed Bumpus; and it would have been hard to tell
whether relief or regret lay back of his words; for some of the boys,
forgetting the peril that might hang over the head of Bob White, did the
moonshiner know of his presence, and his mission to the Blue Ridge, only
considered the entertainment afforded by having Old Phin at their fire.

"And I guess the old feller's got enough information in his head to last
him a long spell," remarked Giraffe.

"Say, p'raps he's seriously considerin' starting a troop of Boy Scouts
here in the Blue Ridge country," suggested Step Hen, who sometimes did
have brilliant ideas flash through his brain.

There was considerable of a laugh at this proposition, which struck the
boys as about as absurd as anything they had heard for a long time.

"Wonder how our real scoutmaster, Dr. Philander Hobbs'd like to take the
job?" chuckled Davy Jones. "He thought he had trouble enough on his
hands when he ran up against a few hard cases, like Giraffe and Step Hen
here; but they'd be just pie alongside the strappin' mountain kids we've
seen."

"Well," remarked Thad, "you never c