xcellent. But the
neighbors resented his coming. He had fenced in a lot of open ground
that had been the common cow-pasture of the adjoining village. He had
taken from the boys their nutting-ground, and forbidden the usual
summer picnics. He was an outsider, a rich man despoiling the very
poor, and they set about making it unpleasant for him.

"They destroyed his fences, they stoned his notice-boards until they
fell, and they painted shocking pictures on his gates. Mr. Moale, a
peace-loving man, rebuilt the fences and restored the notice-boards
only to have them torn down again and again.

"All summer this had been going on, so I learned on visiting Mr. Moale
in September. Finally I said to him: 'Let me try my hand on these
boys.' He was ready for anything, and gave me a free hand. I bought
two tents, three old Indian teepees, and two canoes. I got some bows
and arrows and a target.

"Then I got a gang of men to make a campground by the lake on my
friend's grounds. On this I set up the tents and teepees in the form
of an Indian village.

"Now I went to the local school house and got permission to talk to
the boys for five minutes. 'Now boys,' I said, 'Mr. Moale invites you
all to come to the Indian village on his land next Friday, after
school, to camp with him there until Monday morning. We will have all
the grub you can eat, all the canoes necessary, and everything to have
a jolly time in camp.'

"At first the boys were bashful and suspicious, but finally they
accepted the invitation, and at 4:30 forty-two boys arrived in high
glee.

"'Say, Mister, kin we holler?'

"'Yes, all you want to.'

"'Kin we take our clothes off?'

"As the weather was warm I said, 'Yes, every stitch, if you like.' And
soon they were a mob of naked, howling savages, tearing through the
woods, jumping into the lake, or pelting each other with mud."

After supper, Mr. Thompson Seton tells us, the boys gathered around
the camp fire while he told them one Indian story after another. For
two days the boys ate, swam, canoed, and, what was most important of
all, they became acquainted with the two men. There was no harm done
the boats, teepees, or outfit other than fair wear and tear during
that camping, and before it was over Mr. Moale, instead of having a
gang of bandits to combat the year round, had now a guard of staunch
friends, ready to fight his battles and look out for his interests
when he was away.

That was the beginning of