My sister said, "I'm glad of it; he's an old grizzly bear."
"You had some words with him?" my father asked me.
"I guess there's nobody in town who hasn't had words with him," mysister said.
"Just let me talk to Roy," my father told her.
I said, "We were jollying him along because he was mad on account of ourcar being in the field. It wasn't near his building, that's one surething."
"And you boys were planning to get the car past his building? You askedhim if you could take some boards down?"
"Yes, we did," I said; "and he said _no_."
"Of course," said my sister; "what did you expect him to say?"
"And you told him you'd think up some other way?" my father asked me.
Then I began to see what he was driving at I said, "If he thinks we hadanything to do with his old shanty burning down, let him think so. Geewhiz, it wouldn't make a decent bonfire. We got the car over to thefield all right, and we'll get it the rest of the way. I told him we'dthink of a way, and we will."
My father said, "Yes, but I don't see what sort of plan you could maketo get a railroad car through a building."
I said, "Do you think I had anything to do with that old place burningdown?"
He said, "No, of course I don't. Such a thought is absurd. That is notthe way of scouts."
"You said it," I told him.
Then he said, "Westy's father called me up this morning, Roy, and toldme about this fire. He said that Mr. Slausen had just called on him withanother man who claimed to have seen you and Westy climbing out througha side window of the garage after dark last night."
"What did Westy say?" I asked my father.
"Westy wasn't home this morning," my father said; "and that's why hisfather called me up. He seemed to be very much concerned, but I toldhim, of course, that it was all nonsense, that you hadn't done any suchthing. I told him that if you had climbed out through a window you coulddoubtless explain it, but that he needn't worry, because you hadn't doneany such thing. I'm afraid Mr. Slausen has lost his sense of reason----"
"He never had any," my sister said.
"I should think not," my mother put in, "Climbing out through the sidewindow after the place had been closed! Who ever heard of such nonsense?The man is crazy."
I just sat there and I didn't say a word.
My father said, "Well, I believe Mr. Slausen is coming up here with thisstranger this morning. I understand he has appealed to the police."
"Why doesn't he call out the army?" my sister wanted to know.
I said, "You mean I have to be arrested?" My father just laughed andsaid, "Why, certainly not. I'm very glad they're coming----"
"I hope Duke bites them," Marjorie said. Duke is our Airedale.
"I don't see that that would do any good," my father said, kind ofsmiling. "All Roy will have to do is to deny this, and I'll do the rest.I just want you to say, Roy, that you didn't climb out of any window ofMr. Slausen's shop after dark or at any other time. I want you to facethese gentlemen----"
"They're not gentlemen," my sister said; "they're hyenas!"
My father just went on and said, "I want you to tell Mr. Slausen andanybody else who comes here with him that you didn't do that and thatyou weren't near his place. There's nothing to be afraid of if you tellthe truth."
My sister said, "I hope you're not going to let those men come in theparlor. Ugh!"
I just sat there, kind of saying _parlor, parlor, parlor_ to myself. Ididn't know _what_ to say. My father looked at me kind of funny.
Then I said, "I don't see what it's got to do with us, anyway, becausethe fire didn't happen till two or three hours after----"
Then I stopped.
"After what, Roy?" my father said.
"After the time he said we were in there," I kind of blurted out.
My father said, "That hasn't anything to do with it. The point is thatyou weren't there at all. There's the beginning and the end of it. Thisman thinks you boys did the only thing you could do to get his old shopout of the way. He doesn't know anything about scouts. There was amotive. That's enough for him. And he thinks a couple of you sneakedinto his place after dark and set fire to it. Now you didn't, did you?"
"No, we didn't," I said, good and loud.
"Well, then," my father said, "that's all there is to it."
CHAPTER XVII--SUSPENSE
That was the worst morning I ever spent. I didn't know what to do orwhat to say. But one thing I was sure of, and that was that I wasn'tgoing to break my word no matter what happened. Because what's the useof having any law one if it doesn't mean what it says?
I kept wishing that those men would hurry up and come so the thing wouldbe over with. I went out and sat on the steps of our garage and talkedwith James; he's our chauffeur. And all the while I kept looking offdown the road to see if those men were coming. I felt awful funny. Nomatter what I did I couldn't stick to it. I felt kind of the same way asI feel just before examinations in school. I started picking dandelionson the lawn just so as to keep busy. Then I went around to the porch andsat in the swing seat and tried to read, but I couldn't.
After a while I saw a car coming up the hill and I knew it was thepolice car. I guess there wasn't much left of Mr. Slausen's car. I sawChief O'Day in the car--I could tell him on account of his uniform--andthere were several others, too. Now that I saw them I wasn't so nervousas I was before, because I knew it would soon be over with.
When they got out I saw there were five people--Chief O'Day, Mr.Slausen, another man, Westy and his father. I was kind of nervous when Isaw them coming up the gravel walk, but, anyway, it kind of helped me tofeel sure of myself.
Chief O'Day said, "Well, sir, your father home?"
I gave one look at Westy and then I didn't feel afraid any more at all.I knew he thought the same as I did, and I said to myself that no matterwhat happened we'd stick together.
My father took us all in the library and I stood in front of themantelpiece.
Chief O'Day said, "Mr. Blakeley, your boy and this other boy seem to bemixed up in the fire that destroyed Mr. Slausen's shop last night."
My father just said, "Indeed?"
The chief said, "These two boys were seen climbing out of a window ofthe shop after dark last night. They were anxious to have the shop outof their way----"
My father just said, "Oh, yes, I know all about that. We'd like to havea good many things out of our way. Let us get down to facts. Who sawthese boys? That's the point."
Mr. Slausen said, "This young man is a friend of mine, Mr. Blakeley. Hehas worked for me. His name is Conroy. He saw your boy and this otheryoungster climb out of the side window of my place last night. Thisother youngster refuses to say anything."
The chief said, "Of course you realize these boys have to give anaccount of themselves, Mr. Blakeley. Maybe this young fellow here ismistaken about seeing them, but----"
"He isn't mistaken," I said. I could just hear my own voice as if I wasspeaking all alone in the world, and I was awful nervous. "Westy and Iclimbed out of that window after dark last night, but we didn't set fireto the place and we never thought about such a thing."
"_You were there?_" my father said. Gee, he seemed to be all flustered."What do you mean? You mean you were in Mr. Slausen's shop after theplace had been closed up and came out through a side window?"
I just said, "Yes, sir."
For about half a minute nobody spoke at all, only Mr. Slausen keptdrumming with his fingers on the arm of the chair.
Then the chief said, "What were you doing there?"
"I won't tell you," I said.
My father said, very sober like, "What do you mean, Roy? You won't tell?This is a very serious matter. Tell Mr. O'Day what you went there for."
I didn't say anything; I just stood there.
My father just said, very anxious, "Well?"
The chief said, "You don't want to rub up against the law, my boy."
&n
bsp; I said, "If you think you can scare me, you can't. There are differentlaws. Maybe there are some that you don't know anything about----"
Just then I heard footsteps on the porch and then the doorbell rang.
CHAPTER XVIII--MR. ELLSWORTH CALLS
That was Mr. Ellsworth, our scoutmaster. I guess he had heard all aboutit. I guess the whole town knew about it by that time. Trust them forthat. He just sat down very quietly and listened. It made me feel goodto see him there.
My father said, "I suppose you know about this, Mr. Ellsworth?"
Mr. Ellsworth said, "Why, yes, in a general way."
"You knew the boys were at the garage?" my father asked him.
He said, "N--no, I didn't know that. Have they found out how the firestarted?"
"_Started?_" Mr. Slausen said, good and loud. "Can't you see how itstarted? You're the instigator of this car moving business, I suppose?"
Mr. Ellsworth said, awful funny, "Yes, I'm the evil genius."
"And I understand fires are part of this scout rigmarole," Mr. Slausensaid.
"Yes, indeed," Mr. Ellsworth said; "we're all strong for the campfire.Had your place insured, I suppose, Mr. Slausen?"
"Lucky I did," he said.
"We just want to give these lads a chance to explain their presencethere," Chief O'Day said.
Mr. Ellsworth just said, "Oh, I see."
I just looked straight at Mr. Ellsworth and I said, "I can't tell, Mr.Ellsworth, on account of a scout law. If Westy wants to tell, let him doit."
"Thanks. Nothing doing," said Westy.
"What is the law, Roy?" Mr. Ellsworth asked me, very kind and nice.
I said, "It's the one about a scout's honor being trusted."
My father was good and mad. He said, "I want to know all about this. Iwant to know what you boys were doing at Mr. Slausen's shop, climbingout of the window there after dark. We're going to get to the bottom ofthis."
I noticed that Westy's father didn't say anything, he just kept lookingat Mr. Ellsworth. I didn't say anything. Neither did Westy. I could hearthe big clock in the hall ticking.
"You boys don't want to go down to the station, do you?" the chief askedus.
"I should worry," I said. "We didn't set fire to the shop, I know that,and we can't tell you why we were there on account of a reason. What'sthe use of having scout laws if we don't pay any attention to them?"
My father started to speak, but Mr. Ellsworth said, "Just a minute. Ican't stand between you gentlemen and these boys, but so far as I amconcerned I will not urge either of them to say anything more just now.I just wish to have it understood that I take no part in this business.If these boys were mine I would not require them to tell anything--justat present. There are some other things to be explained first.
"It is one of our scout laws that scouts must obey their parents. Somuch for that. It is up to you gentlemen. But if one scout law is to beobeyed, of course the others must be obeyed, too. These boys are in mytroop. I have never known either one of them to lie. They seem to thinktheir honor is involved. If you gentlemen, their fathers, insist ontheir talking, I hope they will obey their parents. But I ask you tothink twice before you insist. I know these boys."
"Do you think I want my son arrested?" my father said.
"A great many innocent people have been arrested before now, Mr.Blakeley. I'm not thinking of that. They put Columbus in chains, youknow," Mr. Ellsworth said, kind of laughing.
Just then Mr. Martin (that's Westy's father) spoke up. He said, "I thinkI'll stand with my boy and Mr. Ellsworth in this matter. If you men arehere to press the matter I'm here to see it through. I think perhapswe'll all be the gainers, my friend Mr. Slausen included, if we respectthese boys' wishes. What next, Chief? Shall we all go down to thestation? That was a very good point you made, Mr. Ellsworth, aboutputting Columbus in chains. Be careful not to say a word, Westy, my boy.Are you going down to the station with us, Mr. Blakeley?"
CHAPTER XIX--SERVICE
Gee whiz, I don't know what I would have done if my father had insistedon my telling all about it. What would _you_ have done? If there are twoscout laws and you have to break one in order to obey the other, whatcan you do about it? There's a sticker for you.
But, anyway, one good thing, my father has a lot of respect for Mr.Ellsworth. And when he saw how Mr. Ellsworth and Mr. Martin stood, oh,boy, he was with us. But, gee whiz, I felt sorry for my mother onaccount of her having a convict for a son. She cried and hugged me andeverything when we started away, and my sister made a big fuss, too.That was because I had never been a convict before.
Now I'll tell you what I think. I don't how much Mr. Ellsworth knew, andI don't know how much Mr. Martin knew, but they knew something aboutCharlie Slausen. I mean they knew what kind of a fellow he was. Maybethey thought he had something to do with the fire, and maybe theythought the facts would come out. I don't know what they thought. All Iknow is what happened.
Down at the station we were held for a hearing the next day. They didn'tkeep us there, but they patrolled us or paroled us or whatever you callit, in the custody of our parents. We agreed that we wouldn't run away.Gee whiz, why should we run away? There's plenty of fun in Bridgeboro.
As soon as Westy and I were alone together I said, "What are we going todo? We have to tell when the case comes up. We can't refuse to tell thejudge what we were there for."
He said, "Maybe it would be all right for us to say we saw CharlieSlausen there. We needn't say what we went there for."
"Then they'll say _he_ set fire to the place," I said, "and I don'tbelieve he did. Just because everybody always thinks the worst abouthim, that isn't saying that he'd do a thing like that, he's alwaysneeding money, that fellow is, and right away they'll say he started thefire maybe to get the insurance on his car."
"He doesn't own it," Westy said.
"Maybe he does," I told him. "How do _we_ know? I'm not going to tellanybody he was there unless I have to. Let them find it out."
"We'll have to tell everything to-morrow," Westy said.
I said, "I'm not thinking of to-morrow. I'm thinking of to-day. If wehave to tell he was there, it will look bad for him. If he tells himselfit won't look so bad."
Westy said, "A tall chance we stand of getting him to tell."
I said, "Well, if they force it out of us it will look bad for him."
"How do you think the fire started?" Westy asked me.
"How do I know?" I said. "Maybe he dropped a match or something. But heisn't so bad that he'd burn the place down on purpose, I know that. I'dlike to know what your father and Mr. Ellsworth think. I bet they thinkhe did it. I bet the reason they were willing for us not to talk to-daywas because they think that if nobody says anything yet, they can provesomething against him. Hey? I bet they've got some plans for to-morrow."
"What are we going to do this afternoon?" Westy wanted to know.
"I'm going to help clear away the stuff," I told him.
"Good idea," he said. "Let's round up all the troop."
We called up most of the fellows and we went to see those who didn'thave 'phones, and we fixed it up to all go up to Willow Place in theafternoon and help. That was some afternoon. The wreckage of the shopwas all over the sidewalk and the place looked like Thanksgiving dinnerwhen Pee-wee Harris gets through with it. We started helping the men tohaul boards and stuff, and parts of cars, away from the walk, and rakingout the middle of the streets so as not to leave any nails and brokenwindow glass for autos to run over. We might better be doing that thanbe out hiking in the woods, that's what I told them.
About the middle of the afternoon Charlie Slausen came over. He seemedawful worried, kind of. He called Westy and me aside and asked us if wehad told anybody about the night before.
I said, "No, we haven't. We got away with it so far, lucky for us, butwhen the judge starts asking us questions to-morrow, we'll have to tell.We can't lie to him. If they ask us if we saw anybody at th
e shop we'llhave to say we did, and they can make us tell everything that happenedif they want to."
He said, "You didn't tell them anything about seeing me?"
"No," I told him, "because I thought they'd start thinking you set fireto the place and we know you didn't."
"My father thinks you did," he said.
"Let him think so," I told him; "we should worry. All I'm afraid of isthat they'll make us tell about meeting you here, and then they'll sayit's funny you didn't come out right away after the fire and say soyourself. We've got things fixed till to-morrow, but everything willcome out then."
He said, "You kids are a couple of bully little scouts. Come over here;I want to talk to you."
"I don't mind," I said.
CHAPTER XX--A PROMISE
The rest of the scouts in the troop were working away, getting thestreet cleaned, and I guess they didn't notice us. We went back acrossthe field to our old railroad car, and I said, "Come ahead in; nobody'llbother us in here."
It smelled kind of smoky inside, I suppose on account of the fire. Oneof the doors was open so the smoke that blew in hadn't gone out. It waskind of dusty and dingy, too. The old plush seats were all full of dust.But, anyway, we didn't care, because it was our car and we liked itbetter than a Pullman car. It seemed awful quiet and nice in there; youknow how it seems on Sunday afternoons.
Charlie said, "You've got it mighty nice in here."
"This car has caused us a lot of worry and trouble," Westy said. "Butthings will be all right when we get it down by the river."