According to the universal agreement, every pastor in Oakvale made some mention in his sermon on the following Sunday of the new movement that had been inaugurated by the better elements in the town. They urged every one of their flocks who wanted to see a cleaner Oakvale, morally and actually, to back up the committee.

It was the talk of the day wherever two or more persons came together, and there were places where the action of the town Council was either severely criticized or else condemned. No one need be told that as a rule these were the dens of vice that had been insulting the law and flaunting their brazen defiance in the teeth of the citizens.

Everybody seemed to be waiting with pent-up breath to see whether things would begin to move immediately Monday opened up.
50

By noon on Monday posters began to appear all over town, signed by the mayor, stating in concise, legal phrases how from that hour forward the law was going to be strictly enforced to the letter, and telling all about the plan to enlist the active co-operation of the Boy Scouts in helping to make a clean town.

After school that afternoon the fellows belonging to Oakvale Troop to the number of thirty marched to police headquarters. That three of the boys did not respond to roll call before marching through the streets, Hugh ascertained, was because in two instances they were sick at home with a mild attack of grippe, while the third boy was evidently kept away because he had an uncle who was believed to be the worst offender on the list, so that his folks were hardly in favor of appearing to go against their own flesh and blood.

But the boys, as they marched the full length of the main street, were cheered by shoppers and shopkeepers and clerks, as well as others who crowded to the doors and windows. For it was well known what part Hugh and his fellow scouts were going to take in the redemption of Oakvale. Their previous success in ridding the town of cluttering rubbish gave people confidence in their ability to do even greater things.
51

The Chief had his men lined up in front of the headquarters. He believed in doing things according to rule, and meant to receive the scouts as fellow workers in the good cause.

To hear the speech Chief Wallis made the new Assistant Police any one would have believed his heart had always been in the laudable enterprise of trying to clean up the dives, and protect the dangerous crossings. Perhaps it had, but the Chief being a politician dared not show his hand so long as he felt that public sentiment was against any change of policy. He knew better now. He had heard the ringing words that fell from Mrs. Beverly’s lips, which speech, according to all accounts, eclipsed any oration ever delivered in the town hall; the Chief was fully enlisted in the cause.
52

“We will have official badges made without delay for each and every member of the Assistant Police,” he told the listening boys, who interrupted his speech with frequent cheers. “In the meanwhile, as the posters issued by His Honor the Mayor state, your regular scout emblem will be badge enough, and must be respected everywhere within the limits of this town. Possibly some people will at first be inclined to treat your show of authority as a joke, and laugh at any orders you may issue. After a few of them have been arrested by my regular officers, and either fined or placed in jail for some days, they will have their eyes opened.”

Then the Chief went on to explain just what their line of work would consist of, and where they must draw the line. Certain duties they could proceed to carry out, but the regular officers would be used to make most arrests, especially where there was any danger involved.

“You understand,” he told them, “it is not intended that the boys operating with this movement are going to become spies, to find out what their neighbors may be doing, but we expect you to keep your eyes open to discover any glaring infraction of the laws, as mentioned in that poster, and your leader will thereupon report any such discovery at headquarters, from where it will be attended to.”
53

He then earnestly besought them to be on their dignity, and guard against any unnecessary show of being conceited, or too proud of their new positions.

“Go about your work without any display of authority. People will begin by sneering at you, but if you do your duty faithfully they will soon come to respect your badge. Never forget that the best people of the community are behind you in all you may attempt. Hugh, we look to you to be a safe guide for your followers, and the mayor told me to inform you that he expects every scout to do his part manfully. That’s about all I have to say to you to-day, though from time to time I expect to confer with your leader, and lay out new plans. I salute you all again as members in full standing of the Police Force of Oakvale.”

Hugh had his plans pretty well laid out, though everything could not be accomplished at once. He had selected certain members of the troop for duty at the dangerous crossings, beginning on the very next morning. In doing this, Hugh had used much discretion, for he expected that there would be more or less trouble, since drivers and chauffeurs had become so accustomed to having their own way that they would object strenuously to any interference.
54

It turned out, however, that Chief Wallis foresaw this very source of trouble, and had delegated several officers to stand near by in readiness to arrest the first driver who failed to pull up when a scout raised his white-gloved hand as an order for him to do so.

That was a pretty warm day in sections at police headquarters. Arrests came in quick succession, as though a regular scheme had been arranged to make the new order a laughing-stock. But the mayor had a magistrate ready, and those who were brought in charged with breaking the traffic rules, as well as in some cases resisting an officer had heavy fines imposed upon them, with the alternative of several days in the lockup if they refused to settle.
55

It was astonishing how quickly the news went around that the mayor actually meant to stand by the ladies and the scouts in the crusade. For the first time that evening in many moons, every questionable and shady resort about Oakvale was closed as tight as a drum, as Billy Worth explained it, after a walk about town.

“Why,” he told Hugh, with glistening eyes, “you can see the fellows who used to spend most of their time in those places standing on the street corners watching to see what next is going to happen. They look dazed and glum, I tell you; yes, and ugly, too, because their business is going to be all busted up. They’re telling each other that the way things are starting in it looks like more than just a joke.”

“‘A new broom sweeps clean!’” quoted Hugh. “I never doubted but what once the people of this town woke up it could be done, and in a hurry. The only question is how long will it last? A whole lot of persons will soon get tired of the novelty, and public sentiment may swing around to indifference again. That is what we have to fear more than anything else. Those bad men will just wait for things to take a change, and as scouts we’ve got to see to it that the enthusiasm never dies out.”
56

After an exciting day, Hugh felt pretty tired that Monday evening. He had received special reports from all the scouts who had been on duty. These covered a multitude of things from difficulties at the crossings when traffic was held up at such times as the smaller children were going to and from school, to infractions of the laws of cleanliness and health persisted in by certain citizens who ought to have known better.

Hugh carefully read every one of these reports, and they were numerous, for the boys had been extremely vigilant, as if to prove their right to be called Auxiliary Police. Hugh used his own discretion about keeping some of these reports. A few he smiled at, and made a mental note to warn the writer that it was not intended to enter into private property in order to spy around, but that the complaints must be of such things as offended the public eye or ear or nose; after which he tore these up.
57

The others he carefully filed with a good deal of satisfaction, to be later on submitted to Chief Wallis, after copies had been taken for the scout records. On the whole, Hugh believed the boys had made good that day, despite all the novelty of the thing, and the troubles they had met with. As time passed on and people came more and more to recognize them as a part of the regular system for carrying out the laws that were upon the books, much of this friction would die away, and the wheels of machinery could be expected to move more smoothly.

Hugh, feeling that he must not neglect his studies on account of this outside occupation, had just taken out his books, and was about to settle down to an hour or so of “grind,” when he heard the doorbell ring.

Then he caught a familiar voice asking if he were at home. It was Tom Sherwood, stationed that day at the most dangerous crossing in all Oakvale, and who Hugh understood, from all accounts, had acquitted himself splendidly.

The sound of Tom’s voice suddenly recalled to Hugh’s mind the fact that he had promised to help the other. It had been utterly impossible for Hugh to attempt anything along the lines he had suggested, concerning an interview with Benjy Sherwood, for his day had been crammed full of duties, great and small.

But when Tom burst into his room impetuously Hugh could see from his face that the other had more bad news to communicate.