Hugh Hardin was known to be a boy of action. When other fellows were stupefied by some sudden peril, Hugh was doing things.

So in the present instance. He saw the peril of the child even before Alec did, but without uttering a single word, Hugh darted forward as an arrow from the bow, or a hawk pouncing upon some bird.

It was all over in a flash. Alec and the others had started to jump forward, but they would have been too late to be of any real service. Hugh, however, darted in among the congested wagons and moving cars, and, snatching the frightened little child from under the very hoofs of a team, carried her across to the other side of the street.
16

There was considerable confusion, for drivers were shouting at each other and chauffeurs were trying to push their way past the congested crossing. Apparently they were more concerned with the fact that there had been a mix-up than because a precious human life had just been in jeopardy.

Alec, backed by the other two scouts, pushed out on the street and held up their hands to stop the traffic until the cluster of school children could cross. Some of the drivers seemed to think it a joke, being held up in this fashion by boys in khaki, and laughed good-naturedly at it; but others swore, and made threatening gestures with their whips.

Then, the children having crossed in safety, thanks to their protectors, Alec gave the signal for the wagons and cars to proceed with as much show of authority as any member of the traffic squad in a great city could assume.

The boys were “boiling over” with indignation, as Billy aptly expressed it, as they walked down the street toward the heart of Oakvale. More than ever, Hugh was now determined not to rest until something had been done toward an eradication of the numerous nuisances that infested the town.
17

“I’m going to attend that little, informal meeting to-night, boys,” he told his chums, “and unless I miss my guess something will be done. If only the women folks can stir up Mayor Strunk! I understand that several of the pastors will drop in during the evening, and it begins to look as though the last straw has been put on the camel’s back.”

“I only wish,” ventured Billy, wheezing still from his recent violent exertions, “that some of them had seen what happened just now, and how that poor little Anita Burns would most likely have been run over but for Hugh here. It was an object lesson that might have moved even such an old mossback as Mayor Strunk, or Chief Wallis, of the police force.”

“Wait!” was what Hugh told him, and a short time later the group separated.

Hugh performed the errand that had taken him to the business section of town, and then, inspired by a desire to do a little preliminary work along the lines he had had in mind, he dropped over and greeted the head of the local police.
18

Chief Waller liked Hugh, for he knew what a manly young fellow the other had always proven himself to be. Besides, Hugh was something of a favorite with the better element of Oakvale’s population. He had led a number of movements that, by their success, had brought more or less fame to Oakvale, particulars of which may be found in the earlier books of this series.

So Hugh, using considerable diplomacy, began talking about other things, and after he managed to get the chief in good humor, he introduced the subject that was nearest his heart.

“The women are bound to have the town cleaned up, Chief,” he went on to say, “and you know that when they once set their minds on anything it’s got to happen. They expect to have all sorts of help from you and your men; and the scouts mean to offer their services as they did once before. It’s a great thing to be on the winning side, Chief, so I heard Doctor Kane say to the minister the other day when they were talking over this very matter.”
19

Now, the Chief was a shrewd man. He knew on which side his bread was buttered. It was true that the politicians and their votes had put him in his present comfortable berth, but the Chief was a married man, and he realized from experience that the home “influence” could be counted on to sway elections when once the people were thoroughly aroused.

“There’s just this about it, Hugh,” he said, impressively. “If the women want a clean town, they’re going to have it, and nothing can stop them. If they get this movement started they can count on the police backing ’em up. All we want is to know just where we stand.”

Thus encouraged, Hugh went on to tell what he had read about the boys of the big metropolis being made Auxiliary Police, and wearing badges that were meant to be respected by the populace.

Chief Wallis apparently had never read about the movement. He seemed to be interested, however, for it was plain to be seen that if things had to be done that offended the politicians, there would be a scapegoat handy on whose shoulders the blame could be cast.

“Well, now, to tell you the truth, Hugh, that isn’t such a bad idea,” he went on to say. “Boys can find out heaps of things that are beyond my men; and once we learned about these nuisances we’d soon abate ’em. All we want is to be shown.”
20

Hugh understood well enough that the police knew about most of those infractions of the law, but that for various reasons they had pretended not to see them. If only the moral elements of the town were aroused, and firmly demanded a cessation of the law breaking, no doubt the scales would fall from the eyes of the police like magic. It always happens that way, Hugh understood.

Still, Hugh felt that he had gained a point in arousing the interest of the head of the police. It was better to have a combined force working against the evils than a divided one. If the officer realized that his retention in office depended on his active co-operation with the ladies’ league, and the various associations connected with the town churches, he would work like a beaver to do his duty.

After leaving Police Headquarters, Hugh started for his home. His mind, very naturally, was filled with the matters that just then took precedence above all others. Since the preceding fall, Hugh had been trying to figure out how things could be brought to a focus, for they seemed to gradually get worse.
21

He was in sight of the white picket fence enclosing the Hardin grounds when he heard his name called in a boy’s voice. Turning around, he discovered that it was Tom Sherwood, one of the members of the Otter Patrol, who came hurrying along in his wake.

Tom had long been known as an exponent of water athletics and surveying. He meant to become a civil engineer when he left school, and anything connected with this work always interested the boy greatly.

More than a few times, when others of the scouts would go off on a junketing trip such as a school picnic, Tom might have been seen tramping across lots, with a theodolite over his shoulder, accompanied by some boy he had influenced to assist him as chain bearer—bound to some field where he could practice his pet hobby to his heart’s content.

Hugh noticed that Tom had a long face when he drew near. This surprised him because as a rule the other was a cheery fellow, and wont to give back smile for smile. It also told Hugh that Tom must have followed him with some purpose in view, for somehow a number of the members of the troop seemed to consider Hugh in the light of a mentor, and often came to him for advice, strange as it might seem, considering the fact that they were all boys.
22

“Why, hello, Tom! What’s the hurry?” he called out, as the other scout drew near.

“Let me get my breath a bit, Hugh, and I’ll tell you,” panted Tom, which fact seemed to prove that he must have run quite some distance in order to overtake the scout master.

Possibly his mind being so filled with the idea of town improvement and the contemplated uplift movement, Hugh immediately began to wonder if the agitation of his boy friend could spring from anything he had learned bearing on this subject.

At any rate, he would soon know, for Tom was getting his breath back again. He looked confused, almost ashamed, Hugh thought. There was an expression amounting to positive pain on his face, and it also showed in the way he eyed Hugh, as if he hardly knew where to begin.

They leaned against the nearby fence, as boys are wont to do when talking. Presently Tom broke the silence.
23

“Of course, you’re wondering what under the sun I’m going to say, Hugh. I can see it in your eyes. Well, I had made up my mind to ask your advice the very next time I saw you, because I happen to know you’ve managed to get a number of other fellows out of bad holes before this.”

“Well, you’ve certainly got me guessing good and hard, Tom,” said Hugh, with a smile of encouragement. “But if there’s anything I can do to help out, tell me what’s gone wrong now.”

Tom drew an extra long breath.

“The fact of the matter is, Hugh, I’m worried about Benjy, and as I haven’t any father to go to, and women don’t understand boys as well as men do, I hardly knew who to talk it over with till I happened to think of you.”

Hugh was immediately interested, though at the same time relieved to know that Tom was not in any trouble on his own account. Benjy Sherwood was the younger brother of Tom, a bright, aggressive sort of boy, whose faults possibly lay along the line of wanting to have his own way most of the time.

“What’s he been doing to bother you so, Tom?” Hugh asked, quietly and soothingly.
24

“Why, you know that Benjy is a pretty high-spirited boy,” began Tom. “I’ve tried to check him several times, but he just won’t listen to me, and in so many words gives me to understand he knows his own business, and that I’d better attend to mine.”

“Oh, but that’s generally the way with younger brothers,” said Hugh. “Lots of the fellows will tell you that. So far as I’ve seen, Benjy is no different from the rest. It’s too bad he hasn’t a father, though, because as you said, I believe a man can control such high-spirited boys a lot better than most mothers, who don’t exactly understand how a boy feels.”

“Well, here’s the way it stands,” continued Tom confidentially. “Benjy has been giving mother and me more or less anxiety by going with several fellows that I don’t approve of at all. I happen to know he’s been smoking cigarettes. I didn’t dare tell mother. She has such a silly dislike for tobacco in every shape, you know. Worse than that, I’m afraid Benjy has been led into playing cards for money.”

Hugh shook his head as though worried at hearing this.

“What reasons have you for saying that, Tom?”
25

“Several,” the other immediately replied. “For one thing, I found part of a burned card in our kitchen stove one day not long ago. I supposed Benjy discovered he had it in his pocket, and wanted to destroy it before some one found it on him.”

“That might be so,” Hugh mused, “and then again he might have had some better reason for wanting to get rid of the cards. Perhaps he’s realized, that he was doing something that would grieve his mother, and so made a clean sweep of things.”

Tom sighed.

“I only wish I could believe that, Hugh. I’m a whole lot afraid Benjy doesn’t give up things he likes so easily. Then there was another suspicious circumstance. I’ll tell you about it, Hugh. Just three days ago I found that Benjy had gone and opened his little savings bank at home, in which I knew he had something like three dollars, which he had been laying up towards his summer vacation down at the seashore. When I asked him what he had done with the money he got red in the face, and told me hurriedly that the money was his, and he guessed he could do what he pleased with it.”
 
“And you fear he has used it to pay some debt he owed over the cards—is that it, Tom?” asked the scout master, secretly afraid lest there might be some truth back of Tom’s declaration.

“That’s what flashed through my mind, Hugh,” the other confessed; “and, oh, you can’t understand how it’s worried me! Why, I’ve laid awake nights since then wondering what I could do to save poor Benjy. In spite of his high temper, he’s a fine boy, if I do say it myself, and I love him with my whole heart and soul. Mother almost worships him. You know he looks so like father! And, Hugh, the idea struck me that perhaps you could think of some way we might make him change his habits.”

Hugh would not have been human if he did not feel highly complimented by this blind faith that Tom Sherwood seemed to feel toward him. At the same time, it added to the burdens he was bearing; for as assistant scout master, with Lieutenant Denmead, the regular official head of the troop, away from town so often, it seemed as though Hugh had more than his share of trouble.
 
“I’ll do all I can to help you out, Tom,” he said. “Perhaps I may find a good chance to talk with Benjy, and get him interested in the scout movement, for he’s really old enough now to think of joining the troop.”

“If you could only do that, Hugh, I’m sure it would make a great difference,” Tom hastened to exclaim. “Joining the scouts has been a good thing for thousands of boys all over the country. They are put on their honor. No fellow can subscribe to the twelve cardinal rules of the organization with his whole heart and still do things that he would be ashamed to have his folks at home know. I hope you can coax Benjy into joining. I tried it once or twice, but somehow he didn’t seem to enthuse worth a cent. But there’s Benjy coming down the street right now. Guess I’ll be going.”
 

“Leave it to me,” said Hugh, as he shook hands with Tom, who was turning away. “I’ve had some experience in approaching fellows who pretend to scoff at scout doings, and perhaps I can manage Benjy. I’m glad you spoke to me, Tom. Be sure it’ll go no further. So-long! Meeting to-morrow night, remember!”