  “What’s that?” Hugh demanded hastily as though considerably aroused. “Say it over again, Alec, please.” “All our hard work went for nothing, Hugh, because after we left, some miserable skunks,—and we can guess who they must have been,—kicked over the trash cans we’d filled and scattered the stuff all about the park.” “That’s pretty rough on our boys,” said the assistant scout master, trying evidently to restrain his righteous anger and thinking more of his comrades than of himself. “I should say it was a hard knock on you, most of all, and that’s what it was intended for,” Alec continued over the wire. “Some of that Corbley gang hate you just about as they say Old Satan hates holy water. They must have been watching us as we worked, and I bet you we weren’t halfway home before they started in to do the wrecking business! Say, what are we going to do about it, Hugh?” “Do?” echoed the other instantly. “Why, there’s only one thing we can do, and that’s start in and clean the park up again! Scouts are made of stuff that doesn’t let little accidents like this upset them. Every time they’re knocked down, it’s only to get up again and sail in harder than ever. Scouts never say die as long as they can put one foot in front of another!” “Bully for you, Hugh!” said Alec joyously. “Those are my sentiments to a dot; and I ought to have known that you’d talk that way. Tell me what to do to start the ball rolling, and you’ll find me Johnny-on-the-spot.” “Get Billy on the wire, and tell him to pass the word along to the next one. We’ll gather at the church, and every fellow fetch along whatever he had with him last night, broom, hoe, rake or shovel. This thing is going to be fought out to a finish, if it takes all winter!” “Bully! I’m on. Shall I ring up Billy now?” “Yes, go ahead full steam, while I get busy in another direction.” Hugh swallowed a cup of coffee and took a few bites, but breakfast somehow did not seem to appeal very strongly to him on that morning. He certainly did not have his camp appetite along, nor was it to be wondered at, for the news that had come over the wire had been most discouraging. The first thing he did after starting out was to call upon Mrs. Marsh, a lady who was at the head of the women connected with the Town Improvement Association. Hugh knew her very well, and was also aware of the fact that she professed to be deeply interested in all that the scouts had been doing in the past. As briefly as possible he narrated all that had happened, and also stated that the scouts were determined to complete the job they had undertaken. Now the president of the league for bettering the conditions of the town and its inhabitants had begun to despair of ever arousing public sentiment. Several times in the past she had labored to the utmost, only to see things go back again into the old wretched rut, as though the vast majority of the people did not care to be bothered and would rather go on as they had been living, letting shiftlessness have full control in a happy-go-lucky manner. When this bright-faced scout told her in his manly way how he and his comrades had undertaken to carry on the work, and above all things wanted the co-operation of the good women of the league, the president awoke to the fact that at last the long-hoped-for opportunity had arrived, and in a most unexpected fashion. “Most certainly you will have the backing of the league, financially as well as morally,” she hastened to tell Hugh. “I have dreamed of this day, but had begun to despair of ever seeing it. And to think that after all it should come through the young blood of the city! I will call a meeting of the association this very morning, Saturday or not. Let the men eat baker’s stuff for one Sunday, if by the sacrifice so much can be done for our town. I promise you that a committee will call at once on the mayor, and get him to issue a proclamation warning everybody that from now on any one caught throwing waste upon the public streets will be immediately arrested and heavily fined. If we can get that issued, I will have copies printed in several languages and see that it is placed in the hands of all foreigners, as well as posted on the fences and bill boards. If we can co-operate with you in any other way, Hugh, come and see me without hesitation. You will have the best wishes of every mother in this town; and I really believe that this time something is going to come out of the venture.” After this encouraging talk, Hugh felt a thousand per cent better. His spirits rose again, and it was with a smile on his face that he hurried over to where the meeting-place of the scouts was located. He found that the boys were already gathering. They looked as angry as could be, and there was considerable muttering about retaliation, which, however, Hugh stopped at once. “No use saying anything like that, fellows,” he told the hotheads. “What we’ve got to do is to repair damages at once, and then try to see if things can be kept as we put them. I’ve been to see Mrs. Marsh, who is at the head of the Improvement League, you know, and she’s promised to back us up all through. They will have an emergency meeting this morning and send a committee to the mayor.” As the scouts were anxious to hear all the news, Hugh went on to tell what else the energetic lady had promised; and somehow this gave the boys such cheer that the angry looks vanished and presently they were laughing over the situation. When the entire troop, so far as they could be reached, was on hand, Hugh made a little speech, and aroused their enthusiasm by his eloquence. After that they were ready to follow him in anything he chose to undertake. “Fall in!” called the scout master, and the sound of the bugle caused every member of the troop to step lively. Shortly afterward, the townspeople saw a strange procession marching through the main streets. They had often watched the Boy Scouts go forth to camp and march in parades, but never had most of them witnessed such a novel sight as when Hugh and his khaki-clad followers passed the stores, carrying such odd weapons as brooms, rakes, hoes and shovels. The news passed around like wild-fire. “The scouts are going to clean up the town! They’re heading straight for the park! Watch the dirt fly when they take hold! They always get there when they start in!” Presently the whole town was astir. Men, women and children gathered to see the novel sight of boy soldiers playing the part of street cleaners. The police awoke to the fact that it was their duty to protect the scouts from interference. This happened after the Chief had received several urgent messages from influential citizens, apprising him that they would hold him responsible for it if the boys were not allowed to carry on their self-imposed task unmolested. Since the city had so long shirked its plain duty, it could at least stand back of those brave lads who by their devotion meant to teach citizens a wholesome lesson. Hugh was not at all dismayed now as he saw how their work of the previous night had been undone and the refuse scattered over the grass and walks of the pretty little park. Once again he set his four patrols to work, each being given a section to take care of as on the previous occasion. The boys labored with vigor, while the police kept the crowds back as well as they could. There were a lot of loud comments, quite naturally, but the main sentiment of the spectators seemed to be in favor of allowing the energetic scouts a chance to make good. “If they can do it, they’ll shame the whole rotten town management!” one man loudly declared; and while it was recognized that he chanced to be the defeated candidate for mayor at the last election, his sentiments were heartily applauded. Business men going to their offices took a turn out of their way to ascertain what was going on. Some of them seemed to be amused at the idea of a parcel of half-grown school-boys venturing to tackle what had apparently been too heavy a task for the good women of the town. Some of these women also made their appearance and seemed to be visibly aroused over the newly-awakened hope of bettering conditions. They cheered the boys on by pleasant words, and then hurried away to attend the call for a meeting at the residence of their president. The city was on tiptoe with excitement. Boys even forgot for the time being that this was Saturday and that they had a ball game in prospect with a team from a nearby town. They hung around the park all the time the scouts were working, and a few even declared their intention of sending in their names as candidates for admission to the troop. In the daytime it was possible to do even better work than under the conditions that prevailed when their first clean-up was undertaken. Consequently when all of the refuse had been gathered in the cans once more, Hugh, looking around, felt that no lady need blush to be seen walking or sitting in that little park, for it was spic and span clean. Once caught napping was enough for Hugh, and he did not mean it should happen again if he could help it. Leaving the rest of the scouts there, he went in search of the contractor whose business it was to collect the ashes and garbage of the town. This man happened to be a sensible sort of a fellow, who, upon hearing what had been done, promised to dispatch a couple of carts at once to the square in order to carry away the contents of the various receptacles. And when this had finally been attended to, Hugh breathed a sigh of relief. At least, the active Corbley crowd would not be able to scatter that trash about again, which was a comfort. “What’s next on the program, Hugh?” the boys were asking. It had always been a maxim with the assistant scout master to “strike while the iron is hot.” He knew that much could be accomplished while this new enthusiasm of his followers ran riot in their veins. Later on, the story would grow stale and they might need urging in order to carry on the work; but now every fellow seemed brim full of energy and a desire to pitch in. “I’ve laid off the center of the town in quarters,” he told them, “and each patrol will have one of these to look after this morning. Gather all the waste paper you can find and put it in the receptacles. Barney Heath has promised to work double to-day, collecting and carrying off. By noon we’ll call it a day, and let’s see what a big change we can make in the looks of things by then. That’s all I’ve got to say to you, boys. Now get busy!” They gave him a cheer that was taken up by the listening crowd. After that the scouts scattered, and it was a hustling, lively lot of boys who invaded the business section of the town. They gathered up the floating paper and crammed it into the big cans until the latter were overflowing. Then the wagons came along and took away what had been collected, so that the boys could keep up the fine work. That was only a beginning. Already the spirit of “clean-up week” seemed to be in the air. Business men warned their clerks not to throw anything on the street on penalty of trouble; others actually went out of their way to drop envelopes from letters into a can, or else crumpled them up and thrust them into their pockets. Great things spring from small beginnings; oaks have their start in the little acorns; and so from this determination on the part of the scouts to set the ball rolling looking to a cleaner town, much was to be expected. When noon came and they stopped work for that day, a transformation seemed to have come already to the city. A stranger who had not seen the place for a month or two, upon dropping off the train was discovered rubbing his eyes and asking whether he had not made a mistake, because somehow things did not seem familiar! |
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