TURNING THE TABLES
"Wait, Mr. Growdy!" Paul hastened to exclaim.
The old man laughed harshly as he flourished the whip. Perhaps he had
never struck a boy before in all his life, and hardly knew how to begin;
but his temper was plainly disturbed, and he meant to make a start.
"What should I wait fur, when I cort ye in the very act? Paint my
critters red, white an' blue, will ye? P'raps ye wanted to pull all the
feathers out o' my flock o' chickens this time, an' think it funny. Sarve
ye right if I gi'e ye a dozen stripes!"
"Mr. Growdy, I did you a favor once!" said the prisoner of the trap,
wishing to keep the old man as long as possible from starting operations.
"Say ye so? Wall, this wipes it out then. Who air ye, anyway?"
The farmer bent lower, and thrust his lantern so that its light would
fall upon the face of the boy. Immediately he uttered a grunt, for it was
plain that he had recognized his captive.
"So, it's ye, is it, Paul Morrison? This is some surprise, seein' as
ye're the last boy I'd expect to be up ter sech meanness. What d'ye think
yer father'll say w'en he hears 'bout this?"
"I guess he'll laugh, and say it was about the cutest trick ever played
on you, Mr. Growdy," came the immediate answer; "but please get me down
from this. Perhaps the blood will all run to my head. Tie my hands if you
want, and fix it so I can't run away; but I couldn't stand this long."
"So ye think yer father'd larf, do ye? I never wud 'a' b'lieved Doctor
Morrison was the kind o' man to encourage practical jokes on anybody,"
grumbled the old man, plainly at a loss to understand what was meant.
"Well, he isn't, and I'd be sorry to have him know I was guilty of such
a thing. But you're barking up the wrong tree, Mr. Growdy, I give you my
word we none of us had any trick in mind when we came here to-night."
"Then what took you in my dooryard here; for I heard a pack runnin' away
when I kim out of the house? Tell me that, Paul," insisted the farmer;
but the hand that held that cruel looking whip had fallen to his side,
which was a good sign.
"I'll be only too glad to do so if you let me up. Tie my hands, my legs
too if you want, sir; but I'm getting dizzy from having my head below
my heels."
Peleg stooped still closer. He again held the lantern down so that he
could look into the face of his prisoner; after which he did something
that Paul had hardly expected--bent over, seized the rope connected with
the laden hogshead, and pulling hard succeeded in casting the loop that
had just encircled Paul's ankles, over a post of the fence.
"Get up, Paul!" he said, grimly, yet with a flicker of curiosity in his
wrinkled face; as though a dim suspicion that there might be something
out of the ordinary back of this, had begun to take possession of his
mind.
Paul regained his feet, a little wobbly to be sure, for he had
experienced a bad fall, and his head felt rather tender where it had
come in contact with the hard ground.
"Thank you, Mr. Growdy. And now I'm going to tell you something. Perhaps
you will find it hard to believe me, and again you may not just
appreciate our way of taking matters in our own hands, when the request
of the women of Stanhope didn't have any effect. Look around your
dooryard, Mr. Growdy. Do you see anything changed here?"
The farmer held up the lantern, and what he saw caused him to utter an
exclamation.
"Ev'ry one o' 'em gone, by hokey! If so be ye've smashed all my rigs,
Paul Morison, I'll have the law on ye, as sure as my name's Peleg
Growdy!" he roared, aghast at what he deemed a serious discovery.
"Come with me, Mr. Growdy. Notice as you go that this place doesn't look
much like a pigpen now. In fact, I calculate it's as clean as any
dooryard around Stanhope. Even the ladies can drive past now without
being shocked. And Mr. Growdy, if you will take the trouble, sir, to look
under that wagon shed, you'll see every one of your vehicles just where
they should be when not in use!"
The old man stared, as well he might.
"By gum!" Paul heard him mutter; and the words seemed to express the
situation so well that the boy could hardly keep from laughing outright.
Finally the puzzled farmer turned and looked at the lad who stood there
beside him. Easily might Paul have made his escape at any time now; but
that was really the last thing he thought of doing. He would much rather
remain and see the bewilderment of Peleg Growdy reach its conclusion.
"Look here, Paul, what's this hull thing mean?" finally demanded the
farmer.
And Paul, remembering the fact that the old man was hard of hearing,
raised his voice as he thought fit when making reply.
"Do you want me to tell you the whole thing, sir?"
"I sartin do, every word. Blest if I kin make head or tail out o' it.
Reckons as how them leetle fairy twins ye read about must 'a' ben workin'
wile I slept; er else I'm dreamin' things that caint be true."
"Listen, Mr. Growdy," Paul went on. "Perhaps you may not know that we
have started a troop of the Boy Scouts here in Stanhope. Some twenty of
us have joined, and later on we hope to get uniforms, and other things
needed, when we have earned the money to buy them. Those boys you heard
running away were my friends and comrades, every one going to be a true
scout."
"Soldier bummers then, out on a raid, and ready to kerry off everything
they kin lay hands on," grumbled the old man, still unable to grasp the
true condition of affairs.
"At a meeting to-night in Mr. Shipley's barn we made further progress
looking to perfecting our organization. But boys will be boys, you know;
and one of our number asked the rest to help him get even with you,
because you forced him into the ditch this afternoon, upsetting his
wagon."
Old Growdy moved uneasily.
"I was real sorry to see William do that. If he'd only waited till I
lighted my pipe I 'spected to pull out a leetle more, so's to let him git
by; but he was that impatient he must push on," he said.
"Just as I thought. Well, Mr. Growdy, one of the rules of the scouts is
that a member must never return an evil deed by another of the same kind.
I proposed that we try to make you change your mind about detesting all
boys. So we came here, not to paint your pigs as some other fellows did,
I'm told; not to let your stock loose, or run off with your wagons; but
to clean up your dooryard, and give you the greatest surprise of your
life when you came out in the morning!"
"Sho! now. That takes the cake!"
"When one of my chums upset that bench by accident, and the pans fell
with a racket, of course it gave the whole thing away, and we started to
run; but unfortunately I happened to drop into your nice little trap, and
you found me upside down. That is all, Mr. Growdy. Do you want to whip me
now, or take me in to the lockup, which?"
Peleg Growdy found himself strangely thrilled as he looked into that
frank, smiling face of Paul Morrison.
For almost a full minute they stood thus.
Then Peleg spoke.
"Reckon as how them comrades o' yers must 'a' gut a long start by now,
Paul. S'pose ye see if ye kin ketch up with 'em, son."
That was all, but as Paul hurried off he was conscious of a strange
feeling deep down in his breast; and he felt sure that after all it had
paid. Peleg Growdy at least had met with the surprise of his life. After
this possibly his ideas of juvenile depravity might undergo a violent
change; for such positive natures as his usually swing from one extreme
to the other, just like the pendulum of a grandfather clock.
Paul did not catch up with his fleeing comrades, for they had secured
too good a start. When he reached the rendezvous, however, he found them
there, one and all, and wondering what could have happened to detain him.
Loud were the expressions of astonishment as he calmly announced that
having been caught in a trap, he had held a face to face talk with Peleg
Growdy himself; when he managed to relate the whole surprising adventure
the boys were stunned at the possible consequences of their little prank.
Those who had considered it only in the light of a joke began to see that
Paul had something deeper in mind when he proposed such a thing.
All the way home Paul was kept busy repeating some of the things he had
said to the irate farmer. It gave those lads something to ponder over
when by themselves. Possibly they had never before realized what a
powerful lever for good such a method of returning a grudge may become.
Paul himself was delighted. Even if nothing more came of it he could look
back to the little adventure with satisfaction such as Ted Slavin and
his cronies might never feel with regard to their prank.
And the next morning Paul was not at all ashamed to relate the entire
circumstance at the breakfast table. He felt amply repaid when he saw the
look of pride upon his mother's face, as she turned her eyes, filled with
unshed tears, upon him and said gently:
"I am glad you did it, Paul. I know the history of poor Peleg Growdy; and
surely he has had enough of trouble during his life to make him different
from the rest of his kind. The milk of human kindness has perhaps been
dried up in his breast; yet who knows, my boy, but that you may have set
him to thinking by that one little act of yours. I shall never fear for
you, Paul, whatever betides."
His father, the doctor, was a man of few words; but that morning when he
was going off on his round of visits he did an unusual thing--took Paul's
hand, and gave it an affectionate squeeze, while the look that
accompanied the action needed no further explanation.
And Paul was many times satisfied.
That day and others saw a growing buzz of excitement in the town of
Stanhope. It seemed as though nearly every boy over the age of twelve,
yes and even under, might be filled with a burning zeal to join the new
troops that were being started under two different scout leaders.
Ward Kenwood had entered heart and soul into the work, which seemed to
appeal to him; but there were those who secretly believed he was more
concerned about opposing his rival, Paul Morrison, than in building up
a second troop of scouts that would be a credit to the place.
Ted Slavin, of course, worked hand in glove with his friend, Ward. If
money counted for anything they had no reason to complain; for inside of
a week there blossomed out numerous boys clad in the new khaki uniforms
that distinguish the Boy Scouts everywhere.
Some of Paul's friends felt grieved because they had failed to get their
equipments as soon as the others; but nothing could disturb the scout
leader.
"You'll see that they are bound to meet up with a snag when they apply
for admission to the real organization. They can't subscribe to many of
the rules. Then again you know that the real scout scorns to receive his
uniform as a gift. Everything he owns must be earned. But most of us are
nearly ready to send for suits. Wait a little longer. The race is not
always to the swift."
In this fashion then did wise Paul bring peace to the troubled hearts of
those anxious ones. Never a member of the new Fox Patrols that sought an
interview with the scout leader but who came away feeling that there was
not a cloud in the sky of their future.
In this manner a week, and then ten days, drifted along, with the opening
of school looming up in the near future.
Paul had almost forgotten the troubles of his chum when one day he had
the fact suddenly brought to his attention again, as Jack came upon him
with a face upon which rested the same old cloud of anxiety and grief.