OAKVALE’S GREAT CLEAN-UP DAY.
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.
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.
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.
“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.”
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.
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.
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.”
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.
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.