never say a word."

A hand crept out and squeezed Paul's warmly; and there were tears in the
eyes of Jack Stormways as he made answer.

"Just like you, old fellow, to cheer me up like that. Here, let me hunt
up the list for you. But promise that you won't whisper one little hint
to a living soul. Oh! Karl, how could you?"

"Hold on, don't judge him before you know. Believe him innocent until you
find proof otherwise. I guess you'll learn that one of the first things a
scout has to do is to believe in his brothers and friends through thick
and thin, until the proof has become positive, or the guilty one
confesses. And another thing, Jack, in case the worst comes true, it's up
to us to make sure that such a miserable thing never happens again. We
must save the one in error, save him through kindness and sympathy. How
old is Karl?"

"A little over ten."

"Too young to join the troop then, for all boys have to be twelve or
over, according to the rules, I was told. But they have younger fellows
in the bunch over at Aldine, I'm sure. One I saw strutting around in a
uniform looked like a kid of eight or nine. Never mind; I believe it'll
all come out right yet. Perhaps some servant may have taken them?" said
Paul, wishing to buoy up his chum's spirits.

"We only have one, and she's been with us ever since I was born. No use
thinking Maggie would touch a single thing," declared Jack, quickly, with
a shake of his head.