"Scouts," said Mr. Norton, sternly, "what sort of brawl is this, on the Fourth of July?" He was looking at Skinny, he being Scout leader. "'Tain't a brawl," said Skinny. "It's the battle of Bunker Hill; that's what it is." "Oh, it is, is it? On which side are you Scouts fighting?" "We are Americans, of course." "Well, if I remember my history right, in that battle a little handful of Americans faced the British soldiers and held them back until their powder gave out. And here the American army seems to be attacking a handful of British." "That's what I told him," said Bill. "Anyhow," said Skinny, "those guys tried to duck Benny that time when he was coming home from his long hike. So we thought that we would duck them in the race. Didn't they try to duck you, Benny?" Benny nodded. "How about Scout law?" asked Mr. Norton. "Scout law doesn't say we mustn't duck our enemies." "It does, too," Bill told him. "It says that we must be kind to animals." That was a hot one and it made us all laugh. "How much more should we be kind one to another," said Mr. Norton. "Well, it wasn't very kind to duck Benny," insisted Skinny. "No, and they didn't do it. If I have been correctly informed, they let Benny go because John here was kind to a dumb animal." That was true and I said so. "Even if they had ducked him, don't you think that it would be better to heap 'coals of fire' upon their heads?" It surprised Benny to hear Mr. Norton talk like that. "We wouldn't do such a thing," said he. "Besides, we haven't got any hot coals." "Yes, you have," laughed Mr. Norton. "The 'hot coals' I mean are kind words and kind actions. What I meant to say was that you should return good for evil and then your kind words would make those boys feel as if you were putting coals of fire on their heads." "I don't believe we ought to do it," Skinny told him, "if it is going to hurt that bad." "Suppose we try it and see. I think perhaps it will not be quite so painful." "Boys," said he, turning to the Gingham Ground bunch just as they were starting away. "I have organized these eight village lads into a patrol of the Boy Scouts of America and we have planned to have a campfire this evening on Bob's Hill. These Scouts of mine mean all right. They are simply working off a little misdirected patriotism. Now, what we want, is for you to meet with us, you and the rest of the Gang. Will you do it?" They didn't want to at first.