Throughout the long journey they had wondered and speculated as to what and who this amusing stranger really was. And they had decided in conference that he was a traveling salesman. He seemed to have a hearty contempt for the boasted prowess of boy scouts, but the three boys did not dislike him for that. In the pleasant art of jollying they had been able to hold their own. And he seemed to like them for that. But he would not take them seriously. They had told him about tracking and signaling and outdoor resourcefulness and woods lore and he had been pleased to poke fun at them about their skill and knowledge. He had appeared to derive much entertainment from this pastime. Pee-wee Harris (Raven and mascot) would have been able to “handle” him, but unfortunately Pee-wee was not on this trip. So the responsibility for defending the dignity of scouting fell to Warde Hollister, Edwin Carlisle and Westy Martin. “And bandits?” Westy asked. “Bandits? Oceans of them! They spurt right up out of the geysers,” said the stranger. “What could be sweeter?” said Eddie Carlisle. “Can’t you answer a civil question?” Westy asked, the least bit testily. “Things have to be civil to suit you, hey?” the traveling man said. “Anything uncivilized: and——” “We’re asking you if it’s true that there are train robbers and men like that in the park?” Westy said. “Sure there are,” said the stranger. “Where do you suppose they buy their post cards to send home?” The three boys seemed on the point of giving him up as a hopeless case. “Why? Do you want to go hunting them?” the stranger asked. “We wouldn’t be the first boy scouts to help the authorities,” Warde said. This seemed to amuse the traveling man greatly. He contemplated the three of them with a kind of good-humored, sneering skepticism. Then he was moved to be serious. “Well, I’ll tell you how it is,” he said. “The Yellowstone Park is really two places; see? There’s the wild Yellowstone and the tame Yellowstone. The park is full of grizzlies and rough characters of the wild and fuzzy west but they don’t patronize the sightseeing autos. They’re kind of modest and diffident and they stay back in the mountains where you won’t see them. You know train robbers as a rule are sort of bashful.