"Notin' at ail, me darlint," broke in Gerald; "shure, your the biggest banana in the bunch, av people only knew it."

"Well, Pepper?" said Rand.

"Heads."

"Head it is," announced Rand. "You're it, Pepper."

"Begorrah, 'tis a long tail that has no head," commented Gerald.

"Master Pepper Blake," began Rand, "has been chosen to carry our message of defiance to the tribe of the Highpoints."

"When do I go?"

"At the rise of the sun to-morrow," replied Rand, "you must be prepared to take the trail."

"Before breakfast?"

"We will not require that sacrifice of you," said Rand. "Here is the message. Fail not on your honor to deliver it. You are going through a hostile country beset with enemies--"

"Monkey Rae's," murmured Gerald.

"And the message must be delivered under all circ.u.mstances. It contains information of the utmost importance, which must not be allowed to fall into the enemies's hands. I will meet you to-morrow at the great oak to give you your final instructions."

"Very well, sir," replied Pepper, "I will not fail to carry out your commands to the letter."

"Bravo, boys, well done!" commended Mr. Scott, who had been standing in the doorway, unseen by the boys, enjoying the fun. "If I was only a little younger, there is nothing I would like better than to be an Indian brave with you."

For a moment the boys were silent in the presence of the bank president, whom they all regarded with more or less awe, until Gerald broke the silence.

"Shure, 'tis niver too late to have fun, Mister Scott," he said.

"We'd be plased to have ye for one of us. We'll make ye prisident an' ye'll find it a hape more fun than bein' the prisident av the bank."

"I don't doubt it," replied Mr. Scott laughingly, "but I'm afraid I am almost too old to keep up the pace you set. But I'll tell you what I am going to do. I am going on an outing some of these days and I am going to invite you all to go along with me."

"Hurrah!" cried the boys with a will.

"Ready Uncas!" called Don, raising his bugle, "the Scout salute!"

As the room rang with the noise Mr. Scott clapped his hands to his ears.

"Thanks," he said; "Mrs. Scott sent me up here to see if there was anything the matter, you were so quiet, but after that I think she will conclude that you are all right."

"What is that you have there, Rand?" he added as he caught sight of the coin that Rand had been using to toss up. "Where did you get it?"

"Those are the ones that we found in the road," replied Rand. "Do you know what they are?"

"Yes," answered Mr. Scott; "they are a political token issued in the time of Van Buren during the controversy over the currency. By the way, I shouldn't be surprised if these were some of the coins that were stolen out of Judge Taylor's office when it was broken into."

"Then the robbers must have gone away over that road," mused Rand, "and that is how they got there."

"That was doubtless the way of it," concluded Jack.

"Ay, but you thought there was some connection with them and Monkey Rae," reminded Donald.

"Are you sure there isn't?" answered Jack.

CHAPTER XV

PEPPER TAKES THE MESSAGE

When Rand arrived at the great oak, which stood at the fork of the road on the outskirts of Creston, on the following morning, he found Pepper impatiently awaiting his arrival.

"I thought you were never coming," grumbled Pepper, when Rand made his appearance. "I expected to be half way there by this time."

"Plenty of time," said Rand. "How long do you think it will take you to get there and back?"

"How far is it?"

"Five miles, as the crow flies," returned Rand, "and near six by the road."

"That's an hour and a half on the road each way and an hour to stop. I ought to do it in four hours and a half."

"Then you should be back by dinner time," concluded Rand. "We will meet you here at 1 o'clock. Which road are you going to take?"

"The upper road," decided Pepper, "it runs through the woods, but it's by far the shortest way."

With a whistle the boy started off along the thoroughfare at a good pace. "Look for me at 1 sharp," he called back as he went off.

He had gone perhaps a quarter of a mile on his way when, as he was pa.s.sing a small clump of bushes by the side of the road, there was a rustle behind the bushes, and a voice cried:

"Halt!"

Pepper, however, broke into a run which carried him past the clump, when again came the command:

"Halt, or I'll shoot!"

The boy hesitated for a moment as to whether he should stop or run, and as he did so Gerald and Jack came out upon the scene.

"Did we scare you?" asked Gerald.

"No," replied Pepper stoutly, "I thought it was a joke."

"We just wanted to test your courage," said Jack.