



Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Rod Crawford, Rick Morris
and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
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                             THE BOY SCOUTS
                                  FOR
                            CITY IMPROVEMENT


                                   BY
                       SCOUT MASTER ROBERT SHALER

        AUTHOR OF "BOY SCOUTS OF THE SIGNAL CORPS," "BOY SCOUTS
        OF PIONEER CAMP," "BOY SCOUTS OF THE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY,"
               "BOY SCOUTS OF THE LIFE SAVING CREW," "BOY
           SCOUTS ON PICKET DUTY," "BOY SCOUTS OF THE FLYING
                  SQUADRON," "BOY SCOUTS AND THE PRIZE
                   PENNANT," "BOY SCOUTS OF THE NAVAL
                      RESERVE," "BOY SCOUTS IN THE
                          SADDLE," ETC., ETC.

                                NEW YORK
                            HURST & COMPANY
                               PUBLISHERS

                            Copyright, 1914,
                                   BY
                            HURST & COMPANY




                               CONTENTS.


  CHAPTER.                                                         PAGE.
  I. Under the Spreading Oak                                           5
  II. A Friend in Need                                                17
  III. The Fire Call                                                  30
  IV. Willing Workers                                                 43
  V. Repairing Damages                                                56
  VI. On Duty                                                         69
  VII. The Alarm                                                      82
  VIII. Mocking the Mayor                                             95
  IX. What Scouts Know                                               108
  X. The Accusation                                                  121
  XI. The Turning Point                                              133
  XII. Thanks to the Scouts                                          151




                  The Boy Scouts for City Improvement.




                               CHAPTER I.
                        UNDER THE SPREADING OAK.


"I guess old summer must have forgotten something and has come back to
find it again, eh, Billy?"

"It feels more like the August dog-days than the tail end of September,
that's a fact, Hugh."

"But right here, Billy, sitting on the stone curbing in the shade of the
big General Putnam oak, we can cool off. Let's rest up a bit and talk,
while we watch the people go by."

"That suits me all right, Hugh. I love to sit and watch others work on a
hot afternoon. Suppose we chin a little about skating, tobogganing and
all those nice pleasant things? They help to cool you off and make you
feel that life is worth living, after all."

The two lads were dressed in khaki uniforms, sufficient evidence that
they were members of the local Boy Scout troop, of which their home town
was rather proud. In fact, the young fellow who had been called Hugh and
whose last name was Hardin, had lately succeeded in attaining the
position of Assistant Scout Master, when the former incumbent resigned,
owing to removal from the place.

His chum, Billy Worth, also a member of the Wolf Patrol, was a
first-class scout, as his badge denoted. He was inclined to be rather
stout in build, and his face expressed genial good nature. Billy and
Hugh had been doing some shopping on the main street of their town and
were sauntering along, when the heat of the September day caused them to
make a halt under the grateful shade of the tremendous oak, which for
some reason or other had been called after that staunch New England
patriot of Revolutionary days, Israel Putnam.

While these two energetic lads will be readily recognized by any reader
who has perused former books in this series, for the benefit of those
who may be meeting them for the first time it might be advisable to say
something concerning them and the local organization.

The troop now consisted of four full patrols of eight members each, and
another was forming. These were, first of all, the Wolf, to which both
boys belonged, Hugh