"Anyway, there's no use being late,"' he sald, because I kind of just couldn't start.

"It isn't that I'm thinking about," I told him, "It's--"

"I know," he said, "I thought about that, too, but we've got to hustle."

So we started down the hill and neither of us said anything. Of course, we were both thinking about Skinny, but neither one of us would say it.

"Pee-wee's to blame in a way," Westy said, after a while; it's the belt-axe the poor kid was thinking about."

"No, he isn't to blame, either," I said; "he didn't mean anything--he didn't mean for Skinny to do anything like that."

"He should have kept his mouth shut," Westy said.

"Anyway," I said, "I'm not going to make that speech; I just can't. I'm not going to say anything to Skinny about it. Maybe I'll tell Mr.

Ellsworth sometime--I don't know. But anyway, I can't present him to the Elks that way, I can't. I just can't. Poor kid, I don't suppose he ever saw as much as two dollars before."

"You shouldn't have left it out like that," Westy said.

After that I guess neither of us said anything. Gee, I can't tell you how I felt. I know if a fellow is low down and fires stones and calls names and all like that, even still he can get to be a scout.

But if he steals-jiminy, I've got no use for a fellow that steals. A plaguy lot I care about two bucks, but, oh, boy, I was looking forward to that meeting and how we were going to have Skinny all decorated and present him to the Elks. And now we couldn't do it, Honest, I didn't even want to see him, I didn't feel sore at him, but I didn't want to see him.

Because he'd spoiled all the fun for me, that's all.

CHAPTER XXII

SHOWS YOU WHERE I DO THE TALKING

Westy said we shouldn't say anything to Mr. Ellsworth, but wait until Skinny had taken the oath and knew all the laws and all about scouting, and then maybe say something to him, how we thought maybe he had made a mistake sometime and would like to fix it right. Westy said we'd call it just getting off the trail. Westy's a mighty nice fellow, you bet, and he's a good scout. But anyway, it knocked all the fun out of that meeting for us, and I don't know what the other fellows thought.

Skinny was there in his new suit and he showed how proud he was to have it. He was always smiling in that bashful kind of a way, as if he was kind of scared but happy at the same time. Mr. Ellsworth told him to sit with us and he came over and sat in an extra chair right next to me. I guess he kind of liked to be near me--anyway, it seemed like that. I was nice to him all right, but I don't know, it didn't seem like it did before. But no fellow could get mad at him--he looked so poor, and his suit didn't fit him very good and he looked all strange and nervous.

Pretty soon I said to him, kind of half interested, you know, I said, "That's where you're going to sit, in that vacant chair where the Elks are. They're a good patrol, the Elks, and the fellow who used to sit there with them was Tom Slade. You have to try to be a good scout just like he was."

"I know all the laws, everyone," he said in a whisper.

"Do you know law one?" I asked him.

"Yup, it's the best of the lot," he said; "it teaches you about honor.

Do you know the two things about scouts I like best?" he asked me.

"No, I don't," I said.

"It's that first law and the belt-axe that they wear."

"Never you mind about the belt-axe," I said.

"Yes, but you want me to tell you honest, don't you?" he blurted out.

And he looked straight at me and his eyes were all kind of hollow and excited like. Gee, he was a queer kid. "You can make fun of me all you want," he said, "I don't care. Will I be a scout to-night?"

"Not to-night," I told him, "we're going to turn you over to the Elks to-night. And then they'll teach you things and get you ready."

Pretty soon it came time to present him, but I didn't feel like making any fun about it. Gee! I don't know what my patrol thought about me. But anyway, Westy knew. So I just said how we found Alfred McCord and how he wanted to be a scout and we thought it was a good idea to give him to the Elk Patrol, to fill the place of Tom Slade. Cracky, there wasn't any pep to it at all.

Then afterwards Mr. Ellsworth took up the collection of one dollar and seventy cents from each fellow, to buy the eats and pay the expenses of the cruise. I had to say that I wasn't ready with it, and I guess he was surprised, because I never miss a chipping in, but anyway, I said I'd have it next day. I should worry about that.

On the way out I met Pee-wee shouting away like a machine gun. "Come on up the street with me," I said; "I want to tell you something."

When we were about a block off I said, "You listen here, kiddo. I don't want you to be shouting about belt-axes and jack-knives and things like that in front of Skinny McCord. I'm telling you that and I want you to remember it. And I've got good reasons, too. Scouts aren't made out of belt-axes and jack-knives and badges. They're made out of ideas, as you might say. You just remember what I tell you and don't be springing this stuff about the emblem of the woods and all that. A belt-axe costs two dollars--haven't you got sense enough to know that. And do you know how much it costs to take the scout oath? Not one blooming cent!"

Jiminy crink.u.ms, he just listened and didn't say a single word. For two blocks he didn't say a word.

It was the biggest stunt he ever did.

CHAPTER XXIII

IN THE WOODS

Now I have to go backward--that's one good thing about this story, it has a reverse gear; you can go backward.

The first night we had the house-boat, Mr. Ellsworth went to see Mr.

Darren, who is superintendent of Northside Woods (that's owned by the Northside estate) and he asked Mr. Darren if we could chop down some saplings to use on the boat. Because we wanted to make some stanchions for the awning, and another flagpole, and some b.u.mper sticks. He thought that was a good idea, because lumber costs so much. Connie said the reason it was high is because they're building tall houses. So Mr.

Darren marked some saplings with chalk and said we could take those.

The next afternoon after that last meeting, we all hiked over to Northside Woods to chop down the saplings. You have to go across the bridge to get to Northside Woods and then you go up the road toward Little Valley.

Westy didn't go with the rest of us because he wanted to get a book out of the library, for he thought the library might be closed when we got back.

"Have a heart," I said, "and don't be late whatever you do, because there's been enough of that kind of thing in our patrol lately."

"I'll be Johnny--on--the--spot, don't you fear," he said. And I knew he would, only he's one of those fellows that's always trying to do too much. He isn't late much, I'll say that for him, but he always comes running in at the last minute.

"Well, don't get us in Dutch," I told him, "that's all I care about."

We had a Dandy hike over to the woods. My patrol got there first and pretty soon the Ravens came along and Doc Carson had his First Aid kit--you'd think somebody was going to fight a duel, honest. "Why don't you start a base hospital and be done with it?", I said.

Pretty soon the Elks came along and Skinny was with them. As soon as I looked at him I felt kind of bad like, for I saw I was right about the two dollars. I knew I was right all the time, but now I saw it and jingoes, it spoiled all my fun. Because he had a belt-axe on and I could see he was very proud of it. He came up to me and smiled that funny kind of a smile he had, and he said, "I got one; see, I got one."

It was a new one all right, but not a regular scout-axe, and I guessed he must have bought it in the hardware store. It was what they call a camp axe--just the same only different. His belt was loose anyway, on account of him being so thin, but the axe dragged it way down and made him look awful funny, but he had on the scout smile and that's the princ.i.p.al thing.

"It's a good one, ain't it?" he asked me.

"It's all right," I said, but I just couldn't take it and look at it.