"You mean that little fellow?" I said. "Has he been talking to you?"
"Yes," he said.
"Forget it," I told him! "If that kid had his picture taken he'd standwith his back to the camera so as to show his belt-axe. If he had theGold Cross he'd pin it on the end of his nose so everybody'd see it.The principal thing to wear is the scout smile, you take it from me.When you see Mr. Ellsworth to-night you ask him about the belt-axe andgo by what he says. That's the one to go to--your scoutmaster."
"But anyway it's in the book about the axe," he said, and oh, gee, Icould see how he fell for that axe. I don't know, it was somethingabout it, I supposen "It's all right for a tree to fall for an axe,but don't you," I said. That was a joke.
"You got to have one when you go chopping trees, haven't you?" he askedme.
"You forget it," I said, and I decided I'd give Pee-wee a good bawlingout after the meeting. Then I started straightening Skinny's suit andtelling him how swell he looked and how he must always take off his hatto ladies. He was interested all right, but I could see how the belt-axekind of had him, and I suppose it was because it was bright and shinyand a weapon, sort of. That's the way it is with lots of fellows whenthey start being scouts.
We tried to get him to go in the house to supper with us and then go tothe meeting, but he was kind of scared and wouldn't. I guess it wasbecause I live in a big house and because my father is rich--but anyway,he never acts that way, that's one sure thing. And, gee, nobody can sayRuth and Marjorie wouldn't have been nice to him too. So we left him inthe tent and told him to read the Handbook, but to be sure to go homeand get his supper in time to be at the meeting that evening. We made himthe full salute just for fun, and oh, didn't he smile and look proud. Ibet he was proud going up Main Street too.
"I'd like to get my hands on that kid," I said to Westy, as we wentacross the lawn; "he makes me sick with his heroes and his noble ragsand his belt-axes. He's got that poor kid's brain full of fancy stuffbefore he's even a scout."
"That's just like him," Westy said, "but he'll get over it."
"Emblem of the woods!" I said. "Did you hear that?"
"I guess he told Skinny we were going to chop down some saplingsto-morrow for stanchions on the boat," Westy said.
"Goodness knows what he didn't tell him." Isaid, "Skinny will be chopping down all the fence rails in Barrel Alleyif Pee-wee has his way."
Oh, boy, we had huckleberry pie for supper, and didn't Westy and I havetwo helpings!
"There's only one thing scouts like about huckleberry pie," my fathersaid, "and that's the taste of it."
CHAPTER XXI
SOMETHING MISSING
After supper Westy and I started for troop meeting. It was getting darkfast and we went scout-pace down the hill, because after all that hadhappened you bet we didn't want to be late. No, siree.
All the while we were talking about just what I ought to say when Ipresented Skinny to the Elks, because that's what we were going to dothat night. And I was the one to do it, because I was patrol leader.Westy had a blue ribbon, because that's the Elks' color, and he wasgoing to pin it on Skinny with an express tag that he got that day.He had it all written nice and neat on the tag.
From the Silver Foxes to the Elks. Handle with Care.
I told him to put prepaid on it, too, and then he said it would be agood idea to put some thrift stamps on Skinny's face. Jiminy, thatfellow Westy has some crazy ideas.
"Believe me, it'll be great," he said.
"The Elks will have some training to do, that's one thing," I said.
"He'll learn soon enough, all right," Westy answered.
"I guess it would be a good stunt to have a flag sticking up out of hiscollar," I said; "he won't mind, he'll just smile. He doesn't get mad,that's one good thing about him."
"I like to see that smile, don't you?" Westy said, "it's kind of bashfullike."
"He's going to pan out all right," I said, "you take it from me."
Then we said how it might be good to put him in a barrel and mark it "Agift from Barrel Alley," but we decided not to because it might make himfeel so kind of bashful and scared--you know what I mean.
All the while I knew what I was going to say, and this was it:
Scouts of the Elk Patrol, we present you with this testimonial (my sister said that was a good word to use) of our steam--I mean esteem. You get fifty green trading stamps besides. This youth is positively guaranteed to grow, if kept in the sun and to win the pathfinder's badge before the summer is out. He is made of fast colors and will not run--except when he's tracking. He should be kept away from explosives such as Pee-wee Harris.
With love and kisses from the Silver Foxes.
"Oh, it will be great!" Westy said, "we'll do it before Mr, Ellsworthtakes up the collection for the cruise, hey?"
"G--o--o--d night!" I said and I stopped short.
"What's the matter ?" Westy said.
"I'm glad you said that," I told him; "I forgot my two bucks."
"I'll go back," Westy said; "you wait here." There wasn't any time tostop him and anyway, he can beat me running, I have to admit that.
"Where did you leave it?" he called back.
"I laid it right on the table," I shouted, "and I laid an oar-lock on itto keep it from blowing away. Feel around and you'll get It. Hurry up."
I saw him going back up the hill for all he was worth and then I sat downbeside the road to wait for him. I got to thinking about the house-boatand the fun we'd have cruising up the Hudson and how Skinny would getfat and eat a lot, and especially how he'd stare when he saw JebRushmore. He's our camp manager, and just wait till you see him, that'sall I say.
But mostly I was thinking about the fun we'd have presenting Skinny tothe Elks, and, oh, boy, I could just see Mr. Ellsworth laugh with thatfunny laugh he has--trying not to. And you can bet I was glad we hadSkinny started. Because when a fellow once gets on the trail, he's agoner. Oh, bibbie, that was going to be some meeting! Pretty soon Westycame running back down the hill.
"Did you get it?" I asked him, but, of course, I knew he did. He was somuch out of breath that he couldn't answer and even after he stopped hehad to pant it out, kind of.
"It wasn't there," he said.
"Wasn't there!" I said; "you're crazy. Sure it was there. Where did youlook?"
"I looked just where you said," Westy panted, "and all around besides.First, I felt all around with my hand and I lifted the oar-lock and itwasn't underneath it."
"Maybe you got the wrong oar-lock," I said, all excited; "there are twoof them."
"The other one was hanging up," he said; "I found your flashlight on theduffel-bag and poked the light all around and I saw the other oar-lockhanging up. I threw the light on the ground, too, because there's apretty strong breeze up there."
"How could the breeze blow it away when it was under the oar-lock?" Isaid. "It was a new two dollar bill."
"Well, it wasn't there, anyway," he said.
Then for a minute we both stood there and neither one of us saidanything. I know what I was thinking, but I didn't want to say it. Iguess Westy was thinking the same thing, too. We both sat down besidethe road and after a couple of minutes, he said, "Maybe a tramp tookit, hey?"
"Jerry wouldn't let anyone on the grounds," I said. Jerry's our gardener."And besides Don wouldn't, either." He's our dog--he's a collie. "Well, itisn't there, anyway,"
Westy said; "I lifted the oar-lock and felt underneath and I laid it downagain, right where it was--on a book or something. When I flashed thelight it wasn't there. Come on, we'll be late. I'd let you have twobucks if I had that much extra, but I've only got two myself. You canchip in yours to-morrow, it'll be all right."
I got up and I felt awful funny.
"Anyway, there's no use being late,"' he sald, because I kind of justcouldn't start.
"It isn't that I'm thinking about," I told him, "It's--"
br />
"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 thebelt-axe the poor kid was thinking about."
"No, he isn't to blame, either," I said; "he didn't mean anything--hedidn'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'mnot 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 theElks that way, I can't. I just can't. Poor kid, I don't suppose he eversaw 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 howI felt. I know if a fellow is low down and fires stones and calls namesand 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. Aplaguy lot I care about two bucks, but, oh, boy, I was looking forwardto that meeting and how we were going to have Skinny all decorated andpresent him to the Elks. And now we couldn't do it, Honest, I didn't evenwant 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 untilSkinny 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 amistake sometime and would like to fix it right. Westy said we'd call itjust getting off the trail. Westy's a mighty nice fellow, you bet, andhe's a good scout. But anyway, it knocked all the fun out of that meetingfor 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 haveit. He was always smiling in that bashful kind of a way, as if he waskind of scared but happy at the same time. Mr. Ellsworth told him to sitwith us and he came over and sat in an extra chair right next to me. Iguess he kind of liked to be near me--anyway, it seemed like that. I wasnice to him all right, but I don't know, it didn't seem like it didbefore. But no fellow could get mad at him--he looked so poor, and hissuit 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 Elksare. They're a good patrol, the Elks, and the fellow who used to sitthere with them was Tom Slade. You have to try to be a good scout justlike 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 andexcited like. Gee, he was a queer kid. "You can make fun of me all youwant," 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 Elksto-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 makingany fun about it. Gee! I don't know what my patrol thought about me. Butanyway, Westy knew. So I just said how we found Alfred McCord and how hewanted to be a scout and we thought it was a good idea to give him tothe Elk Patrol, to fill the place of Tom Slade. Cracky, there wasn't anypep to it at all.
Then afterwards Mr. Ellsworth took up the collection of one dollar andseventy cents from each fellow, to buy the eats and pay the expenses ofthe cruise. I had to say that I wasn't ready with it, and I guess hewas surprised, because I never miss a chipping in, but anyway, I saidI'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 onup 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'twant you to be shouting about belt-axes and jack-knives and things likethat in front of Skinny McCord. I'm telling you that and I want you toremember it. And I've got good reasons, too. Scouts aren't made out ofbelt-axes and jack-knives and badges. They're made out of ideas, as youmight say. You just remember what I tell you and don't be springing thisstuff about the emblem of the woods and all that. A belt-axe costs twodollars--haven't you got sense enough to know that. And do you know howmuch it costs to take the scout oath? Not one blooming cent!"
Jiminy crinkums, he just listened and didn't say a single word. For twoblocks 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, ithas 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 theNorthside estate) and he asked Mr. Darren if we could chop down somesaplings to use on the boat. Because we wanted to make some stanchionsfor the awning, and another flagpole, and some bumper sticks. Hethought that was a good idea, because lumber costs so much. Connie saidthe 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 toNorthside Woods to chop down the saplings. You have to go across thebridge to get to Northside Woods and then you go up the road towardLittle Valley.
Westy didn't go with the rest of us because he wanted to get a book outof the library, for he thought the library might be closed when we gotback.
"Have a heart," I said, "and don't be late whatever you do, becausethere'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 hewould, only he's one of those fellows that's always trying to do toomuch. He isn't late much, I'll say that for him, but he always comesrunning 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 andpretty soon the Ravens came along and Doc Carson had his First Aidkit--you'd think somebody was going to fight a duel, honest. "Why don'tyou 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 Ilooked at him I felt kind of bad like, for I saw I was right about thetwo dollars. I knew I was right all the time, but now I saw it andjingoes, it spoiled all my fun. Because he had a belt-axe on and Icould see he was very proud of it. He came up to me and smiled thatfunny 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 guessedhe must have bought it in the hardware store. It was what they call acamp axe--just the same only different. His belt was loose anyway, onaccount of him being so thin, but the axe dragged it way down and madehim look awful funny, but he had on the scout smile and that's theprincipal 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.
"It'll cut, too," he said; "and I'm going to chop down a lot of trees.And it's my very own, isn't it?"
Jiminy, I didn't know how to answer that, so I didn't say anything, onlyI told him not to chop down many because he wasn't strong yet. And Itold him not to chop any that didn't have chalk marks. I told him to askConnie Bennett, and to stay nea
r him, because Connie is the Elks' leaderever since Tom Slade went away. "You do what Connie tells you", I said.
Well, the way that kid started you'd think he was going to chop the NorthPole in half. "He'd be able to chop through the equator in a couple ofhours at that rate," I told Connie. But anyway, he was getting fresh airand a whole lot of fun. Some of the fellows chopped and some of them cutoff the branches and tied the saplings together, three or four each,because we were going to haul them as far as the bridge and then floatthem down to the landing.
Every little while I looked at Skinny and he was chopping away at onesapling for dear life. He had it all full of nicks and every nick hada place all to itself.
"That isn't chopping, it's what you call woodcarving," Dorry Benton said.
"He's a good butcher, anyway," Artie said.
Every time Skinny hit, he hit in a different place and he would never getthe sapling down, I saw that, but he was having the time of his life,just the same.
"Some Daniel Boone," Will Dawson said. But I told them not to make fun ofhim.
All the while I kept wondering if Skinny really thought that axe was hisvery own like he said. And it seemed sort of funny that he could begetting so much fun out of it. Oftentimes he would get tired and begin tocough and Connie would make him sit down and rest. Then he would show hisaxe to the fellows and match it to theirs and say he liked his best. Idon't know, maybe there was something wrong about Skinny. Maybe he wasmore crazy about weapons than he was about scouting. He didn't seem tothink ahoot anything except cutting down that sapling, and the more of abotch he made out of it, the harder he worked. I remembered something Mr.Ellsworth said to Tom Slade about not caring more for his gun than he didfor his country. But, gee, when I thought about what Skinny said aboutthe two things he liked most, the axe and the law about honor, goodnight, I couldn't understand him at all.