Tom Slade on the River

  CHAPTER XIV FIRST BRIDGEBORO B.S.A BECOMES A FULL TROOP

  "We'll have the initiation on the boat, hey?" exclaimed Pee-wee. "Justlike in _Pinafore_, kind of. Ever see that play? It's a dandy! I sawit--the whole of it is supposed to be on a ship."

  "Can I come and see the initiation?" Ruth Stanton asked.

  "I'm sorry," began Roy, "but----"

  "I don't believe a word you say."

  "You leave it to me," said Pee-wee. "I'll fix it."

  So the installation of Harry Stanton as a scout and a member of the ElkPatrol took place on the deck of his own beautiful cruising launch as itlay at Nyack Landing. The troop's own ceremony, by which Tom himself hadbecome a scout, was used, but it had been performed so many times sincethen that it went off with a routine smoothness, free from any of thelittle hitches that are apt to mar the impressiveness of scoutceremonials. The three patrols were grouped separately and Mr. Ellsworthstood apart from them.

  Garry, who, though an outsider, was asked to participate, presented theapplicant to Tom.

  The three simple requirements of the tenderfoot--familiarity with thetwelve laws and the history of the American flag, and the ability to tiefour kinds of knots--had been proved informally at Shady Lawn and itremained only for Tom to read the laws one by one, pausing after each andasking the applicant if he agreed to accept it and abide by it. Then Tompresented him to Mr. Ellsworth and Harry, nervous but trying to beself-possessed, made him the scout salute, then offered him thehand-clasp, and then made the scout sign, holding up his hand with thethree fingers upright.

  Then he took the familiar scout oath, and Tom stepped forward and pinnedthe tenderfoot badge on him. Then the whole troop filed past, each givinghim the scout hand-clasp, after which he stepped back with Tom as themembers of the Elk Patrol raised their voices in unison, simulating thecry of the elk.

  And so the Elks, for whom the former hoodlum of Barrel Alley had strivenand worked and planned, became a complete patrol at last.

  "All over but the shouting," said Roy, not letting a minute elapse."Better to be a pro-ally Elk than a German Silver Fox, hey? Listen to theRavens rave," he added, as that patrol set up its familiar cry in honorof the occasion. "Some flock! Let's give the voice of the package--I meanthe pack. Come on, Foxes!"

  The Silver Foxes prided themselves on the accuracy of their fox call, andthe attenuated "Haa-haa" resounded musically from the hills around.

  "It's beautiful, isn't it," said Ruth Stanton, standing close to Garryand Raymond, who were watching half enviously. "I don't see how they cando it. Did you have a call when you had your patrol last summer?"

  "It wasn't much of a call, it was kind of a squeak," said Garry in hisquiet way. "We called ourselves the 'Church Mice' because we were sopoor. It wasn't very much of a patrol and it all fizzled out."

  "Wasn't that too bad! Why did it?"

  "Oh, one fellow had to go away to school; another moved out west,and--oh, I don't know, it evaporated, sort of. You see, Edgevale isn'tmuch of a place."

  "They used to have a lake there," interrupted Roy, "but a bird stoppedfor a drink one day and after that they couldn't find the lake. Shows youwhat a big place it is--hey, Garry?"

  Garry laughed good-naturedly.

  "Not very far from where we live is Vale Centre; Warrentown is near, too.That's the county seat and they've got a bully troop there."

  "Why don't you join that?" asked Ruth.

  "Well, it's a full troop, and when a troop's full it can't be any fuller.You just have to start another and I guess I wasn't smart enough--hey,Raymond? We're just free lance scouts now," he added. "I don't know asthey'll call us scouts at all at National Headquarters."

  "You should worry," called Roy, overhearing scraps of their talk.

  "You've done something more than form a patrol," Ruth said, soberly. "Youshould have heard what Dr. Brown said about you--and my father andmother. That headquarters wouldn't dare to say you aren't a scout."

  "Oh yes, they would--they're very brave. They've got heroes in therewho'd think no more of cancelling an index card----"

  "You're almost as silly as Roy. But I know you don't think it's a joke. Ican see by the way you look at them how you feel."

  "They're a fine troop," Garry said, as he watched the boys. "Next to thattroop in Warrentown they're the best all-around troop I ever saw--and yousee some pretty good ones up there at camp."

  Ruth told her mother that afternoon that she liked Garry better than anyof them--he was so quiet and had such a funny way of saying things.

  "Better than Roy?" Mrs. Stanton asked.

  "Yes, Roy's so foolish."

  But just the same, after the _Honor Scout_ had gone away, she missed Royimmensely. Indeed, she missed them all; their brief stay (entirely apartfrom the miraculous return of her brother) had been a delightful event inher life, and now with only the parrot to relieve her loneliness, itseemed as if the bottom had fallen out of things. Even the parrotreminded her of Roy, for when she told the bird that it was lonesome andslow at Shady Lawn, he replied, "You should worry!"--a phrase which hehad never been known to use before.