ot a first-class scout," said Roy.

"A first-class scout," said Westy Martin, "is not supposed to turn back.
Gilbert turned back. Then he shouted '_stop_.' Law three says that a
scout is courteous. He should have said '_please_ stop.' Law ten says
that a scout must face danger, but he turned his back to it. He wasn't
thinking about the danger, all he was thinking about was the bus. All he
was thinking about was being thrifty--saving lives. I've known fellows
like that before. It's just like striking an average; a scout that
strikes an average is a coward."

"You mean if the average is small?" said Roy.

"Oh, sure."

"Because it all depends," Roy continued; "a scout isn't supposed to
fight, is he? But he can strike an attitude. The same as he can hit a
trail. Suppose he hits a poor, little thin trail----"

"Then he's a coward," said Connie Bennett.

"Not necessarily," said Westy, "because----"

"_A scout has to be obedient! You can't deny that!_" Goliath nearly
fell off the springboard in his excitement. "That other feller is going
to get sent away because I heard a man say so!"

This was not exactly an answer to the well-reasoned arguments of Roy and
his friends, but it had the effect of making them serious. Moreover,
just at that juncture, Mr. Carroll, scoutmaster of the Hillsburgh troop,
appeared and very gently ordered Goliath from his throne upon the
springboard. The little fellow's mind had been somewhat unsettled by the
skillful reasoning of his new friends. He trotted off in obedience to
Mr. Carroll's injunction that he go in and take off his wet shoes.

"Boys," said the new scoutmaster, in a pleasant, confidential tone which
won all, "I want to say a word to you about the little brownie we have
with us. You'll find him an odd little duck. I'm hoping to make a scout
of him some time or other. Meanwhile, we have to be careful not to get
him excited. It's a rule of our troop to take with us camping each
summer, some little needy inmate of an orphan home or hospital or some
place of the sort, and give him the benefit of the country air. This
little fellow is our charge this year. You won't talk to him about his
past, because we want him to forget that. We want to take him home well
and strong and I look to you for help. Make friends with him and get him
interested in things about camp. His heart isn't strong; be careful."

Good scouts that they were, they needed no more than these few words.
Temple Camp u