ier in the
air, and the dandelions sprang up in the field down by the river, and
tree blossoms littered the sidewalks, and the frogs began croaking in
the marshes. When the frogs begin croaking it is time to think of camp.

But Tom Slade, late of the scouts, was ahead of the dandelions and the
blossoms and the frogs, for on that very day of his talk with Roy, and
while the three patrols were off on their shopping bee in the city, he
went into Mr. Burton's private office and asked if he might talk to him
about an idea he had.

"Surest thing you know, Tommy," said his superior cheerily. "You want to
go to the North Pole now?"

For Mr. Burton knew Tom of old.

CHAPTER XIV

THE REALLY HARD PART

"Maybe you'll remember how you said this would just be a kind of an
experiment, my starting to work again in the office, and maybe it would
turn out to be better for me to go away in the country," said Tom.

"Yes sir," said Mr. Burton, with prompt good nature intended to put Tom
at his ease.

"I was wondering if maybe you could keep a secret," Tom said.

"Well, I could make a stab at it," Mr. Burton said, laughing.

"Do you think Margaret could?" Tom asked.

"Oh, I dare say, but you know how girls are. What's the trouble?"

"I want to go away," Tom said; "I can't do things right and I want to go
away. I'm all the time forgetting."

"I think you're doing fine," said Mr. Burton.

"I want to go up to Temple Camp until I feel better," Tom said.

Mr. Burton scrutinized him shrewdly and pursed up his lips and said,
"Don't feel first rate, eh?"

"I get rattled awful easy and I don't remember things," Tom said. "I
want to go up to camp and stay all alone with Uncle Jeb, like you said I
could if I wanted to."

Again Mr. Burton studied him thoughtfully, a little fearfully perhaps,
and then he said, "Well, I think perhaps that would be a very good
thing, Tom. You remember that's what I thought in the first place. You
made your own choice. How about the secret?"

"It isn't anything much, only I thought of something to do while I'm up
there. I got to square myself. I gave the troop cabins to a troop out
west----"

"Well, I was wondering about that, my boy; but I didn't want to say
anything. You'll have Roy and Peewee and those other gladiators sitting
on your neck, aren't you afraid?"

"They got no use for me now," Tom said.

"Oh, nonsense. We'll straighten that out. You send a letter----"

"The scoutmaster o