Tom Slade

My H

rd of it indirectly. Whence it emanated and what became of it he never knew, but he knew it was originated by the "

etc., etc., that said Thomas Slade should therefore be brought into court by somebody or other at a certain particular time, for commitment as a city

taire with Roy, as the fancy took him. When the news of what was under way fell

ought Tom might be placed under the supervision of competent people in the Home for Wayward Boys. The Probation Officer said that was just the place for Tom for he had a "vicious proclivity

get together to chin about important matters, they call it a pow-wow. They usually hold it sitting around a camp fire, and we'll do that too when we

--ye

s a brother to every other scout and you've got lots of brothers, thousands of them; or will have when you get to be a

ssi

's the Boy Scouts. Just the same as if Roy Blakeley should send a flash message wrong. The telegraph operator would give us the laugh and say the Scouts didn't

there's any laughing to be done, we're going to be the ones to do it. W

nt to say--flash it, as you fellows would say. We have to be careful about

," sa

egin with th and say them that way. You know we have troop calls and patrol call

e-ye

to make the school books work overtime (there's only two or three weeks more) and get all those words just right; them, those, three--because if you said 'tree' and m

rocery they found a

ree parts mixed with trees. So whenever you're thinking of the oath, say t

as much i

s to go down to Schmitt's Grocery and

y I wouldn't take d

took this one down wit

Tom understood. He hesitated a little when Mr. Ellsworth went in,

d the scoutmaster breezily.

t all vot's coming to

, how abou

vot abo

ake down that

know d

s is a different fe

ss der kind of

ay anything about the Boy Scouts. Who sto

ay noddings

other scout, and if you say anythin

Schmitt. "Come back here, I w

mitt leaned his arm affectionately over the big whee

of responsibility," and more or less about woods and country and about a "boy to-day being a ma

. Schmitt, as they returned to the front of the store

ng time. He's going to start you in on three dollars and a half a week, school-days after three and all day Saturdays and Saturday nights. He asked me if you could deliver goods and I told him

ew days ago, so don't you think about that either. You can't follow a trail look

ing packwards," said Mr. Schmitt. "You c

he'd like to have you go up several nights a week and stay at Camp Solitaire, so I think maybe three dollars a week to Mrs. O'Connor will be all righ

up there to keep the camp going. He uses so many eggs, one way or another, I should think he'd ashamed to look a hen in the face. And reme

dred and seventy

28 in the Handbook and study our law. We have our own home-made laws

laug

aws. I think they're pretty good; Roy thinks

he is

as he thinkgs he does," t

dem--them si

the knots. You take a squint at those knots in the Handbook. I can improve on two of them, but I won't tell you how. You've got to ge

hmitt, to the great edification and delight of Sadie McCarren. He created quite a sensation in B

ered the reef-knot and the weaver's knot, which latter he used to fasten two loose ends of the broken line for p

ided to offer three dollars for the Slade possessions, and in the absence of Bill Slade, the estate was settled up in Tom's i

e following Sunday afternoon under the big elm up at Camp Solitaire. The ceremony of investing a Tenderfoot was alw

he Ravens and the Silver Foxes (and later the Elks) participated in the investing ceremony, but it was the affai

Sage, Troop Scribe, armed with a book and fountain pen. Down near the signal pedestal was Roy's sister, Esther, in com

r for the new member, s

Ellsworth said, in accorda

in our Troop and a voice in

to be a member

r," said Roy, "and to certify that h

tisfactory proo

ha

repared to t

s pre

in the Scout Salute," M

rd and repeated the oath, Tom

r I will d

and my country, and t

er people a

cally strong, mental

aig

icant familiar with the la

with the law and

e law b

which was the one Tom broke w

aw good?" asked

sir,

He is loyal to all to whom loyalty is due; his

d this l

s a slig

one?" said he. "Do I hav

en loyal to your mother already, Tom," he said in a low tone, "as for your father," he hesitated; "yes, I th

ght," s

asked the scoutmaster, res

o. I'll b

eted, he stepped back with R

ise to stand faithful to this emblem, and to the

the patrol sign, which is the head of the silver fox, and do you promise to use this call and th

swered, "I

ed the Tenderfoot

t. He could not see where the trail led, bu