“And suppose while he’s on his way he runs plunk into another law. _Good
night!_ What’s he going to do? Maybe you don’t know which law I mean by
another one. It’s number 3, and I can say it without even looking at the
book. Even if they elect——”
I guess Mr. Ellsworth could see my voice was trembling, because he said,
“Take your time, Roy, you have us interested.”
I have to admit I was feeling bad, but anyway I said the law right off
without looking at the book.
3. A SCOUT IS HELPFUL.
He must be prepared at any time to save life, help injured
persons, and share the home duties. He must _do at least one
good turn to somebody every day_.
“Maybe you never noticed that the part about good turns is printed in
italics. You know what italics mean—you learn that in the Second Grade.
It means that that special thing is emphasized, see?”
Mr. Ellsworth was smiling a little, but anyway he was listening and so
was Mr. Bennett. Gee, I didn’t see anything to smile at.
Now I have to admit that I got kind of excited and I didn’t know much
what I was saying.
Sometimes I had to stop on account of that lump being in my throat. But
anyway, I kept on and I held on tight to my emblem—the Silver Fox
emblem.
“So that’s what I mean,” I said, “and this morning Westy was on his way
to help on the house-boat and he met” (oh, jiminies, I guess I didn’t
know how I was talking now, I was so excited) “and he met Skinny
McCord’s mother and she told him about Skinny being sick on account of a
good turn he did for me—keeping Jake Holden from going to my house—and
she asked him to go up and stay with him and he didn’t think any more
about the house-boat, and I’m glad he didn’t, and I told him that, and
I’m his patrol leader yet, anyway. I tell him that, I do! And he went
home and got his baseball and his catching mit and it cost a dollar and
seventy-five cents, and he took them to Skinny just so as he’d kind of
forgot being sick. Westy saved up to get that mit and I know all about
it. And he stayed all day with Skinny and the doctor says, he says
Skinny has got to die, but anyway Westy stayed all day with him—that’s
what he did. And I’m glad you fellows are going to elect a new leader if
you want him to reprimand Westy, because you’d never get _me_ to do it,
I can tell you that!”
Oh, crinkums, there wasn’t a sound. It had to stop because I was gulping
and all excited, but I started again, you can bet.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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