Roy Blakeley in the Haunted CampFitzhugh, Percy Keese
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Roy Blakeley in the Haunted Camp
Fitzhugh, Percy Keese
Boy Scouts of America -- Juvenile fiction
Roy made no response, only walked along silently.
"There won't be any badge, Kid," said Warde kindly. "There isn't going
to be any account written of this. And Mr. Ellsworth isn't going to go
over the ground.... He isn't going to see that picture."
For a few moments none of them spoke. Several men raking hay in a nearby
field waved to them, as people do to scouts, and the three waved their
arms in answer, but there was not much enthusiasm in their act. The
birds chirped among the bordering trees. A nimble little chipmunk paused
upon a stone wall, looked at them pertly, and disappeared in a crevice
of rock. And so they walked on, no one speaking.
"What do you mean?" Roy asked after a pause.
"Just that," said Warde. "Mr. Ellsworth saw Blythe. He isn't going to
see that picture. I don't care anything about the badge. Let's not talk
about it. It's off."
"Do you mean that we should protect that--that fellow?" Roy asked.
"I mean that this isn't my test," said Warde. "I mean I'm not going to
claim the badge. No one can make me claim it if I don't want to."
"That means that you want us to keep still about Blythe," Roy said. "You
can't get around that. If you think I--if you think I care anything
about five thousand dollars you're--then you're mistaken. My father
wouldn't let me take any money I got that way.... But a scout is--he's
supposed to--"
"He's supposed to watch his step," said Warde.
"Sure he is, Roy," piped up Pee-wee. "Gee, you can't deny that, Roy."
"He's supposed to know where he's at when it comes to something
serious," said Warde. "He's supposed to look before he leaps--"
"You can't deny that, Roy," spoke the big heart of Pee-wee Harris. "He's
supposed to look before he leaps."
Roy smiled. "Well, what are we going to do?" he asked.
"Are you asking me?" Warde queried.
"Sure, I'm asking you. It's Blythe's picture, isn't it?"
"You're patrol leader and I'm a second class scout," said Warde. "What
do _you_ say to do?"
"What do you mean, a second class scout?" Roy demanded, his voice full
of feeling. "I don't want any better scouts in my patrol than you. I'm
asking you what we're going to do."
"All right, I'll tell you," Warde said. "We're going to keep still until
we're dead sure. We know what kind of a fellow Blythe is, and they
don't, I mean the sheriff and police and those people. We know he's a
good friend. Sometimes when you look at a picture it reminds you of
someone, and the next time you look at it, it doesn't--"
"That's right, Roy," Pee-wee urged with great vehemence, "because once I
thought a man looked like George Washington and afterwards I saw he
didn't. So you see."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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