Please you and Will Dawson hike around to camp and don’t be scrapping. When you get there you don’t need to say you saw me. Nobody knows who started out with you and what they don’t know won’t hurt them. Tell Will Dawson he better go ahead and get to be a Star Scout. I’d like to see Pee-wee at that corn-roast. Like you said he’ll eat two at once. It’s no matter if I get pinched for being out in the boat because I’m going home day after to-morrow anyway and I’ll only lose one day. You shout so much about badges and things, now see if you can be loyal to a Scout in your own patrol. Dub Smedley. P.S. You keep still about me, do you hear. That’s just what he wrote. After I read it I looked out on the lake but I couldn’t see anything and I couldn’t even hear a sound--not even the oar-locks clinking. I shouted, “_Dub._” But there wasn’t any answer. I didn’t shout again because I knew he must have heard me. I was afraid they might hear my voice, far away like, over at camp. So I just stood there on the shore trying to see out on the lake. I couldn’t even hear an oar dipping, I thought he must be pretty far out. I guess he was sculling, because you can hear oar-locks even far off on the water. There was a little kind of a narrow bright path on the water, made by the camp-fire across the lake. Way over there it was wide, but past the middle of the lake, over toward the side where I was, it was just kind of like a bright line--all used up, sort of. I saw something black go across that and I called out again. But there wasn’t any answer. It was good and dark around there. ----- [1] Slady. Nickname for Tom Slade, the young camp assistant and leader of camp activities. CHAPTER XXV BEING A SCOUT When I got back to the hollow Will was just standing there holding his shoes to the fire. I said, “Dub took the boat and he’s gone over to camp--here’s a paper he left on a tree. He’s going to take the blame. Will you let him do that?” I admit I was all--I don’t know, I could hardly speak. I just said over again, “Will you let him do that? You see how he says we shouldn’t scrap--and I’m not going to scrap--no more. We never had any scraps in our patrol. But before I say if I’ll ever speak to you again you’ve got to say if you’ll let Dub Smedley do that.” All of a sudden Will turned and opened up on me. By the fire I could see his eyes were all shiny like. Up to that time he took all I said. Now he just opened up on me. “Before I ever speak to you again,” he said, “you have to say if you really want me to answer that? I took all you said, even in front of him--I did--but now you say--you want me to tell you if I’m a yellow dog--one of your own patrol! Well I’m a Silver Fox, that’s what I am if you want to know--if you’re talking about animals!”