“Sure, you’ll see him,” I said. “He lives right near me. I’d have Sandy too, only he lives so far. Rye bread, or Rye Beach, or whatever you call it. But, oh boy, if you came, being an Eagle Scout! And if you had the life saving medal besides! Gee, it would be in the Bridgeboro paper.” “Maybe I have got it,” he said. I said, “What do you mean, Dub?” “If you do a thing, you do it, don’t you?” he said. “Sure,” I said, “but you want the proof of it, don’t you?” “If I know I did it why do I want any proof?” he said. “That’s what Pee-wee calls a dandy argument.” “You’re a funny fellow, Dub,” I said. He just gave me a shove and he said, “Maybe when I come to see you I _will_ be an Eagle Scout. Now let’s talk about something else. You come in here to see my snapshots and all you do is razz me. Where’s Will to-day?” he wanted to know. “Oh, he’s off after his bird study badge,” I said. “He’s only got that and the carpentry badge to get. Then he’s a Star Scout. Jiminies, he’s pulling shingles off and nailing them on again up at the old burned storehouse. Every time he sees a piece of wood he wants to saw it in half. To-day he’s got a date with a couple of blue jays or something. He’s got his little kodak with him.” Dub said, “Do you know there is one thing I’d like?” “Name it,” I said, “and I’ll give it to you twice.” He said, “Do you remember when I first got in with you fellows, we started out on a hike, didn’t we?” “Sure, whichever way the wind stopped blowing,” I said. “We went after wills and robbers and everything.” Dub said, “I’d like you and Pee-wee and Sandy and Will Dawson to hike down to the train with me to-morrow. Catskill isn’t so much of a hike is it?” “Sure not,” I said, “but it will seem funny coming back without you.” “Let’s finish up with a hike,” he said. “We had a lot of fun hiking together--I did anyway. I’d kind of like to start home that way. Will you? Just you and Sandy and Pee-wee and Will Dawson and I, hey? I can send this old grip down on the bus, can’t I?” “Sure you can,” I said. “But, gee, I don’t want you to go, Dub.” “I’d treat you all to ice cream in Catskill if I wasn’t so blamed hard up,” he said. “But will you fellows hike down with me? We’ll start good and early and just sort of mope along like that day we hiked to Beaver Chasm, and you and Pee-wee can have one of those mortal comebacks. Will you? We’ll make it crazy, hey?” “Sure, Dub,” I said. “You bet we will, only----” I don’t know, I couldn’t say anything, I just started looking at the snapshots. CHAPTER XXVII THE LAST HIKE So that’s the way he did, we all hiked down to Catskill to see Dub off. The Scouts that went were the Big Four and Will Dawson. All my patrol wanted to go but I wouldn’t let them because I was going to do just the way Dub wanted. I told Pee-wee we were all going to be good and crazy, so as to make Dub feel good. The kid said, “I knew it before you told me.”