Hervey leaned against the cabin, Mr. Denny sat upon the door sill. None of the troop was about; it was very quiet. For half a minute or so Mr. Denny did not speak, only whittled a stick. "I sometimes wonder why you joined the scouts, Hervey," he said. "Your disposition----" "A fellow that sat next to me in school dared me to," said Hervey. "Oh, it was a sort of a wager?" "I wouldn't take a dare from anybody." "And so you joined as a stunt?" "I heard that scouts jumped off cliffs and all like that." "I see. Well, now, Hervey, I've written to your father that I'm sending you home." Hervey began making rings in the soil with his stick but said nothing. Mr. Denny's last words were perhaps a little more than he expected, but he gave no other hint of his feelings. And so for another minute or so there was silence, except for the distant voices of some scouts out upon the lake. "It is not exactly as a punishment, Hervey; it is just that I can't take the responsibility, that's all. You see?" "Y---- yes, sir." "I thought you would. Your father thought the influence of camp would be good, but you see you are seldom at camp. We can't help you because we can't find you." "You can't cook a fish till you catch it," said Hervey. "That's just it, Hervey." "If you don't want to leave any tracks the best thing is to swing into trees every now and then," Hervey informed him. "Ah, I see. Now, Hervey, my boy, I'm anxious that you and I should understand each other. You have done nothing disgraceful and I don't think you ever will----" "I landed plunk on my head once." "Well, that was more of a misfortune than a disgrace." "It hurt like the dickens." "I suppose it did." Mr. Denny paused; he was up against the hardest job he had ever tackled. It was harder than he had thought it would be. "You see, Hervey, how it is. Last week you stayed away over night at some farm. I had told you you must not leave camp without my knowledge. For that I had you stay here all day, making a birchbark basket. I thought that was a good punishment." "I'll tell the world it was," said Hervey. Mr. Denny paused before proceeding. "Did it do any good? Not a bit." "The basket was a punk one," said Hervey. "Again you rode down as far as Barretstown, hitching onto a freight train." "I'd have got all the way down to Jonesville, if it hadn't been for the conductor. He was some old grouch, believe _me_." "Then we had a little talk--you remember. You promised to be here at meal times. Look at Mr. Ellsworth's troop, Harris, Blakeley and those boys. Always on hand for meals----" "I'll say so; they're some hungry bunch," Hervey commented. "And you gave me your word that you wouldn't leave camp without my permission. _You think as little about breaking your word as you do about breaking your leg, Hervey_," Mr. Denny added with sober emphasis. Hervey began poking the ground again with his stick. "That's just the truth, Hervey. And it can't go on any longer."