The life of a scout is sweet, is sweet, The rubbish he throws in the street, the street. He uses soft words, And he shoots all the birds; The life of a scout is sweet. Being a lone, blithe spirit, a kind of scout skylark as one might say, he had not many friends in camp. The rank and file laughed at him, were amused at his naive independence, and regarded him, not as a poor scout, but rather as not exactly a scout at all. They did not see enough of him; he flew too high. He was his own best companion. Consequently when he sauntered with a kind of whimsical assurance into that exalted official conclave most of them thought that he had dropped in as he might have dropped into the lake. There was a little touch of pathos, too, in the fact that the loiterers outside did not speak to him as he passed in. It was just that they did not know him well enough; he was not one of them. He was the oddest of odd numbers, a stormy petrel indeed, and they did not know how to take him. So he was alone amid three hundred scouts.... CHAPTER XXXII OVER THE TOP Tom had waited patiently for Hervey to arrive. His propensity for _not_ arriving had troubled Tom. But whether by chance or otherwise there he was, and Tom lost no time in getting to his feet. "Before the court closes," he said, "I want to ask to have a blank filled out to be sent to the National Honor Court, on a claim for the Gold Cross award. I would like to get it endorsed by the Local Council to-day so it will get to National Headquarters Monday." You could have heard a pin drop in that room. The magic words Gold Cross brought every whispering, dallying scout to attention. There was a general rustle of straightening up in seats. The continuous departing ceased. Faces appeared at the open windows. _The Gold Cross._ Mr. Denny looked at Tom. The young assistant, in his usual negligee, was very offhand and thoroughly at ease. He seemed to know what he was talking about. All eyes were upon him. "If you want the detailed statements of the three witnesses written out, that can be done. But the National Court will take the recommendation without that if it's endorsed by the Local Council. That was done in the case of Albert Nesbit, who won the Gold Cross here three years ago. I'd rather do it that way." "What is the name, Mr. Slade?" "Willetts--Hervey Willetts. You spell it with two T's." "This can be done without witnesses, on examination, Mr. Slade." "The winner isn't a good subject for examination," said Tom; "I think the witnesses would be better." "Just so."