The rest of his answer was drowned by the crashing of the rail as the hatch went plunging from the deck into the black turmoil below. The last they saw of him, he was clinging to one of the flapping doors, his foot braced against a cable cleat, his shock of hair blowing wildly this way and that, the rain streaming from his face and soaking clothes. He did not look at all like a hero, nor even like the picture of a scout on the cover of a boys' magazine.... CHAPTER XXIII ROY BLAKELEY KEEPS STILL--FOR A WONDER "Yes, that was the one trouble with Tom Slade--he couldn't obey orders." "I think you're rather severe," said Mrs. Ellsworth. "He had his work all cut out for him here," persisted her husband relentlessly. "He knew the part the scouts were supposed to play in the war, but he thought he knew more than I did about it. He gave me his promise, and then he broke his word. He flunked on his first duty." Mr. Ellsworth pushed his coffee cup from him and pushed his chair back from the dining table in a very conclusive manner. For a moment no one spoke. The young man in the soldier's uniform gazed into his empty cup and said nothing. Then he looked up at Mrs. Ellsworth as if he hoped she would answer her husband. Of the four who sat there in the Ellsworths' pleasant little dining room, Roy Blakeley was the first to speak. "He'll make a good soldier, anyway," he said. "A good soldier is one who obeys orders," said Mr. Ellsworth, tightening his lips uncompromisingly. "Tom Slade's war duties were very clearly mapped out for him. And, besides, he gave me his promise; you heard him, didn't you?" "Yes, I did," said Roy reluctantly. "All I asked of him," continued the scoutmaster, "was to do his bit as a scout with the Colors, till he was of military age. He gave me his promise--you heard him--and then he desert----" "Oh, don't say that," said Mrs. Ellsworth; "that's a dreadful word!" The young man in uniform bit his lip and started to move his chair back; then, as if uncertain what to do, remained where he was. "A promise is a promise," said the scoutmaster. "You can't build up anything good on the foundation of a broken promise." "Don't you think a person _might_ be justified in breaking a promise?" said the soldier diffidently. "No, sir; not if it is humanly possible to keep it.--Besides, Tom must have had to lie to get into the army." There was a moment's pause. "It was dreadful to think of his pawning his Gold Cross," said Mrs. Ellsworth; "if he had only kept his word and waited a little while----" "He would never have had that Cross to pawn if he hadn't been brave," said Roy, flushing slightly. "Good for you, Roy!" said the young soldier. Mr. Ellsworth laughed pleasantly at Roy's unshakable faith in his absent friend. "That's right, Roy," said Mrs. Ellsworth, with a very sweet smile. "You stand up for him." "If I can't stand up for him, I'll keep still," said Roy.