Indeed he had had altogether too much of it. But his embarrassment passed as the bulk of the crowd, not involved in this surprising turn of affairs, took its way homeward, leaving the scouts and a few others in the hall. And soon things worked around so that Roscoe saw Tom alone. Not altogether alone, either, for Margaret Ellison was with him. How Roy and Pee-wee chanced to miss this I do not know. The girl said very little, but stared at him until at last he said, "Are you looking at that scar? It don't look good, but it'll go away, I guess." "How did you get it?" she asked. "He gave his place to another man," said Roscoe, "and was dumped into the ocean alone." "A chunk of wood banged me in the forehead," said Tom simply. "Tom, I want you to do me a favor," said Roscoe, while Margaret continued to gaze at him. "It's a terribly impolite thing to suggest, but if you'd be willing to walk over to East Bridgeboro with Margaret, I could go home and get my things together. I'm afraid I'll miss the only train. You come to my house afterward and go to the train with me. You don't mind, do you, Marge? He'll protect you from the lions and tigers." If she minded she didn't show it. "I--ain't dressed up," said Tom awkwardly. "I'm so glad of that!" she said. * * * * * Never in his life had he walked with a girl anywhere near his own age, and he felt just as he had felt that gala day when he had chatted with her in Temple Camp office. And because he was flustered and knew of nothing in particular to say, he repeated just what he had said then--that he could see she liked Roscoe, and he added that he didn't blame her, for Roscoe was "so good-looking in his uniform--kind of." To this she made no answer; but after a few minutes she said, "Will you take me through Barrel Alley where you used to live?" So Tom took her through Barrel Alley, answering her questions about his experiences and telling of spies and torpedoings and his rescue and cruise to South America simply, almost dully, as if they were things which were not worth talking about. When they came behind John Temple's big bank building, they stood on the barrel staves whence the alley derived its name and counted the floors and picked out the windows of Temple Camp office. "You'll come in and see Mr. Burton in the morning, won't you?" she said. "Maybe," said Tom. The good scout trail, which had wound over half the earth, took them on down that poor, sordid alley, and he showed her the tenement where he had once lived. "The day we got put out," he said simply, "the sheriff stood a beer can on my mother's picture." "Oh!" she said; "and then?" "Nothing then," said Tom, "only I knocked him into the gutter. I got arrested."