Tom Slade at Temple Camp | Page 2

a duty, so he
stood up.
He was about fifteen and of a heavy, ungraceful build. His hair was
thick and rather scraggly, his face was of the square type, and his
expression what people call stolid. He had freckles but not too many,
and his mouth was large and his lips tight-set. His face wore a
characteristic frown which was the last feeble trace of a lowering look
which had once disfigured it. Frowns are in the taboo list of the scouts,
but somehow this one wasn't half bad; there was a kind of rugged
strength in it. He wore khaki trousers and a brown flannel shirt which
was unbuttoned in front, exposing an expanse of very brown chest.
For Tom Slade's virtues you will have to plow through these pages if
you have not already met him, but for his faults, they were printed all
over him like cities on a map. He was stubborn, rather reticent,
sometimes unreasonable, and carried with him that air of stolid
self-confidence which is apt to be found in one who has surmounted
obstacles and risen in spite of handicaps. It was often said in the troop
that one never knew how to take Tom.
"I think Pee-wee is right," he said, "and I guess Roy managed this. I
could see he was doing some private wig-wag work, and I think you've

all been--what d'you call it--co-something or other----"
"Coerced!" suggested Pee-wee.
(Cries of "No, you're crazy!")
"But as long as I'm elected I'll take the job--and I'm very thankful. I
won't deny I wanted it. Roy won't get any favors." (Cheers) "If I have
any deciding to do I'll decide the way I think is right. That's all I've got
to say--oh, yes, there's one thing more--one thing I made up my mind to
in case I was lucky enough to get elected." (Cries of "Hear, hear!") "I'm
not going to go by the railroad. I got an idea, like, that it doesn't took
right for a scout to go to camp by train. So I'm going to hike it up to the
camp. I'm going to start early enough so I can do it. When a scout steps
off a train he looks like a summer boarder. I ask Roy to go with me if
he can start when I do. I don't want you fellows to think I was
expecting to be chosen. I didn't let myself think about it. But sometimes
you can't help thinking about a thing; and the other night I said to
myself that if anything should happen I should get elected----"
(A voice, "You didn't do a thing but walk away with it, Tommy!")
(Cries of "Shut up till he gets through!")
"I wouldn't go to that camp in a train. I'm not going to set foot in it till
I'm qualified for a first-class scout, and I'm going to do the rest of my
stunts on the way. I want Roy to go with me if he can. I thank you for
electing me. I'll do my best in that job. If I knew how to say it, I'd thank
you better. I guess I'm kind of rattled."
The blunt little speech was very characteristic of Tom and it was
greeted with a storm of applause. He had a way of blurting out his
plans and ideas without giving any previous hint of them, but this was
something of a knockout blow.
"Oh, you hit it right!" shouted Pee-wee. "Gee, I do hate railroad
trains--railroad trains and homework."

"You don't mean you're going to hike it from here, Tom, do you?"
asked Mr. Ellsworth.
"I had an idea I might canoe up as far as Nyack," said Tom, "and then
follow the river up to Catskill Landing and hit in for Leeds--but, of
course," he added, "I didn't really expect to be elected."
"Oh, crinkums!" shouted Pee-wee. "I'll go with you!"
"Well," said Roy, when the laughter had subsided, "this is a new
wrinkle and it sounds rather risky for a half-baked Elk----" (Hisses
from the Elks) "So far as I'm concerned, I think a hike of a hundred
miles or so----"
"You're crazy!" interrupted Pee-wee. "You silver-plated Fox----"
"Is too much," concluded Roy. "In the first place, there would have to
be a whole lot of discomfort." (Hisses) "A fellow would be pretty sure
to get his feet wet." (Mr. Ellsworth restrained Pee-wee with difficulty.)
"He would have to sleep out of doors in the damp night air----" (A
voice, "Slap him on the wrist!") "And he would be likely to get lost.
Scouts, it's no fun to be lost in the woods----" (Cries of "Yes, it is!")
"We would be footsore and weary," continued Roy.
"You got that out of a book!" shouted