"We haven't heard from you, Wallie. Let's have number eight."
"A Scout is cheerful."
"That's the idea. Don't grumble or whine. That will never get you anywhere, or the world anywhere.
"I want to say a few words about the next law, 'A Scout is thrifty.' Thrift is of the greatest importance. Save your money. Save your pennies. Put them in the bank. I think they ought to teach thrift and the importance of saving in the public schools. It does not mean that you should be stingy. When you boys worked hard one winter and gave a purse of money to an unfortunate stranger, you were living up to the highest ideals of a Scout. It doesn't mean that money is the most important thing in the world, for it is far from it. But remember this: a man's first duty to his country is to be self-supporting, and to be self-supporting in his old age he must be thrifty in his youth. He must make hay while the sun shines. He must learn to save his money. That is why a Tenderfoot must have one dollar in the bank before he can become a Second Class Scout, and a Second Class Scout must have two dollars before he becomes a First Class Scout. The habit of thrift is very important. When you grow older and go to work, no matter what you earn, I want you to save a part of it.
"There are three more laws," he went on, after a minute, "and they speak for themselves: 'A Scout is brave,' 'A Scout is clean,' 'A Scout is reverent.' I need not tell you to be brave in the presence of danger. Do you understand that sometimes it takes greater courage to stand up for the right? Keep yourselves clean; not only your bodies but your thought and speech. And be reverent, boys, toward God, who made old Greylock and these beautiful hills for you to enjoy."
When he had finished Skinny started to throw some wood on the fire, but Mr. Norton stopped him.
"Never go away," he said, "leaving a fire where it possibly can do any damage. We'll be going home in a few minutes, and before we go this fire must be put out. If the wind should come up in the night the flames might spread into Plunkett's woods."
We saw in a minute that he was right, and, taking sticks, beat out what little fire there was; then started down the hill.
"I'll tell you what I have been thinking," said Mr. Norton, when we were going through Blackinton's orchard. "We have had so much fun to-night that I should like to go camping with you boys for a week, some time this summer. These mountains and woods are just the places for scouting and we could have a campfire every night. What do you say?"
"We say yes," said Skinny, "if our folks will let us, and I know they will."