So indignant was she at this greed for possession, this covetousness on the part of an Eagle Scout, or any other Scout, that she marched off down to the rowboat, ahead of Captain Andy, without thinking of saying good-bye to Toiney, her rescuer, and without as much as casting a glance at the miserly Miles who had played the acrobat on one leg amid quicksands for her sake!
“Well! if he isn’t the Meanest Thing!” So spoke Betty Ayres as she twirled an egg-beater upon the following morning before a glowing stove in the kitchen of Camp Morning-Glory. “Eagle Scout, indeed! I’d like to whip him instead of these yolks.”
“Yes, keeping that beautiful, big old silver coin after you had seen it first! And he seemed so—so different when he worked over that dumb child to bring her to!” flamed Sally.
“Oh! you never can tell about boys; you never can understand them,” sighed Arline, airing the time-worn complaint of each sex about the other.
“I understand a lot about them; I’ve three brothers and I cured the Astronomer,” maintained Penelope sturdily. “I doubt if Tenderfoot Tommy would have acted like that.”
“A letter for somebody! A Scout gave it to me to give to you!” Captain Andy—otherwise “Standing Tall,” ducked his head through the broad screen door and handed a thick envelope to Jessica, who looked pale, red-eyed and snuffled a little, but, beyond that, was none the worse for yesterday’s experiences. “The chap who gave it to me got up early an’ rowed over from the opposite dunes. There’s something in it, I think!” added Menokigábo, with a twinkle in his eye.
“Girls! it’s the coin—the silver sunburst coin!” Jessica tore open the envelope; inside were some hastily written lines, without any conventional beginning:
“The sun-dollar belongs to you. You saw it first. Sorry I behaved like a chump yesterday! I have put your initials in a little monogram under the sunburst and got in the date of this year, too, when it was found, in tiny figures at the side.
“I found out what the name-letters were from Kenjo who says that he heard your name in full on the evening that he signaled to us from your camp.