“Well, young man,” he said briskly as soon as Dale was seated, “I’ve been hearing things about you this afternoon.”
Dale flushed, and his fingers unconsciously interlocked. The affair of the afternoon before had been “rubbed into him” at intervals all day, so that he almost dreaded further comment. It seemed as if it had been talked about quite enough and ought now be allowed to fall into oblivion. He hoped Mr. Curtis wasn’t going to ask him to go over all the details again.
“You seem to have managed admirably,” went on the scoutmaster, in a matter-of-face manner. “What I’d like to know, though, is how you, a tenderfoot of barely a week’s standing, happened to be so well posted on electricity and insulation and all the rest of it?”
“It–it’s in the handbook,” explained Dale, haltingly.
“So it is,” smiled the scoutmaster; “but it isn’t a part of the tenderfoot requirements. I even doubt whether many second-class scouts would be up on it. Have you gone through the whole book as thoroughly?”
Dale leaned back in his chair more easily. “Oh no, sir, not all! But that part’s specially interesting, and I–I like to read it.”
“I see. Well, it was a good stunt–a mighty good stunt! It’s the sort of thing true scouting stands for, and I’m proud of you.” In his glance there was something that told a good deal more than the words themselves, but somehow Dale didn’t mind that. “I suppose, though, you’ve been hearing nothing else all day and must be rather tired of it, so we’ll go on to this drill business. This is only one feature of our work, and perhaps the least important since we’re a nonmilitary organization. But it helps set a fellow up, it teaches him obedience and quick thinking, and is useful in a number of other ways, so we’ve included it in the program. The movements aren’t intricate. Suppose you take that cane over in the corner, and I’ll go through them with you.”
Dale obeyed promptly, and, returning with the article in question, stood facing the scoutmaster, who had also risen. With the feeling of being under inspection, he had naturally taken a good position, shoulders back and chin up, and Mr. Curtis nodded approvingly.
“That’s the idea!” he said. “With the command ‘Attention!’ you take practically that position, heels together, shoulders back, chin up, and eyes straight ahead. Hold the staff upright with the thumb and first two fingers of the right hand, one end on the ground and the upper part against your right shoulder. That’s the attitude you return to after each one of the movements. Now let’s try the first one.”
There were not more than six or seven of these, and the scoutmaster’s instructions were so clear and explicit that Dale wondered, with a touch of chagrin, how he could possibly have bungled so on the night of the meeting. In less than half an hour he had the different evolutions fixed firmly in his mind and the cane was laid aside.