After that, there was no containing the pride of the Cubs. As they talked gleefully of their success, however, they gave full credit to Mr. Hatfield, Midge’s father, and to Brad and Dan who had contributed so heavily of their time.
Now that the winner had been announced, the crowd began to leave. Mr. Holloway called the boys together to thank them for their splendid effort and to tell them that already he had received many requests to show the Robin Hood film.
“Just think!” Fred said jubilantly. “Now that we’ve won the prize, we’ll have a complete archery set! Bows and arrows for everyone and targets! We’ll have a chance to really become experts.”
“We’ll need an archery range though,” Red pointed out. “Now that our play is finished, we can’t expect the bank to allow us to keep on using these grounds.”
“That’s so,” Fred admitted, a trifle crestfallen. “Well, at any rate, we’ll have Billy here to teach us how to shoot.”
“Speaking of Billy reminds me of an important matter,” remarked Mr. Hatfield, who had overheard the conversation. “Officially, he isn’t a Cub yet.”
“Why don’t we initiate him?” demanded Chips.
“Soon, too,” chimed in Dan. “We need Billy.”
“I was thinking the same thing,” agreed the Cub leader. “Colonel Brekenridge is here now with his nurse. He may never be able to come to one of our meetings—”
“He’d like to see Billy taken into the organization!” Brad exclaimed. “Why not induct him right now?”