“Nonsense!” answered Harry.)
“If he be a good scout, he may conceive a mere suggestion, a hint, to be an order, and map out his own path of duty as if he were acting under command. The path may lead him among strangers. He may have to decide his duty, standing alone, without counsel, in the darkness of the night. But that is the law.”
(“He does mean you,” protested Gordon.
“Keep still, will you.”)
“The hint may come to him in such a way that an ordinary boy—I had almost said an ordinary scout—could not have known his duty from it. We are not all equally favored by Providence.”
(“There, what more do you want?” whispered Gordon, excitedly.
“Nonsense,” said Harry, blushing a little.)
“He may limit himself to the letter of the law if he chooses,” continued Mr. Wade, “but he usually follows its spirit. The path of his duty may wind its way through hardship or suffering or peril, but these things he will not see.”
(“Tha—”
“Keep still, I tell you!” whispered Harry.)