“We’ll show you how to do,” he said. “If there’s anything you don’t understand you just come to me. I’ve got the camping badge and the pathfinder’s badge, and the astronomer’s badge–”
“He’s an astronomer,” interrupted Roy; “he knows all the movie stars.”
“He sees everything in the sky,” Hunt Ward added; “he’s the one that put the see in sea-scout.”
“Sure, and put the pie in pioneer scout too,” Roy said. “He studied first aid and last aid and lemonade and everything. He’s a scout in very high standing only he doesn’t stand very high. You stick to him and you can’t go wrong.”
“Do you mean to say I haven’t the badge for camping?” the diminutive Raven demanded as he unburdened himself of his various paraphernalia. “Do you mean to say I didn’t study the heavens when I was a tenderfoot?”
“No wonder the stars went out,” Roy said. “Here, take this bag of flour and put it over in the corner. You’re in Camp Merritt now, you have to obey your superior officer. Here, take the spools of thread out of this coffee-pot and kick that big can over here, the one marked dynamite. I’m going to put the sugar in that. Anyone who takes any sugar without permission will be blown up by his patrol leader. Look what you’re doing! Don’t set the pickles on the chocolate. Hand me that bottle of ink before you spill it in the egg powder.”
It was good to see Blythe laughing at Pee-wee’s heroic effort to dispose of the commissary stores which his companions loaded upon him. It was a laugh of simple, genuine pleasure, almost childlike.
“Don’t drop the fly-paper in the flour,” Roy shouted to Pee-wee in frantic warning, as Pee-wee wrestled valiantly under the load of boxes, packages and cans. “Put the cork back in the molasses jug before it spills into the Indian meal.”
“We’ll have home brew,” Westy said.
“You mean home glue,” Roy answered. “Look at him! He’s got the powdered cocoanut all over the bacon!”