And still, with spirits drooping, with the whole foundation of their happiness rudely knocked from under them as it seemed, they stood gazing at these pictures of their friend. This murderer. Here was another murder to add to that former one in Canada. The murder of all their hopes and plans.... The killing of a friendship.
They heard the man behind the lock-boxes come through the little gate. They heard the gate swing shut. They felt a presence near them.
“Well, what do you find to interest you, boys?” they heard a drawling voice ask.
“We were–we were just wishing that we had been at the strawberry festival–the one a year ago last June,” replied Warde Hollister.
CHAPTER XVIII
THE TEST
The three scouts took their way along the road in silence. Pee-wee was subdued and even Roy sobered. Warde alone seemed composed. Perhaps none of them had realized until now how much they had grown to like young Blythe. And this appalling revelation was the sequel, the end, of that merry, novel camping adventure. They were not fired by the dramatic character of their discovery; they were just cast down. This was what it had all come to....
Pee-wee was the first to regain some of his former spirit. “Just the same, maybe that fellow’s mother will get the letter,” said he; “so that’s one good thing. And later we’re going to Temple Camp, that’s another. And Warde is a first class scout, so gee whiz, we ought to be all good and glad, that’s sure.” But for all that, Pee-wee did not seem good and glad.
He tried again. “A fellow ought to be glad when he gets to be a first class scout, that’s one sure thing. Even if I were in the Silver Foxes I’d be glad. And anyway it’s good you had your fourteen mile hike to-day because now you can let Mr. Ellsworth and the local council know and he can go over the ground Sunday. That’s the way he usually does. You can write up your account to-morrow and the next day. Then you can try for any merit badge you want. I bet you’ll get a lot of them. I bet your father will be glad when you tell him you’re in the first class, hey?... I bet Roy will be proud, too,” he added.
Roy made no response, only walked along silently.