“What did he say—Tom Slade?” Hervey queried.
“Oh, he didn’t say anything; he never says much. But I think he likes you, Hervey, and he’ll be disappointed.”
“You think he will?”
“You know, Hervey, Tom Slade never won his place by jumping from one thing to another. The love of adventure and something new is good, but responsibility to one’s troop, to oneself, is more important. How will your father feel about the bicycle he had looked forward to giving you? You see, Hervey, you regarded the winning of the Eagle award as an adventure, whereas the troop regarded it as a commission—a commission entailing responsibility.”
“I’m not so stuck on eagles,” said Hervey, repeating Tom Slade’s very words. “There might be something better than the Eagle award, you can’t tell.”
“Oh, Hervey, my boy, don’t talk like that, and above all, don’t let the boys hear you talk like that. There’s nothing better than to finish what you begin—nothing. You know, Hervey, I understand you thoroughly. You’re a wizard for stunts, but you’re weak on responsibility. Now you’ve got some new stunt on your mind, and the troop doesn’t count. Am I right?”
Hervey did not answer.
“And now the chance has nearly passed. Tomorrow we all go to the college regatta on the Hudson, the next day is camp clean-up and we’ve all got to work, and the next night, awards. Even if you were to do the unexpected now, I don’t know whether we could get the matter through and passed on for Saturday night. I’m disappointed with you, Hervey, and so are the boys. We all expected to see Mr. Temple hand you the Eagle badge on Saturday night. I expected to send your father a wire. Walley has been planning to take our picture as an Eagle troop.”
“Well, and you’ll all be disappointed,” said Hervey with a kind of heedlessness that nettled his scoutmaster. “And if anybody should ask you about it, any of the troop, you can just say that I found out something and that I’m not so stuck on the Eagle award, after all. That’s what you can tell them.”
“Well, I will tell them no such thing, for I would be ashamed to tell them that. I think we all know what the highest honor is. Perhaps the boys are not such reckless young adventurers as you, but they know what the highest scout honor is. And I think if you will be perfectly honest with me, Hervey, you’ll acknowledge that something new has caught your fancy. Come now, isn’t that right?”