"I'd have got all the way down to Jonesville, if it hadn't been for the conductor. He was some old grouch, believe me."
"Then we had a little talk—you remember. You promised to be here at meal times. Look at Mr. Ellsworth's troop, Harris, Blakeley and those boys. Always on hand for meals——"
"I'll say so; they're some hungry bunch," Hervey commented.
"And you gave me your word that you wouldn't leave camp without my permission. You think as little about breaking your word as you do about breaking your leg, Hervey," Mr. Denny added with sober emphasis.
Hervey began poking the ground again with his stick.
"That's just the truth, Hervey. And it can't go on any longer."
"Am I out of the troop?" Hervey asked, wistfully.
"N—no, you're not. But I want you to learn to be as good a scout in one way as you are in another. You have won merit badges with an ease which is surprising to me——"
"They're a cinch," Hervey interrupted.
"I want you to go home and stop doing stunts and read the handbook. I want you to read the oath and the scout laws, so that when the rest of us come home you can give me your hand and say, 'I'm an all round scout, not just a doer of stunts.'"