"Pretty work," he said. "That will be all." The contestants walked back to their troops, and he figured on a pad.
"Wonder if he'll tell us now," whispered Bobbie.
"Of course he will," Andy answered. "That's what makes things exciting, knowing that you are behind or ahead—"
"Sssh!" Don cautioned.
"I'll award the points now," said Mr. Wall. "Later you can look over my scoring pad and see how I scored each individual test. Wolf patrol five points—"
"Wow!" yelled Bobbie.
Andy dug him in the ribs. "Shut up, you shrimp. Want Mr. Wall to put us out?"
But Mr. Wall only smiled at the excited scout. "—Eagles," he went on, "three points, and Foxes, one point."
The Foxes seemed glum. The Eagles clamored about their patrol leader. Don felt like dancing.
"Fine start," he said to Tim; and Tim nodded and swallowed a lump in his throat.