e had collected,
and how careful he had to be in making change. Don listened nervously. By
and by he struck a match and glanced at his watch.

"Quarter past eight," he said.

"How about starting?" said Andy.

Don led the patrol indoors. The dining-room lamp shed a soft glow over
the table. Chairs were drawn up, and at each place was a sharpened pencil
and a few sheets of paper.

"I'll bet Barbara thought of that," said Andy,

At any other time praise of Barbara would have brought a quick smile to
Don's face. Now, however, he sat down soberly and gave the order to call
the roll. Andy cleared his throat.

"Patrol Leader Strong."

"Here," said Don.

"Assistant Patrol Leader Ford. No doubt about me being here."

"Scout Davidson."

"Here," said Alex.

"Scout Ritter."

"Here."

"Scout Lally."

Silence.

All at once an uneasy feeling crept around the table. Alex forgot his
business adventures of the day and glanced quickly from face to face.

"Tim may come later," he said.

Don looked at Bobbie. "Did you tell him?"

Bobbie nodded.

"What did he say?"

"N--nothing."

Every scout knew at once that Tim had said something. Don shut his lips
tightly.

"I guess Tim forgot," Andy suggested.

Don grasped at this straw. Not that he believed it, for he didn't; but it
gave him a chance to ease the tension. He forced a smile and said that
Tim might come bolting in at the last minute. The moment the roll call
was completed, he turned the talk to the Scoutmaster's Cup. He didn't
want to give the scouts a chance to sit there and think.

"We're in the lead now," he said, "and it's up to us to stay there. It
will be easy if every fellow will do his part. Attend every meeting and
come ready for inspection. When Mr. Wall gives us a job to do as a
patrol, let us dig in and do it right. And let us work hard so that we'll
stand a good chance of winning the monthly contests."

"The first contest is easy," said Ritter. "We all know our first aid."

"We know it," said Don. "But can we do it? That's what counts."

"It's like riding a bicycle," Ritter argued. "You never forget."

Don had not expected anything like this. He didn't want the patrol to be
cocksure--he wanted it to work. But there would be small chance of work
if each scout was going to think that practice was unnecessary.

"Wait until I get some bandages," he said. He ran up to his room and came
down with a little white roll. Ritter smiled confidently