ther suddenly at
the ground floor it gave him exactly the same feeling that he had
experienced while he talked to Miss Ellison....

Roscoe Bent was not at his desk as he passed the teller's window and
glanced through it, but he did not think much of that, for it was early
in the day and the sprightly Roscoe might be in any one of a dozen
places thereabout. He might be up in the Temple Camp office, even.

John Temple, founder of Temple Camp and president of the bank, sat at
his sumptuous desk in his sumptuous office and motioned Tom to one of
the big leather chairs, the luxuriousness of which disconcerted him
almost as much as had Miss Ellison's friendliness.

"I told Margaret to send you down as soon as you came in, Tom," said Mr.
Temple, as he opened his mail. "I want to get this matter off my mind
before I forget it. You know that General Merrill is going to be here
to-night, I suppose?"

"I heard the committee was trying to get him."

"Well, they've got him, and the governor's going to be here, too; did
you hear that?"

"No, sir, I didn't," said Tom, surprised.

"I've just got word from his secretary that he can spend an hour in our
little berg and say a few words at the meeting to-night. Now listen
carefully, my boy, for I've only a few minutes to talk to you. This
thing necessitates some eleventh-hour preparation. The plan is to have a
member from every local organization in town to form a committee to
receive the governor and the general. That's about all there is to it.

"There's the Board of Trade, and the Community Council, and--let's
see--the churches and the Home Defense and the Red Cross and the
Daughters of Liberty and the Citizens' Club, and the Boy Scouts."

Already Tom felt flattered.

"Each of these organizations has designated one of its members to act on
the committee. I had Mr. Ellsworth on the phone this morning and told
him he'd have to represent the scouts. He said he'd do no such
thing--that he wasn't a boy scout."

"He's the best scout of all of us," said Tom.

"_He_ says you're the best," retorted Mr. Temple; "so there you are."

"Roy's got twice as many merit badges as I have," said Tom.

"Well, you've got long trousers, anyway," said Mr. Temple, "and Mr.
Ellsworth says you're the representative scout, so I guess you're in for
it."

"_M-me?_"

"Now, pay attention. You're to knock off work at the registration places
at five o'clock and go up to the Community Council rooms, w