m to stay in--in Wolf patrol, sir?" he stammered
incredulously.

The scoutmaster nodded. "It's the only vacancy. Both the others are
filled. Ranny will show you where your place is, and then we'll proceed
with the drill."

With face a little flushed, the tenderfoot turned and took a few steps
toward the head of the line. Just what he expected from his hero he could
not have said. Perhaps he vaguely felt that Phelps would step forward
and shake his hand, or at least greet the new-comer with a welcoming
smile. But Ranny did not stir from his place. Stiff and straight he
stood there, and as Tompkins paused hesitatingly, the shapely lips
curled unpleasantly at the corners, and the gray eyes ranged slowly
over him from head to heel and back again in a manner that sent the
blood surging into the boy's face and brought his lids down abruptly to
hide the swift surprise and hurt that flashed into his brown eyes.

"At the end of the line, tenderfoot," ordered Phelps, curtly. "And don't
be all day about it!"

The latter words were in an undertone which could not well have reached
beyond the ears of the lad for whom they were intended. The chill
unfriendliness of the whole remark affected Dale Tompkins much like a
douche of ice-cold water. With head suddenly erect and lips compressed,
he swiftly took his place at the end of the patrol, next to a plump,
red-cheeked boy named Vedder, who, save for a brief, swiftly averted
side-glance, gave no further evidence of welcome than had the leader.

In the brief pause that followed while the assistant patrol-leaders
procured staves and distributed them, the tenderfoot tried to solve
the problem. What was the matter? he asked himself in troubled
bewilderment. What had he done that was wrong? Naturally a cheerful,
friendly soul, he could not imagine himself, were their positions
reversed, treating a stranger with such chill formality. But perhaps
he had expected too much. After all, there was no reason why the
fellows should break ranks in the middle of meeting and fall on his
neck, when not more than a third of the crowd had ever spoken to him
before. For a moment he had forgotten that while he had long ardently
admired Ranny Phelps from afar, the blond chap had probably never even
heard his name before. It would be different when they came to know
each other.

Cheered by this thought, Dale braced up and flung himself with
characteristic ardor into acquiring the various movements of th