w, Hervey, my boy," said Mr. Warren, "I don't want you to be angry at
what I say, but the boys are disgruntled and I think you can't blame
them. They set their hearts on having the Eagle award in the troop and
they elected you to bring it to them. I was the first to suggest you. I
think we were all agreed that you had the, what shall I say, the pep and
initiative to go out and get it. You won twenty badges with flying
colors, I don't know how you did it, and now you're falling down all on
account of _one single requirement_.

"Is that fair to the troop, Hervey? Is it fair to yourself? It isn't
lack of ability; if it was I wouldn't speak of it. But it's because you
tire of a thing before it's finished. Think of the things you learned
in winning those twenty badges--the Morse Code, life saving, carpentry
work. How many of those things do you remember now? You have forgotten
them all--lost interest in them all. I said nothing because I knew you
were after the Eagle badge with both hands and feet, but now you see you
have tired of that--right on the threshold of victory. You can't blame
the boys, Hervey, now can you?"

"Tracks are not so easy to find," Hervey said, somewhat subdued.

"They are certainly not easy to find if you don't look for them," Mr.
Warren retorted, not unpleasantly. "I heard a boy in camp say only this
evening that that queer little duck in the Bridgeboro troop had found
some tracks near the lake and started to follow them. There is no pair
of eyes in camp better than yours, Hervey. But you know you can't expect
to find animal tracks down in the village."

"In the village?"

"Two or three of your own patrol saw you down there a week ago, Hervey;
saw you run out of a candy store to follow a runaway horse. You know,
Hervey, horses' tracks aren't the kind you're after. Those boys were
observant. They were on their way to the post office. I heard them
telling Tom Slade about it."

"What did _he_ say--Tom Slade?" Hervey queried.

"Oh, he didn't say anything; he never says much. But I think he likes
you, Hervey, and he'll be disappointed."

"You think he will?"

"You know, Hervey, Tom Slade never won his place by jumping from one
thing to another. The love of adventure and something new is good, but
responsibility to one's troop, to oneself, is more important. How will
your father feel about the bicycle he had looked forward to giving you?
You see, Hervey, you regarded the winning of the Eagle award