there without you----"

"I told you you wouldn't lose anything," Tom said dully.

"Yes, and it's a--it's a _lie_," Roy almost sobbed. "We're losing _you_,
aren't we? We're losing everything--and it's all _my_ fault. You--you
said we wouldn't lose anything, but we _are_. Can't you see we are?
You've got to come back, Tom--or I'm going home with you--you old--you
old brick! Barnard wants you, we _all_ want you. We haven't got any
scoutmaster if you don't come back--we haven't."

Tom Slade who had chopped down trees and dragged them up the hill, found
it hard to answer.

"I'll go back," he finally said, "as long as you ask me."

* * * * *

And so, in that pleasant afternoon, they followed the trail back to camp
together, just as they had hiked together so many times before. And they
talked of Peewee and the troop and joked about there not being anything
left to eat when they got there, and Roy said what a fine fellow Barnard
was, and Tom Slade said how he always liked fellows with red hair. He
said he thought you could trust them....

Let us hope he was right.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE TOM SLADE BOOKS

By PERCY KEESE FITZHUGH

Author of the ROY BLAKELEY BOOKS

May be had wherever books are sold. Ask for Grosset and Dunlap's list.

The Tom Slade books have the official endorsement and recommendation of
THE BOY SCOUTS OF AMERICA. In vivid story form they tell of Boy Scout
ways, and how they help a fellow grow into a manhood of which America
may be proud.

Tom Slade, Boy Scout

Tom Slade lived in Barrel Alley. The story of his thrilling Scout
experiences, how he was gradually changed from the street gangster into
a First Class Scout, is told in almost as moving and stirring a way as
the same narrative related in motion pictures.

Tom Slade at Temple Camp

The boys are at a summer camp in the Adirondack woods, and Tom enters
heart and soul into the work of making possible to other boys the
opportunities in woodcraft and adventure of which he himself has already
had a taste.

Tom Slade on the River

A carrier pigeon falls into the camp of the Bridgeboro Troop of Boy
Scoots. Attached to the bird's leg is a message which starts Tom and his
friends on a search that culminates in a rescue and a surprising
discovery. The boys have great sport on the river, cruising in the
"Honor Scout."

Tom Slade With the Colors A