A little way down the road she turned and waved her hand, and he realized that if he were going to make any acknowledgment it would have to be done now. So he mastered his embarra.s.sment as best he could, raised his hand awkwardly to his lips and threw a kiss to Mary Temple!
He had scarcely turned and started after the little cavalcade when he stumbled into Roy.
"I was just coming to see where you were."
"Well, you took it, didn"t you?" Roy added, as they walked along together.
"Took what?"
"Something for a service."
"I--I couldn"t help myself," said Tom.
For answer Roy gave him a shove and laughed outright. "So your Uncle Dudley was right and you broke the scout law after all--ya-a-ah-a!"
They walked a little way in silence.
"Well, anyway," Roy said, "you can say you tossed it back, can"t you?"
""Twasn"t her ball."
"It was much better than a ball."
"How do you know what I took and what I tossed back?"
"A scout is observant," said Roy.
THE END