"I guess I seem like just a sort of kid to you with my twenty merits--twenty and two-thirds.

Maybe some girl is wearing your Distinguished Service Cross, for all I know.

But we fellows are crazy to have the Eagle award in our troop.

I suppose of course you're an Eagle Scout ?" "I guess that was about three or four years ago," Tom said.
"Once a scout, always a scout, hey ?" "That's it," Tom said.
They strolled along in silence for a few minutes, Hervey occasionally stealing a side glimpse at his elder, who ambled on, apparently unconscious of these admiring glances.

Now and again Tom paused to examine a patch of moss or some little tell-tale mark upon the ground, as if he had no knowledge of his companion's presence.