The assembly hall of the Bridgeboro High School presented a gala scene. The whole thing had come about unexpectedly; it had been an “inspiration” as Pee-wee would have said. The local newspaper at the instigation of several public-spirited individuals and organizations of town, had stirred up a festival spirit in the interest of the Boy Scouts which must have surprised the kindly gentlemen of the Rotary Club who had certainly never expected that the award they had offered would be made the occasion of a public rally. But Mrs. Gibson of the Woman’s Club had seen the opportunity for a “real Scout night,” and the giving of the coveted award had been hooked up with a well-planned rally. The Rotary Club was in it, the Woman’s Club was in it, the Campfire Girls were in it, the Y.M.C.A. was in it, and Pee-wee Harris was in it. He was not only in it, he was all over it. Most of the troops in the county had lately returned from their summer outings and they blew into Bridgeboro, tanned and enthusiastic. Not all troops had elected candidates for the great award, but all were interested. It was Scout Night in Bridgeboro.
“Our troop is going to sit in the front row,” shouted Pee-wee; “and listen—everybody keep still—listen—when Warde gets called up on the stage—that’s the way they’re going to do—when he—shut up and listen—when he gets called up on the stage, don’t start shouting till I do. When I shout——”
“I never heard you stop shouting,” said Roy.
“I have to start in order to stop, don’t I?” Pee-wee roared. “How can I shout without being still first?”
“How are you going to get still?” Roy shot back.
“You leave it to me,” yelled Pee-wee. “Don’t anybody shout till I do. Then when I start everybody shout—wait a minute—this is what you all have to shout:
Yell, yell, yell,
Yell, yell, yell,
Yell, yell, yell,
Yellowstone!
I invented it because it’s got a lot of yells in it.”
“He thinks Yellowstone Park is named after a yell,” shouted Roy.
The First Bridgeboro Troop did sit in the front row and for a while Pee-wee was silent—while he finished eating an apple. The first six or eight rows were fill............