Wig-wag Weigand did not fail to advertise Wilfred to the patrol members that very evening. He did this while they sprawled about their cabin waiting for the darkness before they went down to camp-fire. “He’s one of those quiet, kind of bashful fellows,” said Wig; “but, oh, boy, Tom Slade wished a winner onto us all right.”
“Now you see him, now you don’t,” commented Grove Bronson.
“I suppose you don’t know that a hero is always modest,” Wig shot back, rather disgusted.
“I don’t know, I was never a hero,” said Grove.
“I was, a lot of times!” shouted Pee-wee Harris. “And they are, so that proves it. Do you think heroes don’t have to go and take walks? That shows how much you know about them?”
“I never saw that fellow in a hurry,” observed El Sawyer.
“Heroes don’t have to hurry,” yelled Pee-wee. “People that run for cars, do you call them heroes?”
“Well, speaking of heroes,” said Wig. “That fellow came to Bridgeboro from Connecti——
“I don’t blame him,” said Grove.
“All right,” said Wig, “if you took as much trouble about him as I do, you’d learn something. He lived near a beach that’s near New Haven, that fellow did and he thinks nothing of swimming a couple of miles or so.” With the true spirit of the advance agent, Wig made it rather strong. “He used to live in the salt water, that fellow did. I had to pump it out of him——”
“What, the salt water?” Grove asked.
“No, the fact,” said Wig.
“Oh.”
“And I can tell you, even from what little he told me, that if we want the Mary Temple award in this patrol——”
“Yes?” queried Artie Van Arlen, suddenly interested.
“We’d better get busy with that fellow,” said Wig. “You fellows wanted me to swim for it—but nothing doing. Not while he’s around to see me lose it—nit, not. Why, did you notice that scarf pin that he wears?”
“He didn’t even get a patrol scarf yet,” said El Sawyer. “You’d think he’d do that much——”
“Keep still,” said Artie. “What about the scarf pin?”
“Heroes don’t have to have a lot of money,” shouted Pee-wee.
“Will you keep quiet?” demanded Artie. “What about the pin?”
“It was a present for saving a fellow’s life,” said Wig, highly conscious of the impression he was making; “he swam out and saved the fellow from drowning.”
“He told you that?” Grove asked.
“He didn’t exactly tell me, he admitted it. The fellow he saved is here in camp and you can go and ask him. He’s in that New Haven outfit we ............