Page 11 - Save the Last Dance for Me

play and not about learning. You give them an

inch, and they’ll take a mile.”
All these statements struck fear into my heart.

I, too, had done a lot of training, but I was the

opposite. The more I learned, the less I felt I knew
about running a scout troop. But Harry’s

confidence, in turn, increased that of everyone else

on our committee.
Now, I will not sugarcoat reality and say we

had perfect boys. The young men in our troop

were typical farm boys. They worked hard and,

when they had time off, they wanted to play hard.
Most changed pipe early in the morning and late in

the evening, and during the day they worked hard

on other farm labor. Scout meetings were not a
formal affair, and wearing a uniform was

something they only planned to do at a court of

honor, if then.

Harry had been to hundreds of scout training
sessions, but nothing could prepare him for the

resistance he met in the boys the first night as he

tried to cajole, bribe, joke, and threaten them into
wearing their uniforms. I stayed for a short time,

but I had to leave for a meeting.

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