CHAPTER III

CASTLES IN THE AIR

The lonesomeness of Robinson Crusoe on his desert island was nothing
compared to the lonesomeness of Pee-wee on that Saturday morning. He
might have attached himself to any of the three patrols and had a day's
pleasure, but his pride had stood in the way.

He had always been something of a free lance in the troop and been
regarded as a troop institution. But there had always been his
official place among the Ravens waiting for him whenever it suited his
wanton fancy to return like a prodigal to the fold. Now, in the
pleasant springtime with the troop divided for the summer rivalries, he
found himself quite isolated.

No one was to blame for this; a scout must be in one patrol or another,
and if all patrols are full then he must make himself the nucleus of a
new one. That is what Mr. Ellsworth had told Pee-wee.

"Gee whiz, nucleuses aren't so easy to be, that's one thing," Pee-wee
muttered to himself as he bent his aimless way in the direction of
Barrel Alley. "Maybe he thinks it's easy to be a nucleus. Nucleuses
are hard to be, I'll tell the world. Anyway I can be a pioneer scout,
that's one thing. You don't have to be a nucleus or anything to be one
of those. They don't have to bother with patrols, they don't, they're
lucky."