an Eagle Scout. Gee, I don't want all my work to go for nothing."

"You want what you want when you want it, don't you?" Tom said, smiling
a little.

"It's on account of my troop, too," Hervey said. "It isn't just myself
that I'm thinking about. Jiminies, maybe I didn't choose the best ones,
you know more about the handbook than I do, that's sure, and I suppose
that one badge was just as easy as another to _you_. Maybe you think I
just chose easy ones, hey?"

"Well, what's on your mind?" Tom said.

"Do you know where there are any wild animal tracks?" Hervey blurted out
with amusing simplicity. "I don't mean just exactly where, but do you
know a good place to hunt for any? A couple of fellows told me you would
know, because you know everything of that sort. So I thought maybe you
could give me a tip where to look. I found a horseshoe last night so
maybe I'll be lucky. All I want is to get started on a trail."

"Sometimes there are different trails and they take you to the same
place," Tom said.

No doubt this was one of the sort of remarks that Tom was famous for
making which had either no particular meaning or a meaning poorly
expressed.

Hervey stared at him for a few seconds, then said, "I don't care whether
it's easy or hard, if that's what you mean. Is it true that there are
wild cats up in these mountains?"