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 to go to that’ll understand! What am I goin’ to do? Just answer me that! What am I goin’ to do!”

Suddenly Jamie found himself taking the woebegone face before him between his hands; he found himself laying it against his face, first on one side and then on the other; he found himself hugging the frail body until he knew he was almost cracking the bones in it, and deep and husky he heard his own voice saying: “You come straight to me! When you’ve got a secret you want kept, when any one doesn’t seem to understand and some of the bunch will not play fair and things go wrong, you come to me!”

Instantly the little Scout struggled away from him. Jamie met a level gaze of such depth and appeal as he never before had encountered in human eyes.

“Honest to God?” said the little Scout. “Tear out your heart, cut it in pieces, and cast it to the four winds of the heavens?”

“Whose lodge ritual have you been reading?” asked Jamie.

“Dad’s,” said the little Scout, calmly, “only we made ours as much worse as we could.” Then his fingers tightened again.

“Honest? On the level, do you really mean it?”

“Honest. On the level. Swear over my heart,” said Jamie. “Hold up my right hand and take the oath before the Almighty! I’ll always be your friend. I’ll keep any secret you tell me. I’ll do anything in all the world that I can at any time, at any place, to help you.”