by Stan
But the most important thing on the honor wall was the Bear Scout Oath. This is what it looked like, and this is what it said.
Chapter 3
A Letter for Gus
The Bear Scout Oath hung on the wall of Scout Leader Jane’s office as well. It was exactly the same, except for one thing. There were five names at the bottom instead of four. The fifth name was that of Scout Leader Jane.
Jane was proud of her troop. One of the things she was most proud of was the way they did things on their own. Take merit badges, for instance. They got them the old-fashioned way: They earned them.
Leader Jane got up from her desk and took a book from the shelves. It was the Official Bear Scout Handbook. “Hmm,” she said. “Let’s see what you have to do to earn the Good Government Merit Badge.” Jane read aloud, “The Good Government Badge can be earned in a number of ways: one, by studying the workings of government; two, by helping during an election; three, by interviewing at least three important government officials. The troop will then report to the troop leader. The leader will decide whether or not to award the Good Government Merit Badge.”
The scouts thought it over. They couldn’t choose “helping during an election” because it wasn’t election time. They couldn’t interview three important government officials because Beartown didn’t have three important officials. It had only two: Mayor Horace J. Honeypot and Chief of Police Bruno.
“I guess studying the workings of government is all that’s left,” said Scout Sister. “But how are we going to do that?”
“You will do that by going to an important meeting at Town Hall this evening,” said Jane. She took a piece of Bear Scout letter paper and began writing.
“Say, wait a minute,” said Scout Fred. “I know about that meeting. My parents are going to it. But they couldn’t find a sitter because everybody else is going to that meeting, too.”
“Our parents were having the same problem,” said Scout Brother.
“Mine too,” said Scout Lizzy.
“Well,” said Jane, “they won’t need sitters, because you’ll be going, too. They don’t usually allow cubs at town meetings. So here’s a letter telling Gus the doorkeeper to let you in. He was in my class when he was a cub. He knows better than to not do what I say.”
“Leader Jane?” said Sister.
“Yes, Scout Sister.”
“What’s this big important meeting about?”
“You’ll find that out soon enough,” said Jane.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
STAN AND JAN BERENSTAIN began writing the Berenstain Bears series in 1962, with The Big Honey Hunt. Since then, more than 250 Berenstain Bears books have been published and sales of the series are nearing 300 million. Stan and Jan have left behind a legacy of arguably the best-selling children’s book series ever. Making the books has long been a family affair, with son Mike Berenstain writing and illustrating new stories about everyone’s favorite bear family. You can visit the Berenstains online at www.berenstainbears.com.
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COPYRIGHT
THE BERENSTAIN BEAR IN MANIAC MANSION. Copyright © 1996 by Stan and Jan Berenstain. Berenstain Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition June 2013 ISBN 9780062189042
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
Originally published in 1996 by Scholastic Inc.
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