The Berenstain Bear Scouts and the Evil Eye by Stan & Jan Berenstain Page B

doesn’t sound as exciting as some of the other merit badges you’ve earned,” the professor had said. “But soil conservation is very important. We can’t afford to lose it.”
    â€œLose what?” asked Sister.
    â€œThe soil,” said Actual Factual.
    â€œThe soil?” said Sister. “How can we lose the soil? It just lies there.”
    â€œNot always,” said the professor. “As a matter of fact, we’re losing soil every day. It’s washing off the riverbanks into the river. We’re losing it off the mountainsides.”
    â€œIs that why we’re having all those landslides in the mountains?” asked Fred.
    â€œExactly!” said the professor. “I’m working on the riverbank problem. I’m trying to find out if there are any plants that can hold the soil when the big rains come.”
    â€œHow is it going so far?” asked Sister.
    â€œIt’s trial and error—mostly error. But I’m making progress,” said the professor. “I plant little patches of different kinds of plants, wait for a big rain, then go see which plants hold their ground.” The scouts thought about that for a moment. “I know it doesn’t sound very thrilling,” he said. “But science isn’t all great inventions and wonderful theories. Science is mostly hard work. Trying this, that, and the other until you find something that works.”
    â€œWe understand, professor, and we’d like to work with you on the river,” said Brother.
    â€œRight,” said Fred. “I can work on my stone-skipping—I’m up to three skips.”
    â€œAnd we can bring our bathing suits,” said Sister.
    â€œAnd I can touch base with my friends the frogs and the dragonflies,” said Lizzy.
    â€œAh, but you won’t be working on the river helping me save the riverbank soil,” said the professor. “You’ll be working high in the mountains saving mountain soil.”
    â€œOh,” said Brother.
    â€œThat’s right,” said Actual Factual. “You’ll be doing original research, testing which plants can hold that thin mountain soil in place. It’ll be a real challenge. Working in the mountains is difficult at best. It’s going to take some real study. The library would be a good place to start. Well, what do you think? Will you do it?”
    The scouts huddled for a moment. Then Brother, who often spoke for the scouts, said,

Chapter 4
The Flag Is Up
    Ralph had just been putting on a show for the scouts. All that strutting and cane twirling had been a front. As soon as the scouts headed back to the library, the spring went out of his step and the twirl went out of his cane. Even the forest animals knew Ralph wasn’t himself as he shuffled along the path to the river. It wasn’t until he got close to the riverbank where his houseboat was moored that he quickened his step.
    Except that “moored” wasn’t exactly the right word. “Stuck” was the right word. The backwater where Ralph kept his houseboat was so filled with soil that had washed from the riverbank that it had turned to mud.
    But it wasn’t the sight of his stuck-in-the-mud houseboat that caused Ralph to quicken his step. It was the flag on his mailbox. It was in the up position, which meant there was mail in the box. And you never knew with mail. It could mean anything. It could mean that one of his big-time swindler friends needed his help on some scheme to sell gold bricks or fake diamonds. Or it could mean nothing.
    In this case, it meant nothing. Because the only thing in his mailbox was this month’s copy of Swindler’s Magazine. Ralph didn’t even bother to open it. It would just have the same tired ads for loaded dice, marked cards, and sucker lists of widows and orphans. What Ralph needed wasn’t loaded dice, marked cards, and sucker lists. What Ralph needed was to regain