Tom and an excited Eddie are invited on a camping trip with Eddie's friend Danny (Teddy Quinn) and his father Dr. Bob Lockwood (Jonathan Daly, "CPO Sharkey", "The Jimmy Stewart Show"). Tom is nervous to go "roughing it" and brings a lot of equipment and items. While setting up camp Bob receives a call that one of his patients is in labor. Tom volunteers to keep the trip going and watch after the boys until he returns. In playing hide-and-go-seek Danny goes missing. Tom and Eddie go through the woodlands in search of him. Tom unknowingly drops the compass shortly before finding Danny. Danny is scared of what his father will say for not marking his trail. The two agree to not tell Bob the mistakes each other made- but will have to safely make it back to camp first. However, an overly stern, military-minded Bob puts down the three of them and announces an abrupt end to the trip. Tom is concerned for the boys' welfare. He and Bob privately discuss what they each think is "building character" with Tom giving a lesson on the relationship between "respect" and "love".
Moral: Respect is meaningless without love.