that’s always the way it is with pee-wee. all of a sudden he springs a big idea. mr. ellsworth (he’s our scoutmaster) says pee-wee’s good turns are planned on a large scale. they’re masterpieces, that’s what mr. ellsworth says. and this one i’m telling you about was especially good because it was kind of crazy.
hervey said, “that’s just what we want, a good climax for this funny-bone hike. we’ll wind up in a blaze of glory.”
“the end of a perfect day,” bert said.
the man said he guessed we must have had a lot of fun.
“we’ve got a lot left, too,” i told him; “we’ve got enough to last a couple of weeks. we never knew when we started out how many dandy misfortunes there are. i bet we had more fun starving than anybody else ever did.” then i said; “hey, mister, what’s your name?”
he said his name was goobenhoff but he wouldn’t tell us his front name because we couldn’t pronounce it.
i said, “tell it to us without pronouncing it.”
he said, “when you go on a hike it’s good to have a destination.”
hervey said, “sure it is, because then we know where not to go. we never start out without taking a destination with us.”
after a little while the jitney bus came along from the other direction and we all set up a shout. darby curren was driving it and scouts were sticking their heads out of the windows. gee whiz, maybe what we were going to do was crazy, but when i saw the faces of those fellows i said, “crazy things are all right; as long as a thing is a good turn it doesn’t matter.”
gee, i didn’t blame the camp committee because they couldn’t help the camp being crowded, and troops are supposed to fix it up about their cabins a long time ahead, but just the same it seemed funny as long as scouts are all brothers that those fellows should have to go to another camp, because believe me, there’s only one place and that is temple camp. i guess you know yourselves what fun we have there.
i said to the fellows, “this funny-bone hike is going to end in something worth while or else the whole day is lost.”
“let it be lost,” hervey said; “there’s a lot of fun being lost.”
i said, “pee-wee, this is your job, go to it.” the kid stepped right out into the middle of the road, very brave and daring. all the while he was pulling up his stocking; it was awful funny to see him. mr. goobenhoff just laughed and laughed. i guess he was having a lot of fun too.
pee-wee held up his hand like a traffic cop and shouted, “stop! in the name of the funny-bone hikers of the boy scouts of america, stop! wait a second till i fix my garter.”
darby shouted, “hello, scout harris; what’s the matter with your face?”
“it’s supposed to be invincible,” the kid shouted. “stop where you are!”
“your mouth is all black,” darby said.
“i was eating a roasted potato,” pee-wee said. “who have you got in that bus?”
“is this a hold-up?” darby wanted to know. “i haven’t got anything with me but a cheese sandwich.”
“give it to me,” the kid shouted.
“give it to me,” garry said.
by that time mr. goobenhoff was laughing so hard he just shook, and darby was laughing too. in a couple of seconds about seven or eight scouts came pell-mell out of the bus to see what all the fuss was about. there was a man with them, he was their scoutmaster, and he was smiling and looking kind of surprised.
i guess it must have seemed funny when they saw that garage and saw us standing there in the road. we were all kind of dirty and shabby after our adventures and hervey willetts had on that funny hat he always wears with holes cut in it and advertising buttons all over it. it was cocked away over on the side of his head and he was balancing a stick on his nose.
pee-wee shouted at him, “take that stick down. don’t you know how bandits act? you’re supposed to look savage.”
i gave one look at poor little willie cook trying to look savage, and then i doubled up. pee-wee had black all around his mouth and he was swinging his belt-axe; he looked awful funny.
he stood right in front of the bus and shouted, “who are you and why? we captured a portable garage! do you think we can’t capture a jitney bus? nobody can pass this spot. we’re here to do a good turn whether you want us to or not. we’re wild and savage, we live on fish and milk chocolate and we were starving on a desert drawbridge. hold up your hands and make the scout salute. to-night you sleep at temple camp. has anybody got a piece of string? my garter’s busted.”
