CHAPTER XXIV—THE THREE OF US
That was the match! Talk about your baseball matches and your rowing matches. That was the world renowned parlor match. The great inventor got out just in time, with his ammunition. You know the rest.
He didn’t know how much depended on our finding him and on his telling the truth. But anyway, he didn’t seem to know about it being so serious to set a building on fire-I knew we wouldn’t have any trouble making him say what he did. Gee, he seemed to like to tell about it.
We were sitting in the car after dark on that Sunday night, when he told us about his career of glory. He didn’t tell us the way I told it to you. We had to keep asking him questions and that’s how we got it out of him. He was an awful funny kid. When he made believe about something he talked as if that thing just really happened. He said we could be partners with him in his new submarine if we wanted to.
I said, “Thanks just the same, but I’ve got the Silver Fox patrol on my hands and that’s enough.” Believe me, that’s a whole world war in itself.
He said we’d divide up the thousand dollars.
“Sure,” I told him, “and we’ll buy a couple of tons of matches.”
He seemed to think that now we were friends with him he’d never have to go back to the Home.
He asked us, “Are we going to live in this car?”
I said, “You’ve got in with a tribe of wild scouts. Do you know what they are? They inhabit the marshes and the woods and the candy stores and ice cream parlors——”
“We have ice cream every Sunday,” he piped up. “But only one helping. We have doughnuts, too. Do they inhabit the river?” he wanted to know.
“Who? The doughnuts?” I asked him. “Not the ones around here. They inhabit the bakery stores.”
He said, “After I invent that submarine I’m going to invent an engine.”
Westy said, “What do you say we invent some supper?”
So then Westy and I went out on the platform of the car. We told the inventor to stay inside.
I said, “What are we going to do about this kid? I don’t want to take him to my house because I don’t want anybody to know yet. But if we go home to supper and leave him here he’ll invent a way to escape.”
“Or else he’ll set fire to the car,” Westy said.
“Once we hand this kid over,” I said, “that lets us out of the arson business and it also lets Charlie Slausen out. And we’ll get three hundred dollars’ reward, too, for finding the inventor.”
“I don’t care anything about that,” Westy said; “and I’m not worrying so much about our being accused. It’s all going to fall on Charlie when they make us talk.”
“Believe me,” I told him, “when they see this kid and his box of matches that will let Charlie out. I guess they won’t ask us any questions.”
Westy said, “What shall we do? Take him to court in the morning?”
“Sure,” I said, “matches and all. It won’t make any difference who didn’t start the fire as long as they know who did. You leave it to me, my father’s uncle on my mother’s side was a lawyer. What we have to do is to keep the inventor under cover till to-morrow.”
“I hate like the dickens to see him go back to the Home,” Westy said.
“You leave that to me, too,” I told him. “I’m an inventor. Come on over to Tony’s and we’ll get some eats for the poor kid.”
Westy stayed in the car with him while I went over. I got some soup in a pail and I got some sandwiches and a big piece of pie, and a hole with a doughnut around it to remind the kid of home sweet home. When I saw the way he could eat I nearly fainted. After he got through the only thing that was left was the hole in the doughnut—good night!
After a while I said, “Now you’re going to sleep here in this submarine to-night. We’re going to shut the doors so the water won’t come in. We’re going to leave one window open so in case the water comes in it can get out again. You’re supposed to sleep here and guard the place against whales. Understand? We’re going to go and see if we can find some ships to sink. You’re supposed to stay here till we get back. If you wake up stay right here and we’ll be back early in the morning. If there isn’t enough water to go down in, you’ll find some in the water cooler. If you want to make believe you’re on a desert isle, step out in the aisle. But don’t go till we get back because we’re going to plan a big attack on the Court House to-morrow morning and we want you with us.”
“I’ll bring the matches, hey?” he said, “and we’ll——”
“Thanks,” I told him; “we’ll take care of the matches. Let’s have them, please. They may get wet under the ocean. You roll up on the seat and go to sleep, and maybe to-morrow we’ll elect you king.” He was asleep before we left him.
“One thing I’m thankful for,” said Westy, as we started home.
“What’s that?” I asked him.
“That the new Court House is fire-proof,” he said.