“I want to see somebody in authority,” says Mr. Long Neck.
“I’m the b-b-best we got,” says Mark, smiling sweet as honey.
The man looked all around and didn’t see anybody older than we were, so I guess he must have believed Mark. He took hold of the end of his nose and bent it back and forth a couple of times as if he expected it was going to help him talk better.
“I,” says he, “am Jehoshaphat P. Skip. The P. stands for Petronius.”
“I know him,” says I before I could think. “He’s in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire. Mark’s father knows that by heart.”
“Huh!” Mr. Long Neck sniffed.
Mark looked at me out of the corner of his eye, and after that I kept still.
“P-p-pleased to meet you,” says Mark. “What can I do for you?”
Mr. Skip straightened up and lengthened his neck till he looked as dignified as a turkey gobbler. “I,” says he, “am the sole proprietor of the Gigantic Five-and-Ten-Cent Stores, a branch of which is now being located in your village.”
You could see right off that Mr. Skip wouldn’t start to argue with anybody who said he was a great man.