Pee Wee was so full of tickle that he was not sleepy! His father and mother had been up for the regatta, and were staying at the Rockledge Hotel until the school closed for the year.
Mr. Wise was a rich man and he could afford to do about anything that Pee Wee wanted him to do. There was something now on Pee Wee's mind and, as Fred said, "he'd have to get it out of his system or he couldn't go to sleep."
"Wait till the other boys are asleep," whispered the fat boy. "I'm going to keep pinching Mouser so he'll keep awake. You fellows pinch each other."
The beds of Bobby and Fred, and Pee Wee and Mouser Pryde, were side by side. It rather tickled Bobby and Fred to think they should keep each other awake in the way the fat boy suggested; but that he carried it out in Mouser's case was very evident from the occasional grunts and objections from the latter.
The chums from Clinton kept themselves awake by asking each other riddles, and telling stories. Fred had one "giggly" joke that went as follows: "Say, Bobby, do you know they're going to close the public library down town?"
"What for?" demanded his chum.
Just then Pee Wee's shrill whisper reached them: "Cheese it! Come here, fellows. I have something to tell you—honest!"
The dormitory was quite silent, save for the four boys in the corner. Fred slipped out of bed and Bobby followed him. Pee Wee and Mouser were sitting up in their own beds.
"Now listen," whispered the fat boy. "Just as soon as school's out, my folks are going to Bass Cove. We go there every summer. It's a dandy place—you bet!"
"All right. We've heard about that before," said Mouser, yawning. "You might let a fellow go to sleep and wait till morning to tell us your chestnuts."