And Pip-Emma said, "I'm fine."
It was one of those social blunders that Clara had foreseen and that had better be dealt with at once. Clara said kindly: "I'm so glad you're fine. But I didn't really want to know, you know."
"Why not?" Pip-Emma asked.
In the perceptible silence a Peewit was heard to titter, and the outrageous sound startled Clara out of her poise. She said, "Just because I don't," quite rudely.
And Pip-Emma, remembering Pop and Ma, retorted that it was dumb to ask questions if you didn't want to know the answers.
It was a short but sharp encounter—Mr. Binns would have described it
as a feint with the left followed by a nice right to the jaw. Clara
VanSittart had a blinking, winded look, and all the Penguins said,
"How d'you do?" as though they couldn't help themselves.
Only little Janet added very timidly, "I hope you'll have a swell time."
And Pip-Emma said, "Sure," much too much as though she were sure.
But she stayed right by Janet. If you find yourself among a bunch of strange kids, you gotta get yourself a Gang. You gotta pick out some poor mutts that don't know how to hold their end up and sock anyone who jumps on 'em. Then they're your Gang. Pip-Emma knew on sight that Janet couldn't hold her end up to save her neck, and that sooner or later she, Pip-Emma, would have to sock the fat girl in the eye.
Clara VanSittart did not know this. She sat next to Emma Binns in the Pullman, determined, without heat or anger, to explain Social Usages and Camp Customs. But Pip-Emma did not seem to want to listen. From her middy pocket she had produced three small sea shells and a tiny flexible rubber ball, and she was doing things with them on the back of her suitcase. It was Mr. Binns' favorite method of getting himself a free drink, and Pip-Emma was no slouch herself. Also if you're getting a Gang, you don't run after it. You let it come to you. If kids saw you up to something they didn't understand, they flocked round like a bunch of hungry sparrows. Gradually the Penguins' excited chatter died down. They were watching her. They were beginning to flock. Pip-Emma knew without looking at them. There was a lot Pip-Emma knew, though she didn't always know she knew it.