And the engine starts a-thumping,
And the top falls down and hits you in the neck;
When the water starts a-hissing,
And three cylinders are missing,
Will you love me when my flivver is a wreck?”
“Gee whiz, I don’t see how the top can fall down and hit me,” said Pee-wee. “Do you call that logic?”
“Once it had a fine top, Kid,” said Townsend. “A top that could fall down—easily—every ten minutes. A real top. It can’t fall down any more, Kid,” he added sadly. “It would if it could; you shouldn’t make fun of it.”
“How can I make fun of it when it isn’t there?” Pee-wee shouted.
“That’s just it,” said Townsend; “you talk behind its back when it isn’t here to fall down on you. Do you call that chivalrous?”
“You’re crazy,” said Pee-wee.