At all events, they certainly were pals. Hope was not averse to exploring the woods, and Pee-wee was certainly not averse to imparting his knowledge of woods lore.
“I thought you told me girls couldn’t keep secrets,” she said as she picked her way through the thicket to see a thrush which he had promised to find for her observation. “Now you’re telling me all the secrets of the woods. That shows you’re a telltale. So there!”
“That’s different,” Pee-wee said; “you can tell everything you want to about the woods. Do you know how I can tell we’re walking north? On account of the moss growing on the north sides of the trees. Squirrels build on the north sides of trees, too. So, gee whiz, you needn’t worry, we can’t get lost.”
“Here’s a squirrel’s nest on one side with some moss on the other,” said Hope innocently.
“That shows how crazy some squirrels are,” Pee-wee said. “They don’t even know the north when they see it.”
“They should carry compasses like you,” Hope laughed.
“Safety first,” Pee-wee answered, “but if that compass should get lost—”
“I shouldn’t think a compass could get lost; it always points to the north,” Hope said.
“I mean if I lost it,” Pee-wee said, as he trudged along ahead of her. “But you needn’t worry because it can’t get lost; see?” Indeed, such a calamity seemed unlikely for the compass dangled from a rope necklace not much slenderer than a clothesline.
“I shan’t worry as long as I’m with you,” she said.