Hunt Manners said, “Take a good look at him; does he look good-natured?”
We went across the street and stopped on the sidewalk of Grove Place right plunk in front of the big house. Then we all gathered around close to decide what we had better do next. There was quite a wide lawn in front of the house.
I said to my official staff, “Turn the standard around so the man can read it and notice if he smiles.”
“He’s too far away,” Dorry said. “Why don’t you send some one to reconnoiter and see if he smiles?”
“Send a spy,” the kid whispered.
I said, “Don’t tell your general what to do. You’re appointed an envoy to go up to that porch and ask that man if it will be all right for Leader Blakeley of the Silver Fox Patrol B. S. A. to come up there and discuss whether we can cross his territory. Tell him if he wants to come down here and discuss it on neutral territory, you’ll give him safe conduct. Do you know what that is? Take all your stuff with you and notice if he smiles. Go ahead and do just what I told you.”
Honest, you’d have laughed if you could have seen that kid hiking up the walk across the lawn, rattling and jangling and hoisting his phonograph horn up on his shoulder. He tramped right up onto the porch and pretty soon I thought the man was kind of smiling.
Then, all of a sudden, good night, the kid raised his big megaphone up to his mouth to call through it and out fell the coffee-pot and the saucepan and his pair of sneakers and a lot of other stuff. I could see the big fat man just shaking.
AS PEE-WEE RAISED HIS MEGAPHONE OUT FELL THE COFFEE POT AND OTHER STUFF.