“It’s all right, come ahead!” the kid called through the megaphone.
When we came to the porch the man looked us over very funny, like. He didn’t laugh, but I think he was having a hard job not to. Then I knew we’d win because I could see he was losing his morale.
He said, “Well, what’s all this?”
I said, “This is the Silver Fox Patrol, First Bridgeboro Troop, Boy Scouts of America, and I’m their leader and we’re on a bee-line hike and we can only go straight west.”
He said, “And who are all those youngsters out on the sidewalk?”
I said, “They’re just following us, they don’t count.”
He said, “Oh.”
Then Pee-wee said, “I’ll tell you about the scouts. When they start out to do a thing, they do it. See? Nothing can stop them. Maybe you know how a—a—cannon-ball goes——”
The man said, “I can imagine.”