“Come on and help,” I said to Pee-wee.
“Suppose the fish jumps off the bridge,” he said. “Do you think I’m going to take any chances?”
“The strength of an Animal Cracker doesn’t count for much,” Garry said.
“Look out the fish doesn’t jump in the creek with you,” I told Pee-wee.
Well, we pushed and pushed and pushed and braced our feet and kept pushing for dear life, but we couldn’t budge that lever. Pee-wee held the fish tight under one arm and helped us but it wasn’t any use. We just couldn’t budge the lever.
“We’re marooned for fair,” Bert said.
“Boy Scouts Starve on Merry-go-round Island,” I said. “That would be a good heading for a newspaper article.”
“Merry-go-standstill you mean,” Hervey began laughing. “What do we care? It’s all in the game. Come ahead, give her one more push; follow your leader.”
“Do you call starving a game?” the kid fairly yelled at him. I had to laugh, he looked so funny standing there with the fish under his arm.
We tried some more but—no use. “The merry-go-round has stalled,” I said. “We’ve got Robinson Crusoe tearing his hair with jealousy.”