“Goodness me,” I said.
“I bet there isn’t one of them can dive like Hervey Willetts does,” Pee-wee said. “They just do things that kind of make it look as if they’re brave. Scouts are real heroes because they no fooling take their lives in their hands—”
“Like spaghetti,” Sandy said.
“Geeeeeee whiz,” the kid went on, “didn’t I see Freddie Fearless in the Leap of Love and he gave a good big jump into the ocean where it was all rocks and a lady next to me nearly fainted and people were giving sighs and everything but I didn’t because I had a wild cherry jaw-breaker in my mouth—”
“That shows how really wild he is,” I said.
“Will you shut up!” he yelled at me.
“He wouldn’t eat tame cherries—”
“I wouldn’t eat tame cherries—I mean—will you shut up!” the kid just screeched.
“He eats wild animal crackers,” I said. “Yes, yes, go on with your story.”
“He went kerplunk into the water,” the kid said, “and I could see it was only a dummy and they zipped the film quick. Then when he was climbing into a boat it was that feller—Freddie Fearless. Geeee whiz, he gets thousands and thousands of dollars for bein a ’fraid cat. Do you think I’d be afraid to jump that?”