The other nodded eagerly.
“I’m sure he must be nearly as hungry as I am,” he explained, “though he said he wasn’t, and that he’d eaten a full supper last night, which of course I didn’t. But it wouldn’t be fair for me to swallow the whole cake, so I’m saving his share.”
“I believe you’d do the same for the worst scoundrel unhung, if he happened to fall into your hands, like this chap with the sprained ankle did,” Elmer boldly told him. “You’ve got a heart as big as a bushel basket, Perk; and think of every one before yourself.”
“But how anybody could do different, I can’t for the life of me see,” protested the other, simply.
By now Elmer believed he began to see light. Wee Willie, however, proved denser, for he was still wrestling with the problem in his mind, wondering who on earth it could be Perk had come upon so soon after the storm, and whose injuries he had attended to as best he knew how, with his limited knowledge of “first aid.”
Amos, too, was hanging on every word that was spoken. Apparently he had also conceived some sort of plausible explanation for Perk’s actions. When the latter found Amos so eagerly observing him, with that hungry light in his eyes, he hastily turned his head away. Elmer wondered why Perk did not seem to be embarrassed in any way, so he must conclude that the other simply meant to enjoy their bewilderment as long as he reasonably could, before lifting the curtain and disclosing his secret to full view.
“It’s going to break right away,” Elmer told himself, confidently. “He just can’t hug that much longer to himself. Besides, Perk never could be cruel, even to an insect. Haven’t I seen him carefully step over an ants’ nest many a time, when other boys would carelessly trample it underfoot? And he’ll soon realize that in holding back he’s causing some one to suffer.”
So Elmer did not raise a hand to hasten the disclosure, content to let matters take their course. Wee Willie on his part now began to scent some wonderful mystery.
“See here, Perk,” he broke in, with an assumption of severity; “you’re trying to pull the wool over our eyes, for some reason or other, I guess. Now quit your kidding, and show us. Where’s your friend? Produce this man with the sprained ankle, won’t you, Perk? We’d all like to make his acquaintance, don’t you know? Here’s Elmer getting as impatient as anything, even if he doesn’t show it; and as for Amos, why he can hardly wait for you to lift the lid. I’m in the same box myself; so lead us to him, Perk!”
“He’s close by here, I want you to know,” explained the fat chum, chuckling in his mysterious way. “Mebbe you’ll be surprised to meet up with him. It might even be you’ll think I builded better than I suspected when I answered that call for help, and ventured out to find this poor chap.”