ust as well off as we were before. That's
recip--" He had to pause to lick some trickling lemon juice from his
chubby chin, "rical."

Pepsy seemed greatly impressed, and Pee-wee continued his edifying
lecture. "I should worry about two hundred and fifty dollars because you
saw how people always get paid back only sometimes it isn't so soon like
with the apples. Everything always comes out all right," continued the
little optimist between tremendous sucks, "and if you're going to get
a punch in the nose you get it, and you can see how Mr. Bungel got paid
back auto--what'd you call it?"

"Automobile?" Pepsy ventured.

"Automatically," Pee-wee blurted out, catching a fugitive drop of lemon
juice as it was about to leave his chin. "Good turns are the same as
bad turns, only different. Do you see? I bet you can't say automatically
while you're sucking a lemon stick."

"Is it a--a scout stunt?" Pepsy asked. Pee-wee performed this astounding
feat for her edification, catching the liquid by-product with true scout
agility. Whether from scout gallantry or scout appetite, he did not put
Pepsy to the test.

"I'm glad of it, anyway," she said, "because now we can stay here and
have our store and there isn't anybody like that pros--like that Mr.
Sawyer to be afraid of."

"Do you think I'm afraid of prosecutors?" Pee-wee demanded to know. "I'm
not afraid of them any more then I'm afraid of June-bugs; I bet you're
afraid of June-bugs."

"I'm not," she vociferated, tossing her red braids and looking very
brave.

"Then why should you be afraid of prosecutors?"

"I wouldn't be afraid of anything that doesn't sting."

Pepsy said nothing, only thought. And Pee-wee said nothing, only sucked
the lemon stick, observing it from time to time, as its point became
more deadly.

"Maybe I'm not as brave as you are and can't do things and I'm scared of
Baxter City, but I bet you. I can think up as good turns as you can, so
there! And if you promise to stay here I'll make it so lots of people
will come and you can buy the tents and that will be a good turn won't
it? You said if you make up your mind to do a thing you can do it."

"I wouldn't take back what I said," said Pee-wee, finishing the lemon
stick by a terrible sudden assault with his teeth.

"Well, then, so there, Mr. Smarty," she said with an air of triumph,
"I'm going to do a good turn, you see, because I made up my mind to it
good and hard, and we'll make lots and lots of