ardor. The signs which he printed
with his uncle's crate stencil, procured from the barn, bespoke the
variety of tempting offerings which existed so far only in his fertile
mind.

He was somewhat handicapped in the preparation of these signs by the
largeness of the perforated letters of the stencil and the limited size
of the cards. He had preferred cards to paper because they would not
blow and tear and Aunt Jamsiah had given him a pile of these, uniform
in size, on one side of which had been printed election notices of the
previous year. It was impossible, therefore, for Pee-wee to include all
of each tempting announcement on one card, so he used two cards for each
reminder to the public. Thus on one card he printed FRANKFURTERS and
on its mate intended for posting just below, the palate-tickling
conclusion, SIZZLING HOT.

FRANKFURTERS
SIZZLING HOT -->

This is how the sign would appear upon some fence or tree. It would be a
knockout blow to any hungry wayfarer.

Another two--card sign, intended for warmer weather, read:

ICE CREAM
<-- COLD AND COOLING

Other signs originating in Pee-wee's fertile mind and covering the range
of food and drink and auto accessories were these:

PEANUT TAFFY
SWEET AND DELICIOUS -->

OUR TIRE TAPE
<-- STICKS LIKE GLUE

NON SKID
CHAINS -->

FRESH
<-- BANANAS

DRINK
SWEET CIDER -->

MAGIC
<-- CARBON REMOVER

There were many others, enough to decorate the road for miles in both
directions. If Pepsy as chef could live up to Pee-wee's promises the
neighborhood would soon become famous. That was her one forlorn hope,
that the fame of their offerings would get abroad and lure the traffic
from its wonted path. But Pee-wee's enthusiasm and energy carried all
before them like a storming column and she was soon as hopeful and
confident as he.

When her chores were finished that afternoon she hurried to their
refreshment parlor, where Pee-wee sat behind the new counter like a
stern schoolmaster, cards strewn about him, his round face black with
stencil ink