althily shuffled back to the spot and with many furtive
glances about him had gathered up the cards with trembling hands, and
proceeded to post them in pairs without regard to their proper order.

After this triumphant exploitation feat (which ought to commend him to
every lying advertiser in the world) Licorice Stick had shuffled into a
new path of glory, going to the carnival, where (not finding the sperrit
in evidence) he had accepted a position to stand behind a piece of
canvas with his head in an opening and allow people to throw baseballs
at him.

On hearing this Pee-wee desisted from any further criticism. For, as he
told Pepsy, "a scout has to be kind and forgiving, and besides when I go
to the carnival I can plug him in the face with a baseball two or three
times and then we'll be square."

CHAPTER XVII

HARD TIMES

If many people went to the carnival they must have approached it from
the other direction. It was a small carnival and probably did not
attract much interest outside of Berryville. A few stragglers passed Mr.
Quig's farm traveling in buckboards and farm wagons, but they did not
come from distant parts and evidently were not hungry.

Some were so unscrupulous as to bring their lunches with them. One
reckless farmer, indeed, bought a doughnut and exchanged it for another
with a smaller hole.

Altogether the neighboring carnival did not bring much business to
Pee-wee and Pepsy. Aunt Jamsiah took their enterprise good-naturedly;
Uncle Ebenezer said it was a good thing to keep the children out of
mischief. Miss Bellison, the young school teacher, bought ten cents'
worth of taffy each day as a matter of duty, and Beriah Bungel, the town
constable, being a natural born grafter, helped himself to everything he
wanted free of charge.

So the pleasant summer days passed and brought them little business.
Occasionally some lonely auto would crawl along the foliage-arched road,
its driver looking for a place to turn around so that he might get back
out of his mistaken way.

Most of these were too disgruntled at their mistakes and the quality
of the road to heed the voice of the tempter who shouted at them,
"Lemonade, ice cold! Get your lemonade here!" They usually answered by
asking how they could get to West Baxter. And Pee-wee would answer,
"You have to go four miles back, get your hot doughnuts here." Then they
would start back but they never, never got their hot dou