and fathers
wouldn't worry.

"It's only a couple of miles," Westy said.

"There's one funny thing about riding on a merry-go-round," Connie
started in; "no matter how long a ride you take, you never have to come
back."

"That's because you're already back," I told him.

He said, "Yes, but you _go_, don't you?"

"Sure you do," Pee-wee said.

"Then how do you get back without coming back?" Connie shot at him.

"That's technology," I said.

"You make me tired," Pee-wee screamed; "suppose all the time you're
going you're coming back, too? Let's see you answer that."

"Oh, that's different," Wig said.

"Just the same as when our young hero flies up in the air," I told them.

"And foils a murderer," Connie said; "tell him he's a cute little boy
scout, Sam."

"Do you know what I'd do if I had my way?" Pee-wee shouted.

"How many guesses do we have?" I asked him.

"I'd foil those profiteers, that's what I'd do," he said. "Fifteen cents
for a cone! I can get three cones for that."

"And still you wouldn't be satisfied," Westy told him.

"Well, if I had your way with me, I'd give it to you," I told him; "but
I left it home on the piano."

"Did you hear what that doughnut-man was saying about overhead
expenses?" the kid shouted. "I looked up, but I didn't see any. There
wasn't even a roof."

Laugh! I thought I'd fall in a fit.

"You can bet I know an overhead expense when I see one," he said, all
the while trudging along the road, "and there wasn't any there."

"Overhead expenses are inside," Westy said; "they're the expenses of
running a business. It might be the price of a carpet for the floor,
see?"

"All you need is a pair of white duck trousers and your diploma with a
pink ribbon around it," I told him. "Who in the world taught you all
that? You must be studying accountancy."

"A whatancy?" Connie asked.

"That shows how crazy you are," Pee-wee yelled; "how can a carpet that
you walk on be overhead? Tell me that!"

"That's easy," I told him; "isn't the roof underfoot? You stand on the
roof and it's underfoot. Your overhead expenses may be down in the
cellar. Just the same as a scout can do a good turn while he's walking
straight ahead. Deny it if you dare?"

"You're crazy," Pee-wee fairly screamed.

"I admit it," I told him.

After we had walked a little way, Westy said, "Just the same, Pee-wee's
right, the same as he usually isn't. It would be a good stunt for us to
foil those profiteers.