," I said.

"Don't you get discouraged," Pee-wee shouted.

"No, we won't," Grace said; "and don't you mind them, either. They're
just teasing you. And we want to ask you if you'll do us a favor--a good
turn. Will you?"

"_Sure_ I will," he said, very manly; "what is it?"

"We want you to _promise_ to come over to _Camp Smile Awhile_ to-morrow
and cook dinner for us. And we want to ask all the rest of you boys to
come, too. We're just a lot of _greenhorns_ about cooking; isn't it
_shameful_ to have to admit it? But we've got everything over there,
food and utensils, and you can make us up a _feast_ and we'll spend the
afternoon visiting. Say you will. Will you?"

_G--o--o--d night!_ I laughed so hard I nearly fell off my feet. _Oh,
boy_, you should have seen Pee-wee's face. You just ought to have seen
it.

CHAPTER XIV

PEE-WEE ON SCOUTING

"Absolutely, positively," I said; "he'll be there at ten-thirty. Do you
want him to bring references?"

"We should say _not_," Grace Bentley said; "the _idea_! What we saw in
the pictures was reference enough."

_Good night_, you should have seen Pee-wee's face. He just stood there,
gazing about as if he were in a trance.

One of the girls said, "Won't it be _adorable_! We're going to have
chicken."

"Cooking chicken is his favorite indoor sport," Westy said. "How do you
like your roast chicken; fried or stewed? It's all the same to him."

I took out my scout note-book and made believe to write things down.
"We'll just make up the menu," I said.

All of a sudden Pee-wee came out of his trance and shouted, "You mean
me?"

"Menu," I said; "yes, they mean you." Then I said, "Would you like to
have the fried potatoes stewed, or would you prefer to have them mashed
with the skins on?"

One of the girls said to Pee-wee, "Don't you mind him, he's just _too_
silly."

"Do you prefer your fried eggs in the shells, or would you like them
roasted in ice-water? It doesn't make any difference to him," Connie
said.

"Don't you pay any attention to them," Grace Bentley said to Pee-wee;
"some of us will come over in the boat for you to-morrow morning, and
when the dinner is ready, we want all of you to come, won't you?"

"Sure, we'll hike around the shore," I said, "and get up good appetites.
We'll be there at about twelve-sixty. We'll come around the longest way,
so we'll get good and hungry."

"Oh, that will be just _lovely_," they said, "and we'll have a perfectly