LD-CAT RIDE

Now you'd think that after what happened, our young hero, P. Harris,
wouldn't go hunting for any more glory for a couple of days. But late
that very afternoon, he performed one of his most famous feats. It was
an accident, but anyway, he scooped up all the credit. That's always the
way it is with Pee-wee; things go his way, and then all of a sudden, zip
goes the fillum, he's a boy hero.

After dinner that afternoon, we took a walk through the woods with the
girls and helped them get some birch-bark, because they wanted to make
birch-bark ornaments. It's dandy taking walks on Sundays. We got some
hickory nuts, too. I said we'd climb the trees, because girls couldn't
do things like that and scouts could climb. I said, "A scout is a
monkey."

"Girls can do lots of things, too," Pee-wee piped up, oh, so nice and
gallant; "do you mean to tell me girls aren't monkeys--too?"

"Don't, you'll start my head aching again," I told him.

"Oh, you said we were monkeys," Pug Peters said; "you're perfectly
_horrid_."

"I mean, because on account of climbing," he said; "because they know
how to climb. I mean, _you_ know, the ones that know how to climb----"

"Baboons," Westy said.

"Sure," Pee-wee piped up; "_No_, not baboons, you make me sick!"

"We accept your apology," I told him.

Every time Pee-wee opens his mouth he puts his foot in it--and then
blames somebody else.

Late in the afternoon we left the girls at their camp. We said we'd come
over to see them next day--that was Columbus Day. But the way it
happened, we didn't see them again until a long time afterwards, and
that's going to be in another story. So if you like girls, you'd better
be sure to get the next story. Gee whiz, I used to make fun of girls,
but anyway, I like them a lot. Pee-wee says they're so kind of hospital;
he means hospitable. And I'll always remember _Camp Smile Awhile_, you
can bet. Because we had more than a good smile there; we had a good
laugh. Girls are all right.

Then we hiked along the woods' path that led around the lake, back to
Ridgeboro. Our car looked mighty nice and cosy, you can bet, as we came
along.

"We're having a mighty good time here," Connie said; "I'll be sorry when
we have to drag ourselves away."

"We don't have to drag ourselves away," I told him; "all we have to do
is to sit still and be dragged away."

"This is the life," Westy said.

Connie said, "Sure, life on the rails; it's got life on t