Your loving

AUNT JAMSIAH.

Steadying himself with one hand, Pee-wee took the letter between his
teeth as if he were about to eat it. Then he cautiously let himself down
so that he hung by his knees, then clutched the limb with his hands,
hung for a moment with his legs dangling, and let go. In one sense he
was upon earth but in another sense he was walking on air. ...

CHAPTER IV

HE GOES TO CONQUER

Thus it befell that on the second day after the receipt of this letter
Pee-wee Harris was sitting beside Charlie, the chauffeur, in the fine
sedan car belonging to Doctor Harris, advancing against poor, helpless
Everdoze.

He traveled in all the martial splendor of his full scout regalia, his
duffel bag stuffed to capacity with his aluminum cooking set and two
extra scout suits. His diminutive but compact and sturdy little form was
decorated with his scout jackknife hanging from his belt, his compass
dangling from his neck, and his belt ax dragging down his belt in back.

A suggestive little dash of the culinary phase of scouting was to be
seen in a small saucepan stuck in his belt like a deadly dagger. Thus if
danger came he might confront his enemy with a sample of scout cookery
and kill him on the spot.

His sleeves were bedecked with merit badges; from the end of his scout
staff waved the flaunting emblem of the Raven Patrol; his stalking
camera was swung over his shoulder like a knapsack; his nickel-plated
scout whistle jangled against the saucepan and in his trousers pockets
were a magnifying glass, three jaw breakers, a chocolate bar, a few
inches of electric wiring, and a rubber balloon in a state of collapse.

The highway from Bridgeboro was a broad, smooth road, a temptation and
a delight to speeders, where motorcycle cops lurked in the bushes hardly
waiting for cars with New York licenses.

It was late in the afternoon when they reached Baxter City and here they
turned into such a road as Charlie vowed he had never seen before.

Scarcely had they gone a mile over rocks and ruts when the dim woods
closed in on either side, imparting a strange coolness. It was almost
like going through a leafy tunnel projecting branches brushed the top of
the car and mischievously grazed and tickled their faces. The voices of
the birds, clear in the stillness, seemed to complain at this intrusion
into their domain.

"I'd l