s
necessary to shorten it by a series of pokes and pushes by which it was
tucked up under its own strings and lifted clear of the adventurous
feet of the scout. Nor was that all, for somewhere out of the
mysterious depths of the house, Minerva had brought a starched and
snowy chef's cap with which she crowned our hero.

"You be right here when they begin coming down," Minerva said, "and
stand close to the traffic sign and if any boy stays here too long turn
the STOP sign on him."

"And turn it on yourself if necessary," said Townsend.

"I won't let anybody eat more than about--about--five helpings.
That'll be enough for them, hey?" said Pee-wee.

"Goodness gracious, yes," said Dora Dane Daring.

"You're the steward, remember," said Minerva. "Do you know what a
steward is?"

"He's--he's named after a stew," said Pee-wee, hitching up his
spreading apron. "You leave the people to me, I'll handle them."

CHAPTER XX

GONE

The steward (or the stew, as Townsend thenceforth called him) did not
attend the party. A preliminary tour of the grounds convinced him that
adventures of his particular kind were not to be found there. Dancing
was not in his line. Music (except the clamorous music of his own
voice) he did not care for. And he did not care to hear what Mrs. Wild
had to say about the Camp-fire movement.

To him the crucial part of the whole party was the eats and he lingered
near them like a faithful sentinel. The artistic quality of these
saved them from devastation. Those pyramids of luscious beauty could
not be denied by human hands without showing the indubitable signs of
vandalism. Their very splendor saved them.

It is true that he skilfully extracted an olive from the symmetrical
mound of chicken salad and took an almond and a macaroon and other
detached dainties that were not made sacred and secure by their own
architecture. But for the most part Pee-wee was faithful to his trust.
He knew his time would come. And then, oh, then, that proud tower of
interlaced sandwiches would look like Rheims Cathedral.

Thus an hour passed and the merry throng emerged upon the lawn and made
a direct assault upon the dancing platform, lured by strains of
irresistible music. Some strolled about but none out of the radius of
that melodious magnetism, and Pee-wee remained undisturbed on the
romantic isle of eats.

He sat upon the edge of the island, the extreme western coast, fishing
for eels, with