r what was a two-step now
compared to the one-step which Pee-wee had taken? Roly Poly and
Brownie, also victims of the hunter's stew, heard him as they waited
patiently, and were struck dumb with terror. Only the man in the moon
smiled, and winked at Pee-wee.

"_He-e-e-e-e-e-el-l-l-p! I'm floating away with the eats!_"

But did he really need any help?

They rushed to the shore pell-mell and some hurried to the barn for the
only means of rescue--an old disused skiff and a leaky, discarded
canoe. Others gazed in wistful silence out upon the glinting water.

"_Hurry! Hurry!_" cried Minerva. "I can see it! Don't you see the
lanterns down there?"

"He's on the flats, I think," said Warde.

"He's on the table," shouted Roy.

"He's in the channel!"

"He's in the ice cream!"

"Listen, he's calling!"

"His mouth is full, I can't hear him."

"_Hurry! Hurry! Oh, hurry!_" cried Minerva.

"I'll tell you what let's do," Roy said.

"You told us once," said Warde; "that's enough."

"I saved the ice cream freezer from rolling off," shouted Pee-wee.

"A lot of good that does us," shouted Doc Carson.

"Put it where it will be safe," shouted Townsend.

"All right, I will," shouted Pee-wee.

"Gracious goodness, he isn't going to eat it, is he?" Margaret Timerson
asked.

"He'll have to finish whatever else he's eating first," said Doc
Carson. "Push that boat off, we have only a minute to act in."

"How long does it usually take him to finish a sandwich?" Minerva asked.

"Three-tenths of a second," said Roy.

"He'll be too frightened to eat," said Dora Daring.

"He's never too frightened to eat," said Connie Bennett.

"He consumes pie while he's consumed with fear," Roy said.

"He consumes everything," said Warde.

"Oh, what will we ever _do_?" Minerva walled, wringing her arms in
desperation.

"The thing to do is to reach him before he gets really started," said
Doc Carson, who was ever thoughtful and far-sighted. "When he starts
he works fast. I don't think he's really begun yet. He believes in
fair play and he wouldn't start before ten o'clock--that's refreshment
time, isn't it?"

"It was to be," said Minerva.

"That's the time we were waiting for," said Brownie.

"Has he a watch?" Margaret asked.

"Yes, it's usually about twenty minutes fast," said Roy.

"Oh, isn't that perfectly _terrible_!" said Dora.

"He'll make terrible inroads on it," said Connie Bennett.

"_Inroads_!" sai