-"

"And Ravens turning somersaults," I said.

"And all that," he kept up, "and Roy foiled his prosecuters--I mean
persecuters--"

"You mean executers," Doc said.

"And all we need now is a heroine," Pee-wee said, while he danced up
and down. "A poor girl--I mean a maiden--with gold hair--if we could
only rescue one--oh, wouldn't it be great."

"Even if her hair was only gold-filled it would be something," Connie
Bennett said.

"You're crazy!", Pee-wee shouted, "it shows none of you know anything
about stories."

Oh, jiminy, I can't tell all the stuff we shouted. You see, it was just
because we were feeling so good. And Mr. Ellsworth didn't try to stop
us. The next chapter is about two dollars. I don't mean it's worth that
much. I don't know what I'll name it yet.

Olive oil*--that's the French way to say, "So long." Anyway, it's
something like that. I should worry.

[*Au revoir is probably what he meant.]

CHAPTER XX

MOSTLY ABOUT SKINNY

This chapter I am going to fill with some stuff about a two dollar bill.

That isn't so bad for poetry, is it? I got that idea out of a story by
Sir Walter Scott--putting poetry at the top of the chapters. Mr.
Ellsworth says sometimes a fellow might get killed for writing poetry.
I should worry--a scout is brave.

You can bet that if Pee-wee had his way we'd have all gone into the city
that very night and broken into a store to get Skinny's outfit. But nix
on that hurry up business when it comes to Mr. Ellsworth. "Scouts are not
made in a day," he said to Pee-wee, "and the outfit doesn't make the
scout anyway, remember that."

"Any more than a merry-go-round makes a good turn," I said.

So Mr. Ellsworth went to see Skinny and his mother, and then he went to
see the doctor, and he found out that Skinny wasn't going to die right
then, but that something was the matter with his lungs, and that he'd
keep getting sick all the time probably and wouldn't grow up. Oh, boy,
when Mr. Ellsworth once gets on your trail, good night! That's just
the way he hauled Tom Slade into the troop, head over heels. And look at
Connie Bennett, too. Mr. Ellsworth had to hypnotize Connie's mother
and now Connie's a first class scout. After two or three nights he
brought Skinny to meeting, and oh, cracky, but that kid looked bad.
He just sat and watched us do our stunts and he was scared when
anybody spoke to him, except Mr. Ellsworth. And he was coughing
a lot, too.

After the