INVASION
Pee-wee had the floor; he had the whole green; I guess he had nearly the
whole town. Anyway, he had all the peanut brittle there was left.
"We caught a bandit," he shouted. "He's got footprints. He's up in the
top car of the ferris-wheel in Riverview Park. He's bound with ropes.
Even Detective Pinchem didn't catch him, but we did."
"Who put him up there?" somebody shouted.
"We did!" Pee-wee yelled.
"What's he doing up there?" a man called.
"He's trembling with fear," the kid shouted. "He fired seven hundred
shots and got away with two dollars----"
"You mean seven hundred dollars," I said.
"We _foiled_ him!" the kid shouted.
"He's all wrapped up in tin-foil," I said.
The cop said, "What's all this nonsense, anyway?"
I said, "Are you the police department?"
He said, "Well, I think I am."
"You've got to be sure of it," Pee-wee shouted. "We can't deal with the
civilized population."
"Do you think we're afraid of you?" that girl said, very scornful like.
"Hurrah for Pee-wee Harris," Dorry shouted.
"Do you think we're afraid of a boy named Pee-wee?" she said. "It sounds
like a canary bird."
Pee-wee pointed the big horn right plunk at her and shouted through it,
"_Do you call me a canary bird?_"
I nearly died laughing.
She said, "If I had a name like Pee-wee I wouldn't talk about dealing
with the civilian population."
"That name doesn't belong to me," he yelled.
"He only rents it," Hunt said.
"His right name is Sir Harris, R. R.--Raving Raven," Dorry said.
"What's _your_ name?" Pee-wee hollered at her through the horn.
"It's Dora Dane Daring," she said. "So there, Mr. Smarty. And I'm a
girl scout."
"Girls are afraid of snakes," he shouted.
She said, "Well, they're not afraid of canary birds."
"They're afraid of black men and--and--bandits," he yelled. "Didn't you
ever hear of _wild_ canary birds? That shows how much you know about
botany--I mean zoology."
By that time everybody was screaming. Even the whole police department
was laughing. He said, "Well, now, what's all this about? Have you
youngsters been dreaming or what?"
"What," I said; "you guessed right the second time."
I guess if it hadn't been for Westy maybe that fellow with the cap would
be up on the top of the wheel yet.
He said to the policeman, "I'll tell you how it was if these fellows
will keep still."
I said, "Let's have a large chunk of silence."
So then Westy told him all about our meeting Detective Pinchem and how
he was looking for a fellow that had robbed an auto party and how he had
stolen a boat and left it in the marshes. He told him all about what
happened at the old ferris-wheel and how I had found footprints there
and how they showed that some one had come from the river. Most all the
people that crowded around listening were serious. Two or three men said
they guessed it was the auto bandit all right. The policeman said they'd
soon find out.
A lot of people said they were going to see what happened and one or two
of the patrol wanted to go back because, one thing, you don't see
bandits captured every day. Maybe whole weeks might go by and you'd
never see one captured in a ferris-wheel. But that shows how you never
can tell. You might chase a bandit on a merry-go-round but you'd never
catch him.
"We should worry about the bandit," that's what I told the fellows.
"Because we've got troubles of our own. We've got to make Carson's Hill
yet and then the woods up the ridge and we'll have to go slow and use
our compass in there. Look at that big tree up there waiting for us," I
said. "It's got all dressed up for us since we started."
And, honest, it did look that way because it was all gold. But, anyway,
you'll find out in the next chapter that gold isn't the only color.
There are blue and green and yellow and strawberry and orange and banana
and grape-fruit and peaches and russet apples--those are my favorites.
Gee whiz, I don't know whether I'm talking about fruit or colors! But
one kind of vegetable I like, and that is onions.
Anyway, the color I was going to speak about is black. And believe me
the next chapter is the darkest one in this book.