DARING DORA DANE
Oh, boy, you should have heard those girls laugh. Dora Dane Daring said,
"Isn't that just too provoking? He didn't seem to be a bit afraid of
you, did he?"
"Don't you know sometimes scouts have to use strategy?" Pee-wee said.
"Did you think I was going to--to--just _force_ my way in? Don't you
know a scout has to be courteous?"
"It was so good of you not to hurt him," she said.
"Scouts are--they're kind," the kid said.
She said, "Yes, but you know they're invincible. I suppose you'll just
go and ring the bell again?"
"We--we take turns doing things like that," the kid said.
"The general appoints scouts to do that," I told her. "I appoint Westy
Martin and Dorry Benton to----"
"I can't be drafted, I have a dependent ancestor," Dorry said.
Westy said, "I'm sorry, but I have heart trouble. I claim exemption."
I said, "You're a fine pair. I appoint Will Dawson and Warde Hollister
to go up there and arrange terms----"
Warde said, "I'm sorry, but I'm not in uniform."
"I have a dependent mother," Will Dawson said.
"I'm a conscientious objector," Hunt Manners piped up.
The Warner twins said they were the sole support of a collie dog.
"Some bunch of warriors," I said. "I always heard that scouts weren't
supposed to be afraid of a draught. What are we going to do? Go home?"
"If we had tanks----" the kid started.
"Well, go and get a couple of water tanks," I said.
"Isn't it exasperating?" one of the girls said.
"Can't you wait a little while?" Pee-wee shouted. "Wasn't the world war
four years long? That shows what you know about history."
One of the girls said, "Do you still claim to be invincible?"
"Sure we do," Pee-wee said. "But of course everybody--a lot of people
know that women helped in the war a lot--everybody knows that. We
wouldn't be mad if you made a suggestion."
That Daring girl said, "Oh, I haven't a _single thing_ to suggest. We
believe in action. Actions speak louder than suggestions. If you're
really ready to admit that you're defeated I'll make a proposal. It
isn't a suggestion, it's a proposal."
"Proposals are just as good as suggestions," Pee-wee said.
She said, "Well, if you're ready to admit that you're balked----"
"Even--even--even the Germans were balked on the Marne, weren't they?"
our young hero shouted.
I said, "Well, it doesn't look as if that giant with the brass buttons
is going to surrender. If we could get some propaganda past him to the
people in the house----"
"Like they did with airplanes," Pee-wee said.
"Yes, but you see the shutters are closed," she said. "Girl scouts are
_observant_. It _looks_ as if there were no one in the house but that
horrid big giant."
I said, "What do you propose?"
Then Dora Dane Daring said, "I propose to lead you to victory if you
will print it up on your banner that you were saved from disaster by the
Girl Scouts of America, and keep that on your banner till you get home."
"I'd like to see you do it first," I said.
"You mean to tell me you're not afraid of that man?" Pee-wee said. "Do
you think I'd let you--a scout has to be chivalrous. He has to protect
women----"
"Give me your hatchet," she said, and she jerked it out of his belt.
"You better look out what you're doing," the kid said. "Do you want to
get arrested?"
She swung Pee-wee's belt-axe in the air just like Carrie Nation or Joan
of Arc and she said, "Follow me!"
Pee-wee said, "Dora Dane Daring, you'd better look out what you're
doing."
She said, "Private Canary Bird Harris, you're a coward. Fall in line,
everybody!"
Gee whiz, I thought that girl was crazy. Up she marched, right onto the
porch, with all the rest of us after her. Pee-wee kind of hung
back--safety first for him. I was ready to run any minute. We went
across that porch as if we were stalking a bird.
But she didn't care. She just hit the door a good rap with the hatchet
and kept pushing the button. Boy, I was kind of shaky!
Pee-wee said to her, "You'd better be ready to run."
I said, "I'm ready to go scout-pace for ten miles. I'm glad a scout can
run."
I guess that big army all rolled into one with the brass buttons must
have known it was our crowd because he didn't come right away. Gee whiz,
I pictured him getting madder and madder every second. I was ready to
jump from the porch to the middle of the street. Pee-wee had one leg all
ready for a good starter. All the while Dora Dane Daring kept pounding
on the door and pushing the button.
All of a sudden the door opened. That's the end of this chapter.