Pee-Wee Harris Adrift Part 6

"I thought it was an earthquake," laughed a tall boy who was stepping ash.o.r.e.

"Oh, we have those too," laughed Roly; "all the latest improvements.

That's Pee-wee; he's perfectly harmless, step right ash.o.r.e, you're all welcome."

"You're stepping into the seventeenth century," Pee-wee shouted, descending precipitately out of the tree.

"The seventeenth century must have been very wet," said the tall boy as he lifted one foot out of the water only to plunge the other into the ragged, muddy edge of the island, in his efforts to get on sh.o.r.e. It was very funny to see him wallow In the water, seeking foothold on the submerged tentacles of root, ever slipping, and always with the soberest look on his face. "This must be the back entrance," he said.

"Where are we supposed to park?"

This tall boy, who turned out to be a sort of patrol leader and scoutmaster in one, had a kind of whimsical look of inquiry on his face which was his permanent expression, and which was made the more humorous by red hair which he wore decidedly pompadour. There was that in his look which indicated his taking everything as he found it, his att.i.tude being always quietly humorous and never surprised.

His demeanor, in whatever adventure befell, seemed always that of an amiable victim placing himself at the mercy of his enterprising comrades and going through every kind of outlandish escapade and adventure with a ludicrously sober look on his funny face. To him everything that happened seemed part of the game of life and he appeared never in the least astonished at anything.

To see him soberly going through with some adventure which the sprightly genius of his a.s.sociates had conceived was as good as a circus. Naturally such a fellow was called "old" and they called him Old Rip and Good Old Rip and Doctor Rip and Professor Rip. His name was Townsend Ripley.

Townsend began at the very beginning to take the irrepressible ex-Raven very soberly indeed, and the more preposterous Pee-wee's schemes the more in favor of them Townsend seemed to be. No doubt he got a great deal of amus.e.m.e.nt out of Pee-wee. But Pee-wee never knew it.

CHAPTER XI

PLANS

It was quite characteristic of Townsend Ripley that he did not ask Roly Poly anything about his extraordinary adventure. Amid the chorus of exclamations and inquiries he preserved a quiet, whimsical demeanor, glancing about as if rather interested in this desert island. There it was, and that was enough for him.

"If this island is going to keep moving you'll have to put a license plate on it, Roly," he drawled. "First thing you know you'll have the inland waterway inspectors after you. You're blocking up the channel too. Why didn't you drift down as far as Southbridge where the taxes aren't so high?"

"I was--I was thinking about it," Pee-wee suddenly burst forth like a cyclone, "and there are a lot of things we can do--I've got a lot of ideas--there are seven things and we can do any one of them!"

"Why not do them all?" Ripley asked.

"That's just what _I_ say," Pee-wee shouted.

"Or we can each do a different thing," Ripley suggested. "There are just seven of us. Anything suits me."

"Do you want to know how I discovered it?" Pee-wee said excitedly.

"No, as long as we know it's discovered, that's enough," said Ripley.

"I discovered it, then he discovered me," said Pee-wee, "but I'm the discoverer because it wasn't an island when he got on it, see. Anyway, that man can't take it, can he? So will you start a patent combination patrol? And I vote for you to be the leader!"

"Let's see if we can't start the island," suggested Ripley.

"We don't want to start a Bridgeboro patrol and then find that we're in Southbridge!" said one of the boys whom the others called Nuts.

"Oh, I don't see why not," drawled Townsend; "trouble is," he added, glancing casually about, "we can't go on any hikes. If we start skirting the coast we'll get dizzy."

"I know what we can do," said Pee-wee, "because, gee whiz, we've got to have exercise, that's one sure thing. If we can make the island go round why then we can keep walking like a--like a--you know--like a horse on a treadmill--hey? And we won't get dizzy at all, because it'll be the island that goes round, see?"

"That's a very good suggestion," said Townsend, "but suppose on one of our long hikes we want to stop and camp. As soon as we stop hiking we'll start going round backward with the island."

"We should worry," said Pee-wee.

"Oh, we're not going to worry," said Townsend.

"You said it," vociferated Pee-wee. "Do you know why I like you?

Because you're--you know--you're kind of--sort of----"

"Absolutely," said Townsend. "You read me like a book."

"This is better than books," said Pee-wee, "because this is a kind of a desert island and a s.h.i.+p, isn't it? So will you all stay here till I get back, because I'm going to get my tent and some eats and a lot of stuff for camping and then we'll start our patrol."

"I can't say that we'll stay here," said Townsend, "but we'll stick to the island. I have a hunch that this island is going to put one over on us. If we're not here when you get back you'd better advertise in the 'Lost and Found' column of the Bridgeboro paper, 'Lost, one desert island. Finder will be suitably rewarded upon returning same to the patent adjustable scouts----'"

"Not adjustable--_combination_," Pee-wee corrected. "Do you like roasted potatoes? I know how to roast them. And I'll get some bacon, too; shall I?"

"Suppose you should be captured by your parents while you're on the mainland," Townsend inquired.

"Then I'll send you a smoke signal," Pee-wee said, "and you can come and talk to my mother, because she'll be sure to listen to you because, anyway, you've got a lot of sense."

"And several of us will canoe up to North Bridgeboro and get some stuff and tell our folks and we'll be back in an hour because the tide's starting to run up," said a boy they called Billy.

"If you have any trouble with the folks just give me a smoke signal and I'll canoe up," drawled Townsend.

"Good old Rip," chorused half a dozen voices.

The boy they called Billy turned to Pee-wee and whispered, "Don't worry about your folks. Old Rip makes a specialty of parents; they all eat out of his hands, fathers especially. As soon as they see him they surrender."

"I make a specialty of cooks," Pee-wee said. "Our cook gives me everything I want. And anyway we couldn't starve because scouts can't starve; they can eat roots and herbs and things; I'll show you. Do you like chocolate marshmallows? Even scouts can eat moss to keep from starving. And they can't get lost either--I'll show you how."

Pee-wee decided to take one of the boys with him to prove to his mother that the island was inhabited, and two other boys started back up the river in the other canoe. This left Townsend with two companions on the island. He sat against the trunk of the tree, knees drawn up, philosophically scanning the sh.o.r.e and occasionally giving an expectant glance up the river for smoke signals. He seemed resigned to a quiet expectancy that he would be summoned to intercede in one quarter or another. He looked very whimsical and funny.

"I wonder if you have to crank this island or whether it has a self-starter," he drawled in his amusing way. "If they don't get back by one or so, we'll have to make some root sandwiches. What do you say, Charlie!"

CHAPTER XII

THE DISCOVERER RETURNS

In about an hour and a half the two boys from up the river returned with provisions.

"Any news from the discoverer?" they asked.

"I think he's being held as a hostage by the cook," said Townsend.

"Shall we land and lay waste to his home?"