Pee-wee and Pepsy were not agreed about allowing this third person to buy into their enterprise. Pepsy was suspicious because she could not understand it. But Pee-wee, quick to forget dislikes and trifling injuries, was strong for the new partner.

“He’s all right,” he told her, “and scouts are supposed to be kind and help people and maybe he wants to reform and we ought to help him get into business.”

“He’s a smarty and I hate him and three is bad luck,” was all that Pepsy could say. Then she broke down crying, “Miss Bellison hates him, too,” she sobbed, “and—and if people sit three in a seat in a wagon one of them dies inside of a year. Now you go and spoil it all by having three.”

“You get three jawbreakers for a cent,” Pee-wee said. “Lots of times I bought them three for a cent, and I bought peanut bars three for a cent too, and I never died inside of a year, you can ask anybody.”

“I don’t care, I want to have it all alone with you,” she sobbed.

“If we count Wiggle in that will make four,” Pee-wee said, “and none of us will die. If the customers die that doesn’t count, does it?”

Pepsy did not hear this rather ominous prediction about those who would eat the waffles and the taffy. Her hate and her tears were her only arguments, but they won the day.

“He’s got a Ford,” Pee-wee said in scornful final plea, “and he can put up money enough for us to buy lots of sundries and pretty soon we’ll have money enough to start other refreshment places and he can be the one to ride around—he’ll be kind of field manager. It shows how much girls know about business,” he added disgustedly. “I bet you don’t even know what capital means.”

“It means what you begin a sentence with,” Pepsy sobbed.

“You don’t want it to be a success,” he charged scornfully.

“You’re a mean thing to say that,” she sobbed, “and I do—I do—I do want it to be a success—and—and—even if it isn’t we’ll have lots of fun if it’s just us two. Because anyway we can make believe, and that’s fun.”

“What do you mean, make believe?” Pee-wee demanded. “Aren’t we going to make enough to buy the tents? That shows how much you know about scouts. If scouts make up their minds to do things they do them—and they don’t make believe. I’ll give in to you about that feller but you have to say we’re not going to just make believe and play store, because that’s the way girls do. You have to say you’re in earnest and cross your heart and say we’ll make a lot of money—sure.”

Pepsy just sobbed. Her staunch little heart (when she would listen to it) told her how forlorn was the hope of “really and truly” success along that by-road through the wilderness. But the imagination which could be terrified by the rattle of that planking on the old bridge was quite equal to finding satisfaction in “playing store” and in seeing customers where there were none. Pee-wee believed that anything could be done by power of will. She could find the utmost joy in pretending. No, not the utmost joy, for the utmost joy would be to buy the tents....

“You have to say we’re not pretending like girls do,” he insisted relentlessly as she buried her head in her poor little thin arm and sobbed more and more. “You have to say it. Do you cross your heart? Is it going to be a success? Are we going to make lots of money—sure? You have to say we’re not just fooling like girls. Do you say it? You’re not just playing?”

“N—no.”

“Cross your heart.”

Her freckly hands went crossways on her heaving breast.

“It’s business just like—like Mr. Drowser’s store. Is it?”

She nodded her head.

“Say

Say that?”

So she sobbed out those terrible words. “And you promise not to let him come in?” she added, provisionally.

He promised and then suddenly she raised her head with a kind of jerk, as if possessed by a sudden, new spirit of determination. Her eyes were streaming. She looked straight into his face. There was fire enough in her eyes to dry the tears.

“If—if you wish a thing—you—you get—you get it,” she gulped. “Because I wished and wished to go away from that—that place—and now I made up my mind that we’re going to—going to—make a lot of money for—for you—I just did—”

She did not say how they were going to do it....