Chapter XXI: Foiled

And now out of the still and moonlit night arose peal after peal of thunder imparting a note of terror to this world catastrophe. Never before had the thunderous voice of our hero rent the heavens as it did now.

"Help! Help! I'm floating away with the eats."

It is no wonder that the man in the moon smiled at what he saw on the river that night. Seeing the laden board, the pyramid of sandwiches rearing its luscious pinnacle toward heaven, he seemed to wink at Pee-wee--with what purport who shall say? Sufficient that our hero saw him not.

"_He-e-e-elp_! I'm drifting downstream with the refreshments," he called. "_He-e-elp_!"

They heard him amid their revels. Townsend Ripley who had suffered the assaults of the hunter's stew heard him. The scouts who had eaten a "light supper" heard him. Warde Hollister who had pled with Roy for a safety first policy heard him. Minerva Skybrow heard him and paused aghast in the midst of a two-step. For what was a two-step now compared to the one-step which Pee-wee had taken? Roly Poly and Brownie, also victims of the hunter's stew, heard him as they waited patiently, and were struck dumb with terror. Only the man in the moon smiled, and winked at Pee-wee.

"_He-e-e-e-e-e-el-l-l-p! I'm floating away with the eats!_"

But did he really need any help?

They rushed to the shore pell-mell and some hurried to the barn for the only means of rescue--an old disused skiff and a leaky, discarded canoe. Others gazed in wistful silence out upon the glinting water.

"_Hurry! Hurry!_" cried Minerva. "I can see it! Don't you see the lanterns down there?"

"He's on the flats, I think," said Warde.

"He's on the table," shouted Roy.

"He's in the channel!"

"He's in the ice cream!"

"Listen, he's calling!"

"His mouth is full, I can't hear him."

"_Hurry! Hurry! Oh, hurry!_" cried Minerva.

"I'll tell you what let's do," Roy said.

"You told us once," said Warde; "that's enough."

"I saved the ice cream freezer from rolling off," shouted Pee-wee.

"A lot of good that does us," shouted Doc Carson.

"Put it where it will be safe," shouted Townsend.

"All right, I will," shouted Pee-wee.

"Gracious goodness, he isn't going to eat it, is he?" Margaret Timerson asked.

"He'll have to finish whatever else he's eating first," said Doc Carson. "Push that boat off, we have only a minute to act in."

"How long does it usually take him to finish a sandwich?" Minerva asked.

"Three-tenths of a second," said Roy.

"He'll be too frightened to eat," said Dora Daring.

"He's never too frightened to eat," said Connie Bennett.

"He consumes pie while he's consumed with fear," Roy said.

"He consumes everything," said Warde.

"Oh, what will we ever _do_?" Minerva wailed, wringing her arms in desperation.

"The thing to do is to reach him before he gets really started," said Doc Carson, who was ever thoughtful and far-sighted. "When he starts he works fast. I don't think he's really begun yet. He believes in fair play and he wouldn't start before ten o'clock--that's refreshment time, isn't it?"

"It was to be," said Minerva.

"That's the time we were waiting for," said Brownie.

"Has he a watch?" Margaret asked.

"Yes, it's usually about twenty minutes fast," said Roy.

"Oh, isn't that perfectly _terrible_!" said Dora.

"He'll make terrible inroads on it," said Connie Bennett.

"_Inroads_!" said Roy. "You mean turnpikes and highways."

"Well, then, why don't you boys hurry?" Minerva asked excitedly. "It isn't too late. _Oh, do hurry_!"

"We can never tow that island back against the tide," said Dorry Benton.

"We can remove the stuff to the boat though," said Artie Van Arlen.

"I'm going to 'phone to Mr. Speeder to get his motor-boat and go after him; he can tow it back."

"Listen--_shh_--he's calling," said Townsend.

"Shh--_shhhh_!"

"Listen."

From down the river, a little farther than before, came a voice spent by the distance. "_I'm on the flats, I'm stuck._"

"Thank goodness!" said Minerva. "Now we can reach him."

"Are you going around?" Townsend shouted.

"The sandwiches are all falling down," called the voice. "The doughnuts are rolling out."

"Save them," shouted Roy.

"All right, I will," screamed Pee-wee.

"_Oh, such a relief_," said Minerva. "Do you think he's stuck fast?"

"We can only hope," said Townsend. "Come on, let's hustle."

Words cannot describe the haste and excitement with which the skiff was launched and manned by a little band of doughty pioneers. Roy, Warde Hollister and Townsend Ripley were the crew, two rowing while the other steered.

"Can we help ourselves?" Warde asked, as they glided out on the river.

"Yes, yes, yes, help yourselves to _anything_," called Minerva, "only bring them back--pile them in the boat--it doesn't make any difference how--only hurry, he may drift off again."

"Now you see," said Roy, addressing Warde, "the harder you work and the longer you wait the hungrier you'll be. Everything is working out fine, thanks to me."

"Oh, sure," said Warde, already breathless from his strenuous rowing, "they give you roast turkey up at Skybrows; they give you chicken salad and sandwiches and--only try to get it. I'm so hungry I could eat the island, thanks to you. I could eat a whisk-broom. Follow you and I'll starve."

"Did you ever eat any of that kid's hunter's stew?" Townsend asked as he rowed.

"Did we?" said Roy. "It's the best thing I know of if you want to stay home from school."

"It's kind of queer," said Townsend.

"Oh, yes, mysterious," said Warde.

"Let's talk of something pleasant," said Roy.

"Well, I'm pretty hungry, too," said Townsend.

"We'll soon be there," said Warde. "We had something of a scare, didn't we?"

"All's well that ends well," said Townsend.

"Oh, sure," said Roy, "only you don't end so _well_ after eating hunter's stew. We should worry, we'll have all the stuff pretty soon now. Narrow escape, hey? _Oh, boy_, it would have been terrible to lose all that stuff. It looked like an altar, didn't it?"

"It'll look like a vacuum when we get through with it," said Warde.

"Do you think we can get it all in the boat?"

"If we can't, we'll tow the icing cakes behind," said Roy. "What _I'm_ thinking fond thoughts about is the ice cream."

"Same here," said Townsend.

"Same here," said Warde.

And meanwhile the man in the moon winked down at Pee-wee.