Oh, boy, there was some excitement. The next thing we knew a box of peanut brittle was going round. There was a crowd of people all around watching and reading what it said on our standard and laughing. Most always that's the way it is with people when they see scouts. Somebody kicked a grocery box over to where we were and the man called, "_Speech_, _speech_." I got up on the box and I said: "Don't anybody be afraid, we're not going to hurt you." A girl that was standing there said, "The idea! Did you ever hear of such a thing? _Hurt us?_ Do you think we're afraid of a patrol of boy scouts?" I said, "You knowest not what thou sayest, girl. We've devastated the whole country from Blakeley's Hill to this spot. The only thing we've left alive is the grass. And even that we trod under our feet." "We're _invincible_!" Pee-wee shouted. "Do you know what that is?" "Do you think I haven't got a dictionary, Mr. Smarty?" she said. I said, "Silence. Take a demerit. Where is the police department of this town?" Somebody shouted, "He's home eating his supper. Do you want to go and see him?" I said, "No, we want him to come and see us. Can't you see from our sign we're on a bee-line hike?" Somebody shouted, "He's at supper. Do you have to see him?" I said, "No, the army and navy will do just as well; we're not particular. Wait till I consult with my official staff." I couldn't understand what my official staff said because his mouth was full of peanut brittle. "Here's the box, eat that too," I said. Then I said good and loud, "We have an important communication to address to the police department. We've caught a bandit----" "We've got him bound with fetters," the kid shouted. "Give me that phonograph horn," I told him; "the crowd is growing bigger." Good night, that was the end of me. I was superseded like a general in the third grade--I mean in history. There was Pee-wee standing on the grocery box, his aluminum cooking set all over the ground, shouting through the old phonograph horn at the top of his voice. A little way off I could see a cop coming across the green. I guess he was going to chase us off first, till he heard what Pee-wee was saying. CHAPTER XXII 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?"