“Sure, we go for eight days,” Garry said. “What are you going to do with the garage?” “Well, I’m going to sell it for a chicken-coop if you must know,” the man said. “Pretty soon you’ll know as much as I do, won’t you?” “Where did you come from?” Pee-wee shouted down. “I came from Ireland,” the man said. “I mean to-day,” Pee-wee called back. The man said, “Oh, to-day I came from Gooseberry Centre.” “I don’t blame you,” Hervey said; “I was there the other day. If I were a garage I wouldn’t stay there; not if I were a portable one.” “The land I had was sold over my head,” the man said. “You mean under your feet,” Pee-wee shouted. The man just looked up kind of laughing and he said, “Well, since you seem to be so smart and clever maybe you can think of a way to get me out of this hole.” “Sure we can,” Hervey said. “Where do you want to go?” I called, “Just say where you want to go and he’ll take you somewhere else.” “Anyway,” Pee-wee shouted, “do you claim that chickens are as important as boy scouts?” Gee whiz, I didn’t know what he was driving at. CHAPTER XXXI WE MAKE A BARGAIN The man said, “I should have kept out of that rut; now I’m in a nice pickle.” “Don’t you care,” I said, “we’ve been getting into the wrong places all day and we’re happy.” “Pickles aren’t so bad,” Pee-wee shouted; “I wouldn’t mind being in a whole barrel of pickles. We’ll help you out, only if you’re not charging too much for that garage we’d like to buy it if you’ll cart it to Temple Camp. We’ll give you more than the chickens will give you. There’s a troop up at camp that haven’t got any accommodations and they’ll be coming along in the jitney bus pretty soon. Hey, mister, will you sell us the garage? We’ll give you fourteen cents deposit on it right now.” “Sure,” I said, “you can take a mortgage for the rest; good idea. Pee-wee, you’re a brick.” “It’s an inspiration,” Pee-wee said; “we’ll wind our funny-bone hike up with a crazy good turn, hey? We’ll furnish accommodations. Troops don’t have to go to houses because the houses come to them. Everything is the other way round. While they’re on their way back to Catskill Landing they’ll meet a house and we’ll put them in it and send them back to camp.” “Good idea,” Hervey shouted; “accommodations delivered while you wait; take your house home with you. Let’s all climb up on the top of it.” “Wait a minute,” Warde said, “this man thinks we’re crazy. Do you mean what you say? If you do I’ll talk to him.” “We mean a good deal more than what we say,” I said; “that’s a good suggestion of Pee-wee’s and I say let’s follow it. No troop shall leave Temple Camp on account of a house. If they come along the road they shall not pass. We’ll put them in the house and send them back. We defy everything and everybody. What do we care about the housing shortage?”