a spy! I bet it has secret papers in it! Look what I found!”

From under the edge of the rotten straw our observant young hero had pulled out an oilskin wallet. There were not many such places as this old ruin that did not yield up their treasures to Pee-wee. The veriest ash heap became a place of romance under his prying hand and inquisitive eye. This find was just one of those ordinary oilskin wallets which had held and protected many letters from mothers and sweethearts and which had been shot through and through in the trenches in France. Black spots of mildew were upon it and it had an oily, unpleasant odor.

“I found it! I found it!” Pee-wee vociferated, as the scouts all clustered about him eager to see.

“You’re the greatest discoverer next to Christopher Columbus,” Roy said. “Let’s see what’s inside it.”

“Didn’t I say to stop here?” Pee-wee demanded.

“You never thought you’d find an ice cream soda here,” Roy said.

“You never know where you’ll find one,” Pee-wee said in high excitement. “Didn’t I find a dime in a sewer-pipe?”

“That’s a nice place to find a soda,” Roy laughed. “Open the wallet and let’s see what’s in it.”