Loose planking, hey?"
Pee-Wee listened to the rattling of the loose planks as another
car sped over the unseen structure, little dreaming of the part that
bridge was destined to play in his young life. The commonplace noise
of the neglected flooring seemed emphasized by the quiet of the
woodland. That reminder of human traffic, so near and yet so far and
out of tune with all the gentler sounds of the valley, presented a
strange contrast and jarred even Pee-Wee's stout nerves.
"There goes another," Charlie said; "we must be nearer to the
highway than I thought."
They had, indeed, inscribed a kind of loop and having passed its
farthest point from the main road were traveling toward it again and
would have emerged upon it just beyond the bridge but for the wood
embowered and sequestered village which was their destination. The
first sign of this village was a cow standing in the middle of the
grass-grown road as if to challenge their approach. Perhaps she was
stationed there as a sort of traffic cop.
CHAPTER V
ENTER PEPSY
It will be seen by a glance at the accompanying sketch that the village
of Everdoze was about opposite the bridge on the highway.
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