Read Elrod McBugle on the Loose for Free Online Page A

a blob."
    Scoopy pinched off some between his index finger and thumb, sniffed it, gave a wide smile, then shoved it into his mouth and began chewing.
    "This is the best gum I've ever had!" Scoopy proclaimed. "If you tried to sell this, you could become a millionaire!"
    "Is it really that good?"
    "Try some yourself!"
    "No, that's okay." I'd seen how it was made, and that was enough to convince me that I didn't want it going into my mouth. "But are you serious? It's really the best gum you've ever had?"
    "Without a doubt."
    "Well, then," I said, "I think it's time for us to become millionaires."

Chapter Five Quiz
    1. How many fingers am I holding up?
    2. What is the meaning of life? (For bonus points, also explain the meaning of something else.)
    3. Which chapter number is this quiz for? (For bonus points, also tell which chapter number the chapter four quiz was for.)

Chapter Six
    "WHAT ARE YOU boys doing?"
    Scoopy and I stopped what we were doing, which is, Scoopy was rolling the glop into little balls, and I was covering them with powdered sugar and then wrapping them in aluminum foil. So far we'd made about fifteen of them, and it looked like we'd get another ten or so before we'd used up the last of the glop.
    "Hi, Mom," I said. "We're just working on an experiment for science class."
    I haven't described my mom yet, and I'm proud to announce that I have the coolest mother alive. The coolest father, too. The reason they're so cool is that they know when to be normal, boring parents and when to be fun.
    For example, when they're driving my friends and I somewhere, you will never, ever hear them sing along to a popular song, thus embarrassing me beyond the point of no return. One time I was in the car with Howard Mosher when his mom was driving us home from the movies, and she started singing along to a current rap song in a very loud, energetic voice. That was the last I ever heard of Howard.
    And yet, while my parents have never tried to sabotage my social life by pretending to be hip young kids, they can be all kinds of fun. I can take them to the movies without fear of humiliation, they play a mean game of miniature golf, and we play board games at home all the time. The only time my dad embarrasses me is when he gets all worked up about wanting to be the car in Monopoly.
    "What kind of experiment?" Mom asked.
    "We're making gum," I said.
    "You're doing a scientific experiment where you make gum? And this is for school? I didn't think you were even allowed to chew gum in school."
    "That was last year. Now that we're in junior high we can chew all the gum we want. We've earned the right."
    "It smells really good. What did you use to make it?"
    "I forget," I admitted. "It's written on the lab sheet at school. Actually, right now we're concentrating on the business portion of the experiment."
    Mom furrowed her brow. "This is one of those instances where I'd be better off just going downstairs to make dinner and pretend I never heard a thing, isn't it?"
    "No, it's no big deal," I said. "We're going to sell some gum, that's all."
    "Elrod, my son, I love you very much, but the words 'it's no big deal' and 'Elrod McBugle' just don't go together. I'm going downstairs to make dinner. I never heard a thing."

ONE OF THE keys to a successful business venture is losing tons of money at first so that when you finally start to show a profit you appreciate it more. At least that's the way I understand it. While Scoopy and I hadn't invested any money into our gum business yet, we did decide to give away our first twenty-five pieces as free samples. Okay, our first eighteen pieces, since a certain member of our partnership couldn't keep from chomping down on a few pieces.
    We got to school a couple minutes early, which was a big deal for Scoopy, and walked up to a group of kids standing