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hours behind us.”
    “What’s there to talk about? What’s there to talk about?”
    “I’ve been worried about you, Jakey.”
    “Since when did you become so fond of kids?”
    “Well, Jakey, kids are a nuisance and that’s the truth, but there is hope. Scientifically speaking, on average, kids grow one year older every year. In fact, twenty years after they are born all kids become adults and therefore acceptable company. Isn’t that wonderful news?”
    Jacob Two-Two groaned.
    “Look, I brought prezzies and some things for a picnic.” Wacko sat down on the grass and began to pull things out of his suitcase. A stuffed bunny rabbit.
    “Oh, no,” Jacob Two-Two said.
    A jump rope. A Sony Walkman. And, finally, good things to eat. Smoked salmon. Chopped egg sandwiches. Potato chips. Chocolate bars. Jacob Two-Two dug in greedily.
    “Incidentally,” Wacko asked, as if he had just remembered, “how’s your friend Dippy?”
    “He’s not my friend anymore.”
    “Hardly surprising. I never trusted him. He has the most dishonest green face I ever saw.”
    “He threw me out of camp,” Jacob Two-Two said.
    “Why, that ungrateful dumb dino! After all you did for him!”
    “Yes,” Jacob Two-Two said, feeling absolutely miserable.
    “I’m going to let you in on a secret, kid. It’s time Jacob Two-Two and Wacko learned to look after themselves.”
    “How? How?”
    “Do you see any point in blowing up Dippy to kingdom come?”
    “No,” Jacob Two-Two said in a small voice.
    “What we want to do is take that beast alive. Cage the monster! Then we charge people to see him. A genuine
Diplodocus
! A vicious prehistoric beast weighing ten tons, with brains the size of a peanut!”
    Poor Dippy, Jacob Two-Two thought.
    “Say we attract two thousand suckers a day at five bucks each. Wait,” Wacko said, pulling out his calculator. “That makes seventy thousand dollars a week, less expenses, my manager’s fees, and so forth. We could be partners. Share and share alike. How much is your allowance, Jakey-baby?”
    “Two dollars a week.”
    “I’ll give you fifty dollars a week. How about that?”
    “What do I have to do for all that money?”
    “Lead the brute into a cage, that’s all. I’ll handle everything else.” Wacko pulled a contract out of his pocket. “Sign here, kiddo.”
    “I don’t know, Wacko. I don’t think Dippy would like being held in a cage.”
    “It’s either being caged by us or pulverized by Perry P. We’d be doing him a favor.”
    Jacob Two-Two began to sob.
    “What’s wrong?” Wacko asked.
    “You don’t know how difficult it’s been for me these past few weeks, stuck out in the wilds with a dumb dinosaur. I never had anybody to play with.”
    “Sign here, partner, and I’ll play with you.”
    “Would you play with me now?”
    “Jakey,” Wacko said, glancing at his wristwatch, “Perry P. and his army will strike within the hour. We haven’t got much time.”
    “Would you please play with me for only ten minutes?”
    “And then you’ll sign?”
    “Yes.”
    “What do you want to play?”
    “Hide-and-seek. You’re it.”
    “What do I do?”
    “Lay your head against that tree, shut your eyes tight, count to a hundred, then come and find me.”
    “You mustn’t go too far. We have to hurry.”
    “I won’t. I won’t.”
    “Okay,” Wacko said, leaning against the tree, his head hidden in his arms. “Starting. One. Two. Three. Four …”
    Jacob Two-Two leaped up, grabbed the jump rope, and wound it around and around Wacko, knotting it tight.
    “Hey,” Wacko said, “what’s going on here?”
    “Nobody’s going to cage or pulverize Dippy. I’m going to find him and-lead him to safety in the Rockies of B.C. So long, Wacko.”
    “Come back, Jacob. Come back at once!” But Jacob Two-Two was gone.

CHAPTER 17
    ippy! Dippy!”
    Jacob Two-Two ran. He ran and ran. He ran all the way back to camp, but he was too late.
    Dippy was gone.
    “Oh, Dippy,” Jacob