Homer Price Read Free

and Aroma came out and climbed into the basket. Aroma had calmed down considerably but she still smelled pretty strong. Homer quietly carried the basket to the spot under the robbers’ window and listened. They were still arguing about the trip to Mexico. They didn’t notice Homer as he put the basket through the window onto the chair beside the bed. Of course, Aroma immediately crawled out on the bed and took her place on the suitcase.

    “Stop tickling,” said the tall robber because his feet stuck out and Aroma’s tail was resting on his toes.
    “I’m not tickling you,” said the second robber, “but say, I think I still smell that animal!”
    “Now that you mention it, I seem to smell it too,” said the third robber.
    The fourth robber reached for the light button saying, “That settles it! Let’s get dressed and go to Mexico, because
I think I smell that animal too!
”
    Then as the robber turned on the light Homer shouted, “You
do
smell that animal, and please don’t make any sudden movements because he excites easily.” The robbers took one look and pulled the covers over their heads.
    “The sheriff will be here in a few minutes,” said Homer, bravely.
    But five minutes later the sheriff had not shown up. The robbers were getting restless, and Aroma was tapping her foot and getting excited.
    Homer began to be disturbed about what his mother would say if Aroma smelled up one of her largest and best tourist cabins, so he quickly thought of a plan. He climbed through the window. He gathered up all of the guns and put them in the basket. Then he gathered up the robbers’ clothes andtossed them out of the window. After picking out one of the larger guns Homer waved it in the direction of the robbers and said, “You may come out from under the covers now, and hold up your hands.”
    The robbers gingerly lifted the covers and peeked out, then they carefully climbed out of bed so as not to disturb Aroma, and put up their hands.
    “We didn’t
mean
to do it,” mumbled the first robber.
    “And we’ll give the money back,” said the second robber.
    “Our early environment is responsible for our actions,” said the educated robber.
    “I’m sorry,” Homer said, “but I’ll have to take you to the sheriff.” He motioned with the gun and demanded that the fourth robber pick up the suitcase with the prize money and lotion inside. Then he said, “Forward march!”
    “Must we go in our pajamas?” cried one.
    “And without our shoes?” wailed another.
    “Aroma is getting excited,” Homer reminded them, and the robbers started marching without any more arguing, but they did grumble and groan about walking on gravel with bare feet (robbers aren’t accustomed to going without shoes, and they couldn’t have run away, even if Homer and Aroma hadn’t been there to guard them).
    First came the first robber with his hands up, then the second robber with his hands up, then the third robber with his hands up, and then the fourth robber with his right hand up and hisleft hand down, carrying the suitcase (of course, Aroma followed the suitcase) and last of all came Homer, carrying the basket with a dozen or two guns in it. He marched them straight down route 56A and up the main street of Centerburg. They turned into the barber shop where the sheriff was getting his hair cut and the boys were sitting around playing checkers.
    When the sheriff saw them come in the door he stopped talking about the World Series and said, “Well, I’ll be switched if it ain’t the robio raiders, I mean radio robbers!” The sheriff got out of the barber chair with his hair cut up one side and not cut up the other and put handcuffs on the men and led them off to the jail.
    Well, there isn’t much more to tell. The newspapers told the story and had headlines saying B OY A ND P ET S KUNK T RAP S HAVING L OTION R OBBERS B Y S MELL and the news commentators on the radio told about it too. Homer’s father and mother said that