Part 18 (1/2)

Of course we all knew that.

”Any one who thinks revenge is wrong is asked to leave _now_.”

Dora said he was very unkind, and did he really want to turn her out?

”There's a jolly good fire in Father's study,” he said. ”No, I'm not waxy with you, but I'm going to have my revenge, and I don't want you to do anything you thought wrong. You'd only make no end of a fuss afterwards.”

”Well, it _is_ wrong, so I'll go,” said Dora. ”Don't say I didn't warn you, that's all!”

And she went.

Then d.i.c.ky said, ”Now, any more conscious objectors?”

And when no one replied he went on: ”It was you saying 'b.o.o.by-trap' gave me the idea. His name's James Johnson, is it? And he said the things were addressed wrong, did he? Well, _I'll_ send him a Turkey-and-chains.”

”A Turk in chains,” said Noel, growing owley-eyed at the thought--”a _live_ Turk--or--no, not a dead one, d.i.c.ky?”

”The Turk I'm going to send won't be a live one nor yet a dead one.”

”How horrible! _Half_ dead. That's worse than anything,” and Noel became so green in the face that Alice told d.i.c.ky to stop playing the goat, and tell us what his idea really was.

”Don't you see _yet_?” he cried; ”_I_ saw it directly.”

”I daresay,” said Oswald; ”it's easy to see your own idea. Drive ahead.”

”Well, I'm going to get a hamper and pack it full of parcels and put a list of them on the top--beginning Turk-and-chains, and send it to Mister James Johnson, and when he opens the parcels there'll be nothing inside.”

”There must be something, you know,” said H.O., ”or the parcels won't be any shape except flatness.”

”Oh, there'll be _something_ right enough,” was the bitter reply of the one who had not been to the Hippodrome, ”but it won't be the sort of something he'll expect it to be. Let's do it now. I'll get a hamper.”

[Ill.u.s.tration: IT WAS RATHER DIFFICULT TO GET ANYTHING THE SHAPE OF A TURKEY.]

He got a big one out of the cellar and four empty bottles with their straw cases. We filled the bottles with black ink and water, and red ink and water, and soapy water, and water plain. And we put them down on the list--

1 bottle of port wine.

1 bottle of sherry wine.

1 bottle of sparkling champagne.

1 bottle of rum.

The rest of the things we put on the list were--

1 turkey-and-chains.

2 pounds of chains.

1 plum-pudding.

4 pounds of mince-pies.

2 pounds of almonds and raisins.

1 box of figs.