The Wouldbegoods: Being the Further Adventures of the Treasure Seekers

ry decent about it. Daisy was most with her. I do not dislike Daisy, but I wish she had been taught how to

phan of Waterloo, and Ready Work for Willing Hands, and Elsie, or Like a Little Candle, and even a horrid little blue book about the something or other of Little Sins. After this conversation Oswald took care she had plenty of the right sort

kly-clouded brows. Alice had the minute-book, which was an exercise-book that had not much written in it. She had beg

the lawn, and we were on the grass. It was

of the Wou

at that dropped through where he mended it. Dora, Oswald, Dicky and me got upset in t

me Noel

Wouldbegoo

od yet, but w

, and if we d

we are very

etry generally does, that Oswald said so, a

lines of poetry. I suppose it comes of

anything good that anyone else had done, but not things that were public acts; and nobody w

ould have made a good diplomatic hero to carry despatches and outwit the other side. For now he had put i

y good thing he's done he is to go t

all do good by stealth, an

rs, but I never caught anyone in the act of doing anything extra; though several of the other

t all. A hero is always contented with a venison pasty and a horn of sack. All the same, the meals were very interesting; with things you do not get at home-Lent pies with custard and currants in them, sausage rolls and fiede cakes, and raisin cakes and a

; and she locked him in, and said if it was cream he wanted he should have enough, and she wouldn't let him out till tea-time. The cat had also got into the dairy for some reason of her own, and when H. O. was tired of whatever he went in for he poured all the milk into the churn and tried to teach the cat to swim in it. He must have been desperate. The cat did not even try to learn, and H. O. had the scars on his hands for weeks. I do not wish to tell tales of H. O., for he is very

. up in the dairy, and unfortunately it was the day she was going out in her best things, and part of the trap was a can of water. Oswald was not willingly vicious; it was but a lig

y good times as we do. I used to think about Mother more at the Moat House than I did at Blackheath, especially in the garden. She was very fond of flowers, and she used to

urse they used to borrow Mrs Pettigrew's needles, which made her very nasty

of events which occurred on the days I don't tell

it snares of. It is a very good knife, with a file in it, as well as a corkscrew and other things-and he did not come down at once, because he was detained by having to make an apple-pie bed for Dicky. Dicky came up after him to see what he was up to, and when he did see he buzzed a pillow at Oswald, and the

el and H. O. backed Dicky, and Denny heaved a pillow or two; bu

he warriors who were small enough for it. SHE was rough if you like. She also used language I should have thought she

nt gentleman right underneath, with his headache and his handwriting: and you rampaging about

and Alice answered gentl

ut the headache. Don't be cross, Mrs Pett

rumpy, was no longer violent. 'Why on earth you c

aid, 'Bu

nack, and you can have an egg to your tea to make up for missing your dinner. Now don't go clattering about the stairs and

s, though. She thinks Albert's uncle copies things out of printed books, when he is really writing

he farms would let us have it, only most likely it would be skim. We thanked her poli

y a great partiality for the young buds of plants of the genus viola, to which they are extremely destructive. I was told that by

age rolls and queen cakes, and a Lent pie in a round tin dish, and some hard-boiled eggs, and some apples. We all ate the apples at once, so as not to have to carry them

jar, and we all went up; it had always

t we did not pull them. And then we went up to where the bells are, very big and dusty among large dirty beams; and four windows with no glass, only shutters like

wall all round, up and down, like castle battlements. And we looked down and saw the roof of the church, and the leads, and the churchyard, and our garden, and the Moat House, and the farm, and Mrs Simpkins's cottage, looking very small, and other farms looking like toy things out of boxes, and we saw corn-fi

t's

rchyard. Perhaps it's a tower of mystery that covers th

n fiddlestick!' and 'A w

tle, and the rest of its crumbling walls

it was, so he said, 'Let's go and see

e church tower and duste

w where to look for it, because it was on the top of a hill. We began to

pure water from the brook out of our hands, because there was no farm to get milk at just there,

as ever. Denny began to drag his feet, though he had brough

ld come along. We

ewisham or Blackheath you learn other things. If you asked for a lift in Lewisham, High Street, your only reply would be jeers. We sat down on a heap of stones, and decid

the cart was going towards the Tower of Mystery. It was

ght give us a

as going for

way. So we climbed up, and he whipped up the horse and asked us where we were going. He was a k

tower,' Alice said. '

ot built it he left so much a year to be spent on repairing o

it a church

They do say there was a curse on him that built it, and he wasn't to rest in

up it?' Os

I've never been up myself, though I've lived in sight of

dead and buried person to get to the top

e afraid, missy. It's daylight all the way up. But I wouldn't go there after dark, so I wouldn't. It's always open, d

ither, but we wanted to go more than

satin and silver, my uncle said, such as was all the go in his day, with his wig on, and his sword beside him, what he used to wear. My uncle said his hair had grown out from under his wig, and his beard was down to the toes of him. My uncle he always upheld that

be late for tea, and wouldn't it be bet

; and you needn't come in

ate quite near the tower-at least it looked so until

come,' and

ower-all except Alice, who would keep talking about tea, though not a greedy girl by nature. Non

wood we saw a poor wayfarer with

ailor, and asked for a trifle to

se, and he had to empty the purse into his hand to find the sixpence, for that was not all the money he had, by any means. Noel said afterwards that he saw the wayfarer's eyes fastened greedily upon the s

our kind heart

on arches, all open, and ferns and things grew underneath. There was a round stone stair going up in the middle. Alice began to gathe

' and came up after us. And perhaps, though not downright manly

op of it was a thick door with iron bolts. We shot these back, and it was not f

got shut up there by accident, and it would have s

m was full of sunshine, and you could see the blue sky through the windows, but nothing else, because they were so high up. It was so bright we began to think the pig-man had been kidding us. Under one of the windows was a door. We went through, and there was a little passage an

e body of Mr

20. Die

erse of

, between e

me, dear

o do my to

say a pra

lice said. 'Do

he top,' Dicky said, 'j

he agreed; though I could

of the church tower, only octoge

un is shining bang down on you at four o'clock in the afternoon, and you can see red farm-roo

be getting back, because tea is at five, an

the top step and saved himself by Alice's back, which nearly upset Oswald and Dicky, when the hearts

like a door being banged and bolts fastened. We tumbled over each other to get back into the open sunshine on the top of the tower, and Alice's hand got

d Oswald said in a firm voi

was

Of course there is a door for him to get out by w

all firm (I noticed that at the time)

l said, and we all stood with our eyes on the do

was no m

n the Golden Deed book, though they own t

wing one of the doors to. I'll go

only

doesn't sh

. His father is a sub-editor. He had gone very red, and he was holdi

raid. I'll

nd let him. If Oswald had pushed first it would have been like Sir Lancelot refusing to let a young knight win his spurs. Oswald took good care to go second himself, though

went

t. Because the door there was bolted fast and woul

a lark, or perhaps not known about anyone being up there. So we rushed up, and Oswald told the others in a f

nd it was the sailor who had had our milk sixpence. He looked up and he spoke to us. He di

p th

aid, 'Dr

d, 'Th

said,

I'll come up and make you, and

'Did you bol

'I did so, m

her tongue, because he saw right enough the man was

e enough there were two bolts, and he shot them into their sockets. This bold act was not put in the Golden Deed book, because when Alice wanted to, the others said it was not GOOD of Oswald to

an was still standing

y. And we might be here for days and days and all night as well. No one

oes not know when it is beaten, would be ramping in

enny. Noel had a French penny, which is only good for chocolate machines at railway stations. Dicky had tenpence-halfpenny, and Oswald had a two-shilli

ast. We gave you sixpence

, but he mumbled something about havi

he flung down the handker

he picked up the handkerchief and undid it, and when

do, young shaver. I want those there shi

ld laughe

angry he chucked down purse and all. The shiners were not real ones, but only card-counters that looked like

tower, and Oswald was glad of what he had done about the bolts-and he

y w

ashamed to say that we were all holding on to each other very ti

and presently we saw the brute going away among the trees.

he door, he may be in ambush. We mu

g chokily because she ha

wave

tticoat is white. She tore it out at the gathers, and we tied it to Denny's stick, and took turns to

ndkerchiefs, and moved it about in the sun so that the sun might s

ver happened to us. Even Alice had now stopped thinking of M

was the others' turn to wave, he sat on the leads of the tower and held Alice's and Noel's hands, and said p

I think he got wrong in places, and the 'Revenge', and Macaulay's thing abou

white mouse any more. He was

saw a cart in the road below. We waved like mad, and shouted, and Denny screamed e

we saw a figure with a white beard

en he had taken it in-he thought at first

got in with the pig, and the man drove us right home. You may think we talked it over on the way. Not us. We went to sleep, among the pig, and before long the P

unished-but this could not be, because we had

d we were always to take Pincher and either Lady, the deer-hound, or Mar

the tower. Oswald does not grudge Denny this, though some might think he d