They had no difficulty in carrying out this plan. They always dined in
the nursery, and if nurse wondered at the amount of pudding that her
charges managed to consume that day, her old eyes were not sharp enough
to detect the transfer from plates to pockets. She sent them out into
the garden to play, and they soon were scampering out of the back gate
and along the road toward the little cottage at the bottom of the hill.

It was a warm afternoon, and when they at length came near it they threw
themselves down on the grass to rest.

"We mustn't frighten the old man," said Dudley, gazing at the thatched
cottage with a critical eye. "I see the windows are tight shut in
front, but there's one open at the side; we must creep up very quietly
and get in before he sees us, and then we can explain who we are."

"And if the window won't do, we'll try the chimney, it looks a jolly big
one."

Then after a pause--

"I suppose he'll be glad to see us?"

"Of course he will. He must be dreadfully dull all alone."

A few minutes after, they were holding a whispered consultation outside
a small pantry window through which Roy was going to squeeze himself.

"I'll go first. It will be a tight fit for you, Dudley, but I'll give
you a good pull through, and you must hold your breath well in."