whitewash, on which little hearts and stars cut out of truffles were
sprinkled. There was a tongue all over varnish, like the dainty foot of a
giant Cinderella. There were custards and tarts and jellies. There were
also bottles exactly like champagne bottles, which, however, contained
ginger ale, and for Mr. Lenox's young brother and his friends there were
silver tankards of beer. It was, in short, not a supper, but, as Mary
Rotheram expressed it, using her favourite adjective at the moment, a
supreme banquet.

Then another friend, with spectacles, called the Snarker, came in, and they
began. Mr. Lenox's young brother was a very attentive host, and made
everyone eat too much. Then he made a speech to propose the health of the
Slowcoaches, as he called them, and to wish them a prosperous journey.
"That you will all be happy," he said, very gravely, in conclusion, "is our
earnest wish. But the one thing which my friends and I desire more than any
other--and I assure you that they are with me most cordially in this
sentiment (aren't you, Fizzy? aren't you, Shrimp? aren't you,
Snarker?)--the one thing that we desire more than any other is, that you
may never be run in for exceeding the speed limit." This was a very
successful joke.

After supper came Fizzy's conjuring tricks, which were not very bewildering
to children who had once had a real conjurer from the Stores, as these had,
and then a charade played by Mary, Horace, Fizzy, and Shrimp for the others
to guess.

The first act represented a motorist (Fizzy) who ran over and killed an old
woman (Mary), and was arrested by a policeman (Horace), and fined
eighteenpence by a magistrate (Shrimp).