before. "Suppose we go and ask the minister's wife," said Elizabeth
Eliza. So they all went to the minister's wife. She said if they
wanted some good vinegar they had better set a barrel of cider
down in the cellar, and in a year or two it would make very nice
vinegar. But they said they wanted it that very afternoon. When
the minister's wife heard this, she said she should be very glad to
let them have some vinegar, and gave them a cupful to carry home.

So they stirred in the nutgalls, and by the time evening came they
had very good ink.

Then Solomon John wanted a pen. Agamemnon had a steel one,
but Solomon John said, "Poets always used quills." Elizabeth
Eliza suggested that they should go out to the poultry-yard and get
a quill. But it was already dark. They had, however, two lanterns,
and the little boys borrowed the neighbors'. They set out in
procession for the poultry-yard. When they got there, the fowls
were all at roost, so they could look at them quietly.

SOLOMON JOHN'S BOOK. But there were no geese! There were
Shanghais and Cochin-Chinas, and Guinea hens, and Barbary
hens, and speckled hens, and Poland roosters, and bantams, and
ducks, and turkeys, but not one goose! "No geese but ourselves,"
said Mrs.

Peterkin, wittily, as they returned to the house. The sight of this
procession roused up the village. "A torchlight procession!" cried
all the boys of the town; and they gathered round the house,
shouting for the flag; and Mr. Peterkin had to invite them in, and
give them cider and gingerbread, before he could explain to them