go right into the kitchen an' make pies an' cakes." And so the whole
party adjourned to a little ditch where mud and water were plentiful
(and which on that account had been selected as the kitchen), and
began at once to prepare an elegant dinner.

Dear me! how busy the little housekeepers were! and such beautiful
pies they made, and lovely cakes all iced with white sand, and bits of
grass laid around the edges for trimming! and all the time laughing
and chatting as gayly as could be.

"Ain't we havin' fun?" said Dumps, who, regardless of her nice
clothes, was down on her knees in the ditch, with her sleeves rolled
up, and her fat little arms muddy to the elbows; "an' ain't you glad
we slipped off, Diddie? I tol' yer there wan't nothin' goin' to hurt
us."

"And ain't you glad we let Billy come?" said Diddie; "we wouldn't er
had nobody to be Lord Burgoyne."

"Yes," replied Dumps; "an' he ain't behaved bad at all; he ain't
butted nobody, an' he ain't runned after nobody to-day."

"'Ook at de take," interrupted Tot, holding up a mudball that she had
moulded with her own little hands, and which she regarded with great
pride,

And now, the plank being as full as it would hold, they all returned
to the hotel to arrange the table. But after the table was set the
excitement was all over, for there was nobody to be the guest.