we knew it was all right. But if I hadn't, eh?'

He only talks like that when he is very serious, or even angry. Other
times he talks like people in books--to us, I mean.

We none of us said anything. But I was thinking. Then Alice spoke.

Girls seem not to mind saying things that we don't say. She put her
arms round Albert-next-door's uncle's neck and said--

'We're very, very sorry. We didn't think about his mother. You see we
try very hard not to think about other people's mothers because--'

Just then we heard Father's key in the door and Albert-next-door's uncle
kissed Alice and put her down, and we all went down to meet Father. As
we went I thought I heard Albert-next-door's uncle say something that
sounded like 'Poor little beggars!'

He couldn't have meant us, when we'd been having such a jolly time, and
chestnuts, and fireworks to look forward to after dinner and everything!



CHAPTER 8
BEING EDITORS

It was Albert's uncle who thought of our trying a newspaper. He said he
thought we should not find the bandit business a paying industry, as a
permanency, and that journalism might be.