thing."

"Oh, no, mother; I am sure it will do us a lot of good. And we may see
the queen, mother. And as for drowning, why, we can both swim ever so
far. Besides, people don't get drowned going to London. Do they Master
Lirriper?"

John was standing bashfully at the door of the kitchen. "Well, not as a
rule, Master Geoffrey," he replied. "They comes and they goes, them
that are used to it, maybe a hundred times without anything happening
to them."

"There! You hear that, mother? They come and go hundreds of times. Oh,
I am sure you are not going to say no. That would be too bad when
father has agreed to it. Now, mother, please tell Ruth to run away at
once and get a wallet packed with our things. Of course we shall want
our best clothes; because people dress finely in London, and it would
never do if we saw the queen and we hadn't our best doublets on, for
she would think that we didn't know what was seemly down at Hedingham."

"Well, my dears, of course if it is all settled--"

"Oh, yes, mother, it is quite all settled."

"Then it's no use my saying anything more about it, but I think your
father might have consulted me before he gave his consent to your going
on such a hazardous journey as this.

"He did want to consult you, mother. But then, you see, he wanted to
consult his books even more, and he knew very well that you would agree