ourhood;
and then we shook hands, they requesting us feebly to drink their
healths, and we saying, ay, that we would.

Temple was in distress of spirits because of his having been
ignominiously bought off. Saddlebank, however, put on such a pace that no
one had leisure for melancholy. 'I'll get you fellows up to boiling
point,' said he. There was a tremendously hot sun overhead. On a sudden
he halted, exclaiming: 'Cooks and gridirons! what about sage and onions?'
Only Temple and I jumped at the meaning of this. We drew lots for a
messenger, and it was miserable to behold an unfortunate fellow touch
Saddlebank's hand containing the notched bit of stick, and find himself
condemned to go and buy sage and onions somewhere, without knowing what
it was for how could he guess we were going to cook a raw goose! The lot
fell to a boy named Barnshed, a big slow boy, half way up every class he
was in, but utterly stupid out of school; which made Saddlebank say:
'They'll take it he's the bird that wants stuffing.' Barnshed was
directed where to rejoin us. The others asked why he was trotted after
sage and onions. 'Because he's an awful goose,' said Saddlebank.

Temple and I thought the word was out and hurrahed, and back came
Barnshed. We had a task in persuading him to resume his expedition, as
well as Saddlebank to forgive us. Saddlebank's anger was excessive. We
conciliated him by calling him captain, and pretending to swear an oath
of allegiance. He now led us through a wood on to some fields down to a
shady dell, where we were to hold the feast in privacy. He did not
descend it himself. Vexatious as it was to see a tramp's tent there, we
nevertheless acknowledged the respectful greeting of the women and the
man with a few questions about tentpegs, pots, and tin mugs. Saddlebank
remained aloft, keeping a look-out for the day-school fellows, Chaunter,
Davis, and Bystop, my commissioners. They did not keep us waiting long.
They had driven to the spot in a cart, according to Saddlebank's
directions. Our provisions were in three large hampers. We praised their
forethought loudly at the sight of an extra bottle of champagne, with two
bottles of ginger-wine, two of currant, two of raisin, four pint bottles
of ale, six of ginger-beer, a Dutch cheese, a heap of tarts, three
sally-lunns, and four shillingsworth of toffy. Temple and I joined our
apples to the mass: a sight at which some of the boys exulted aloud. The
tramp-women insiste