stumbling over
Darkie, who slipped in last like a black shadow.

The old man was seated in a carved oak chair by the fire.

"I never said the dogs were to come in," he said.

"But we can't do without them, please," said Robin, boldly. "You see
there are eight people in 'The Peace Egg,' and there are only five of
us; and so Darkie has to be the Black Prince, and Pax has to be the
Fool, and so we have to have them."

"Five and two make seven," said the old man, with a grim smile; "what do
you do for the eighth?"

"Oh, that's the little one at the end," said Robin, confidently. "Mamma
said we weren't to mention him, but I think that's because we're
children.--You're grown up, you know, so I'll show you the book, and you
can see for yourself," he went on, drawing "The Peace Egg" from his
pocket: "there, that's the picture of him, on the last page; black, with
horns and a tail."

The old man's stern face relaxed into a broad smile as he examined the
grotesque woodcut; but when he turned to the first page the smile
vanished in a deep frown, and his eyes shone like hot coals with anger.
He had seen Robin's name.

"Who sent you here?" he asked, in a hoarse voice. "Speak, and speak the
truth! Did your mother send you here?"

Robin thought the old man was angry with them for playing truant. He
said, slowly, "N--no. She didn't exactly send us; but I don't think
she'll mind our having come if we get back in time for supper. Mamma
never _forbid_ our going mumming, you know."

"I don't suppose she ever thought of it," Nicholas said candidly,
wagging his curly head from side to side.

"She knows we're mummers," said Robin, "for she helped us. When we were
abroad, you know, she used to tell us about the mummers acting at
Christmas, when she was a little girl; and so we thought we'd be
mummers, and so we acted to papa and mamma, and so we thought we'd act
to the maids, but they were cleaning the passages, and so we thought
we'd really go mumming; and we've got several other houses to go to
before supper-time; we'd better begin, I think," said Robin; and without
more ado he began to march round and round, raising his sword, and the
performance went off quite as creditably as before.

As the children acted the old man's anger wore off. He watched them with
an interest he could not repress. When Nicholas took some hard thwacks
from Robert without flinching, the old man clapped his hands; and after
the encounter was over, he s