was the day for ginger puddings, and we all thought
they tasted rather queer, somehow, but it is not etiquette here to
leave anything on your plate, so we made an effort and finished our
rations. Well, about ten minutes afterwards most of us were taken
with umpteen fits. We writhed about the room in agony, and thought
our last hour had come. The doctor was sent for, and he motored
over so fast that he killed two little boys and a cow on the road,
but he said he did not care, and it was all in the way of business.
He stood us up in a line and gave us each an emetic of mustard and
water which was very horrid, and felt like a poultice inside. We
are beginning to get better now, but Carmel's legs are stiff, and
she has a tendency to go black in the face every now and then. The
doctor says she will do so for a fortnight, until the rat poison
wears itself out of her system. He does not think she will be lame
always. At least he hopes not. Lilias squints a little in
consequence of the umpteen fits she had, which turned her eyes
round, and my face is still swollen, and three front teeth dropped
out, but otherwise we are quite well, and the Doctor says things
might have been much worse, for at least our lives were spared. I
think we ought to see a specialist, but Miss Walters won't hear of
it.

"Hoping you are quite well,
"With love,
"Your affectionate sister
"DULCIE."

"Don't say I can't write fiction!" proclaimed Dulcie, making a grimace
at Gowan. "It's as good as a novel (though I say it myself) and as
interesting as anything in a newspaper. Improbable? Not at all! Cooks
make mistakes sometimes, like other people! I don't exactly know the
symptoms of rat poisoning, but I dare say they are very much what I've
described. It's thrilling reading, anyhow, and you ought to give me a
good clap for it."

"Tootle-too! Somebody has lost a trumpeter!" returned Gowan.

"I don't care! I'm sure if we took votes for the most thrills, my piece
would win. I'm going to keep it! Hand it back to me, Gowan! I want to
show it to Everard some time. He'd laugh ever so over it. He says my
home letters are tame. This would wake him up, at any rate! He'd say his
sister was breaking out into an authoress! What sport!"

CHAPTER XXI

Carmel's Kingdom

The day following the s