tal act is intimately involved--which means
all mixed up anyhow--with a private affair of Oswald's, and the one
cannot be revealed without the other. Oswald does not particularly want
his story to be remembered, but he wishes to tell the truth, and perhaps
it is what father calls a wholesome discipline to lay bare the awful
facts.

It was like this.

On Alice's and Noel's birthday we went on the river for a picnic. Before
that we had not known that there was a river so near us. Afterwards
father said he wished we had been allowed to remain on our pristine
ignorance, whatever that is. And perhaps the dark hour did dawn when we
wished so too. But a truce to vain regrets.

It was rather a fine thing in birthdays. The uncle sent a box of toys
and sweets, things that were like a vision from another and a brighter
world. Besides that Alice had a knife, a pair of shut-up scissors, a
silk handkerchief, a book--it was The Golden Age and is Ai except where
it gets mixed with grown-up nonsense. Also a work-case lined with pink
plush, a boot-bag, which no one in their senses would use because it
had flowers in wool all over it. And she had a box of chocolates and a
musical box that played 'The Man who broke' and two other tunes, and two
pairs of kid gloves for church, and a box of writing-paper--pink--with
'Alice' on it in gold writing, and an egg coloured red that said 'A.
Bastable' in ink on one side. These gifts were the offerings of Oswald,
Dora, Dicky, Albert's uncle, Daisy, Mr Foulkes (our own robber), Noel,
H. O., father and Denny. Mrs Pettigrew gave the egg. It was a kindly
housekeeper's friendly token.

I shall not tell you about the picnic on the river because the happiest
times form but dull reading when they are written down. I will merely
state that it was prime. Though happy, the day was uneventful. The only
thing exciting enough to write about was in one of the locks, where
there was a snake--a viper. It was asleep in a warm sunny corner of the
lock gate, and when the gate was shut it fell off into the water.

Alice and Dora screamed hideously. So did Daisy, but her screams were
thinner.

The snake swam round and round all the time our boat was in the lock.
It swam with four inches of itself--the head end--reared up out of the
water, exactly like Kaa in the Jungle Book--so we know Kipling is a true
author and no rotter. We were careful to keep our hands well inside the
boat. A snake's eyes strike terror into t