and evening he was over at the Greys'. His meals he took in
the schoolroom, and though nurse would have allowed him to come back to
the nursery, if he had cared to do so, he very much preferred to have
them in solitary state. He seemed to see nothing ridiculous in sitting
there by himself; indeed, as he confided to Drusie, he thought it
perfectly absurd that a boy of his age should ever have been expected
to take them in the nursery.

She and the rest had plenty of time to make all their preparations for
the double birthday to be celebrated on Tuesday, for Hal left them
completely to themselves; and when he did see them, he was so full of
all that he and Dodds Major did together that he had no time to show
any interest in them.

"I should very much like to ask him whether he intends to take part in
the fight to-morrow, or whether he means to spend the day as usual with
his friend," said Helen.

It was late on Monday evening, and they had brought all their
preparations to a satisfactory conclusion. The flag--a bright, new
Union Jack--had been fastened to a long, slender pole, and was quite
ready to be hoisted. The ammunition was arranged in a neat, high pile,
and the armour lay ready to hand.

And in the garden summer-house, where, a few days back, the secret
meeting had been held, the materials for a most sumptuous feast were in
readiness to refresh the weary warriors when the day's work was done.

On previous birthdays they had always been satisfied with lemonade as a
drink, but Drusie, feeling that this was a special occasion, had
considered that lemonade was, perhaps, hardly a suitable form of
refreshment; and so, from a recipe which she was proud to think was
entirely out of her own head, she had concocted a bottle of red wine.

"And I think," she said, as she carefully hid it under the seat--"I
think that when you taste it you will say that you never in all your
lives before drank anything like it."

Tartlets and buns and a few other delicacies were to be ordered from
the pastry-cook's on the eventful day itself.

So, everything being ready, and it wanting still an hour or more till
their bedtime, they were rather at a loss to know what to do with
themselves; and then it was that Helen expressed a desire to know what
part Hal intended to take in the morrow's proceedings.

"No part at all, if you ask me," she added. "I say, Drusie, don't you
think we might go up to the Greys' gate, and see if we can g