k, but smiling faintly at every Racketty-Packetty
they saw, instead of turning up their noses and tossing their heads
and sniffing loudly, and just _scorning_ them.

Lady Gwendolen spoke first and instead of being haughty and
disdainful, she was as humble as a new-born kitten.

"Oh! you dear, shabby, disrespectable, darling things!" she said.
"Never, never, will I scorn you again. Never, never!"

[Transcriber's Note: See picture shabby.jpg]

"That's right!" said Peter Piper in his cheerful, rather slangy
way. "You take my tip-never you scorn any one again. It's a
mistake. Just you watch me stand on my head. It'll cheer you up."

And he turned six summersaults--just like lightning--and stood on
his head and wiggled his ragged legs at them until suddenly they
heard a snort from one of the beds and it was Lord Hubert beginning
to laugh and then Lord Francis laughed and then Lord Hubert
shouted, and then Lady Doris squealed, and Lady Muriel screamed,
and Lady Gwendolen and the Duchess rolled over and over in their
beds, laughing as if they would have fits.

"Oh! you delightful, funny, shabby old loves!" Lady Gwendolen kept
saying. "To think that we scorned you."

"They'll be all right after this," said Peter Piper. "There's
nothing cures scarlet fever like cheering up. Let's all join hands
and dance round and round once for them before we go back to bed.
It'll throw them into a nice light perspiration and they'll drop
off and sleep like tops." And they did it, and before they had
finished, the whole lot of them were perspiring gently and snoring
as softly as lambs.

When they went back to Racketty-Packetty House they talked a good
deal about Cynthia and wondered and wondered why she had left her
scarlet fever so suddenly. And at last Ridiklis made up her mind to
tell them something she had heard.

"The Duchess told me," she said, rather slowly because it was bad
news--"The Duchess said that Cynthia went away because her Mama
had sent for her--and her Mama had sent for her to tell her that a
little girl princess is coming to see her to-morrow. Cynthia's
Mama used to be a maid of honor to the Queen and that's why the
little girl Princess is coming. The Duchess said--" and here
Ridiklis spoke very slowly indeed, "that the nurse was so excited
she said she did not know whether she stood on her head or her
heels, and she must tidy up the nursery and have that Racketty-Packetty
old dolls' house carried down stairs and