Page:Oswald Bastable and Others - Nesbit.djvu/116

94 'I should have thought if anybody's spirit was wounded. . .' said Dicky in tones of heatening indignantness.

'Yes, I know. But you'd got the oak, and I expect oaks are just as good, if not better, especially for English people, because of Oak-apple Day—and Where was I?'

We told her.

'So we went, and it is a very nice wood—quite tulgy, you know. We expected to see a every minute, didn't we, Noël? It's not very big, though, and on the other side there's an enchanted desert—rather bare, with patches of grass and brambles. And in the very middle of it we found the treasure.'

'Let's have a squint at the treasure,' said Dicky. 'Did you fetch it along?'

Noël and Alice sniggered.

'Not exactly,' said Alice; 'the treasure is a house.' 'It's an enchanted house,' said Noel, 'and it's a deserted house, and the garden is like in "The Sensitive Plant" after the lady has given up attending.'

'Did you go in?' we asked.

'No,' said Alice; 'we came back for you. And