"Where do you sleep?" asked Daffy.
"We lives in Northcott; we was only comin' roun' the village 'ere, feyther and me. Mother 'll be on the look-out for me now; 'er did hope for a napple puddin' or such-like."
Even Freda and Daffy received that suggestion suspiciously. Apple puddings, of course, would be a boy's taste, but a mother with a starving family might prefer something more nourishing. Then from under his jacket he produced a dirty white calico bag.
"Mother giv' me this to bring back full," he said.
Freda and Daffy gasped as they saw the size of it.
They consulted together in low tones.
"You see, we shall be feeding a lot of hungry children all at once," said Freda. "I'm sure it would be a good thing to do. Let's take the bag, Daffy, and go round to the yard by the back-kitchen door. The kitchen-maid might give us some scraps."
"Yes; we'll tell him to wait here."
No sooner said than done. The boy threw himself down on the grass under the tree, and the little girls ran off with his bag.
They were fortunate in meeting Nellie, the kitchen-maid. She was filling a can from a tap in the yard. They hastily explained to her what they wanted.