"And to think," breathed Fancy, recognising some of Mr Rogers's trade wrappers, "that maybe I've seen dad doin' up those very parcels, and never guessed—well, go on! Read it to me."
"I—I don't read at all well," faltered Palmerston.
She tapped her foot. "I don't care how bad you read so long as you don't keep me waitin' a moment longer."
"This is Chapter Nine. . . . If you like, of course, I could start by tellin' you what the other chapters are about—"
"Please don't talk any more, but read!"
"Oh, very well. The chapter is called 'Ernest makes Another Attempt.' Ernest is what Mrs Bowldler calls the hero, which means that the book is all about him. It begins—"
'It was late in the evening following upon the events related in the previous chapter'
—I got that out of a paper Mrs Bowldler carries about in her pocket. It is called 'Bow Bells,' and you can depend on it, for it's all about the highest people—
'when Ernest rang at the bell of Number 20 Grovener Square.'
—I got that address, too, out of Mrs Bowldler. She said you couldn' go higher than that. 'Not humanly speakin'' was her words, though I don't quite know what she meant."