‘Poor Fatty,’ said Bets.
‘Well, the next time I gave my prep in, it was written in old Tubbs’ own handwriting,’ said Fatty, with a grin. ‘Golly, it gave him a start to see a prep all done in his own writing!’
‘What did he say? ’ asked Pip.
‘He said, “And who’s done this prep for you this time, Trotteville?” And I said, “My goodness, sir, it looks as if you have!” ’ said Fatty. The others roared with laughter. Whether Fatty’s school tales were true or not, they were always funny.
Pip slipped the blank piece of paper into the envelope that Fatty had addressed and stuck it down. He took the stamp that Fatty offered him and put it on.
‘There!’ he said. ‘I’ll post it on my way home tonight. It’ll catch the half-past six post and it will be there tomorrow morning. Then if I don’t manage to spot the re-addressed letter my name isn’t Pip.’
‘Well, it isn’t,’ said Bets. ‘It’s Philip.’
‘Very funny!’ said Pip. ‘I don’t think!’
‘Now don’t squabble, you two,’ said Fatty. ‘Well, we’ve done all we can for the moment. Let’s have a game. I’ll teach you Woo-hoo-colly-wobbles.’
‘Gracious! Whatever’s that?’ said Bets.