She looked round at the boys, smiling in a wheedlesome way, and King said, "Right, O Queen Sandy! Right always and ever, in the hearts of your gentlemen-in-waiting."
"You bet you are!" cried Tom, quick to follow King's lead. "Our noble Queen has but to say the word, and it is our law. Therefore, O Queen, we beg thee to mete out a just punishment to this prisoner within our gates."
"Hear ye! Hear ye!" said Midget, with great dramatic fervor. "I hereby forgive this prisoner of ours, because she's truly sorry she acted like the dickens. And as a punishment, I condemn her to rebuild this royal palace, but, following Harry's example, we will all help her with the work."
Then King burst forth into song:
"Hooray, Hooray, for our noble Queen,
The very best monarch that ever was seen.
There's nobody quite so perfectly dandy,
As our most gracious, most noble Queen Sandy!"
They all repeated this chorus, and the Queen bowed and smiled at her devoted court.
"And also," her Royal Highness went on, "we hereby take into our club Miss Hester Corey as a new member. I'm glad to have another girl in it,—and what I say goes!"
This time Tom made up the song:
"What she says, goes!
She's sweet as a rose,
From head to toes,
So what she says, goes!"
"Miss Hester Corey is now a member," said Midget, "and her name is,—is——"