‘Do! do!’ he cried. ‘What a mighty blow that ‘ud be! Only the left hand, though. I shall get over it.’
She wrenched herself away, gave Daniel a smart slap on the back, and ran round to the other side of the table, where she kissed Emma affectionately.
‘How thirsty I am!’ she exclaimed. ‘You haven’t drunk all the beer, I hope.’
‘I’m not so sure of that,’ Dan replied. ‘Why, there ain’t more than ‘arf a pint; that’s not much use for a Royal ‘Ighness.’
She poured it into a glass. Alice reached across the table, raised the glass to her lips, and—emptied it. Then she threw off hat, tippet, and gloves, and seated herself But in a moment she was up and at the cupboard.
‘Now, mother, you don’t—you don’t say as there’s not a pickle!’
Her tone was deeply reproachful.
‘Why, there now,’ replied her mother, laughing; ‘I knew what it ‘ud be! I meant to a’ got them last night. You’ll have to make shift for once.’
The Princess took her seat with an air of much dejection. Her pretty lips grew mutinous; she pushed her plate away.
‘No supper for me! The idea of cold meat without a pickle.’