The boys shouted again, and I saw Mercer heave up in his rage, and nearly send the boys off who were sitting upon him, while I wished I had strength enough to send our tormentors flying.
“Hallo! here we are then,” cried Burr major. “I knew it. They were going to have a tuck-out. Look, boys, they meant to have ‘toad in the hole’ for supper, and here’s the toad.”
This was as he held out the bloated skin of the unfortunate frog.
“Hooray!” shouted the boys, who were looking on with rapturous delight, and the more we struggled to get free, the greater their enjoyment seemed.
“You coward!—you brute!” panted Mercer. “How would you like your box turned out?”
“Ever so. Come and do it and you’ll see.—Oh!”
This last was with quite a shout.
“What is it?” cried the boys who held us. “Let’s look, Burr.”
“You take it out if you dare,” cried Mercer, who, however, as he told me afterwards, had not the least idea what was coming next.
“Oh yes, I’ll take it out,” said Burr major.