'Right time to do it, Dick,' said his friend.
'Rather,' said Dick; 'no time for a tramp like the freshness of the morning.'
The boys stretched themselves in the shade and lay at their ease for half an hour, then Dick sat up.
'Well,' he said, 'there seems a hollow inside me somewhere.'
'Same 'ere, Dick,' murmured the Raven. 'We'll fill up. Wot's the bill o' fare?'
'Chupatties and tea, I fancy,' replied the Wolf. 'We've been carrying the rest of that bag of flour about since Monday morning.'
'All to the good,' murmured Chippy, 'all to the good. Wot we've dropped in for has saved our——' He pulled up abruptly, and did not utter the word 'cash,' which had been in his mind. 'Shan't mention that,' he continued in a lower whisper still, ''cept we're in the middle of a ten-acre field.'
Dick laughed. 'We got into a trifle of a fix the last time we discussed that subject,' he said. 'I say, Chippy, do you reckon that it was a bit of a blot on us as scouts that we were caught like that?'
Chippy heaved a deep sigh. 'I've never mentioned it,' he replied, 'but it's bin on my mind more'n once. Seems to me we orter scouted round more to find whether there wor enemies in the country. They 'ad us on toast, they did. Reg'lar let down for a pair o' scouts,' and Chippy sighed again.
In order to banish these melancholy thoughts, the Wolf and the Raven began to get something to eat. The Wolf opened his jacket and mixed the flour on the lining, while the Raven fetched water and made a fire, and chopped and peeled and heated a club.