"I do not ask you for your gold,
Nor for an old straw hat—
I simply ask that I be told
Oh what, oh what is that?"
"It is a footstep on the stairs," said Jimmieboy.
"Oh, dear! Oh, dear!" moaned the major "If it is Fortyforefoot all is over for us. This is what I feared.
"I was afraid he could not wait,
The miserable sinner,
To serve me up in proper state
At his to-morrow's dinner.
Alas, he comes I greatly fear
In search of Major Me, sir,
And that he'll wash me down with beer
This very night at tea, sir."
"Oh, why did I come here—why——"
"I shall!" roared a voice out in the passage-way.
"You shall not," roared another voice, which Jimmieboy was delighted to recognize as Bludgeonhead's.
"I am hungry," said the first voice, "and what is mine is my own to do with as I please. I shall eat both of them at once. Stand aside!"
"I will toss you into the air, my dear Fortyforefoot," returned Bludgeonhead's voice, "if you advance another step; and with such force, sir, that you will never come down again."