Agamemnon proposed that, meanwhile, he should go and borrow a book; for he had another idea.
“This affair of the turkey,” he said, “reminds me of those buried cities that have been dug out,—Herculaneum, for instance.”
“Oh, yes,” interrupted Elizabeth Eliza, “and Pompeii.”
“Yes,” said Agamemnon, “they found there pots and kettles. Now, I should like to know how they did it; and I mean to borrow a book and read. I think it was done with a pickaxe.”
So the party set out. But when Mr. Peterkin reached the carpenter’s shop, there was no carpenter to be found there.
“He must be at his house, eating his dinner,” suggested Solomon John.
“Happy man,” exclaimed Mr. Peterkin, “he has a dinner to eat!”
They went to the carpenter’s house, but found he had gone out of town for a day’s job. But his wife told them that he always came back at night to ring the nine-o’clock bell.
“We must wait till then,” said Mr. Peterkin, with an effort at cheerfulness.
At home he found Agamemnon reading his book, and all sat down to hear of Herculaneum and Pompeii.