“And so you mustn’t never say one word of it to anyone,” Hubert gravely told Marygold, who had forthwith taken the earliest opportunity to repeat “only a little bit of it” to Phoena, and a little more to Di, and pretty nearly the whole to Faith.
Happily for Hubert, they kept their own counsel.
CHAPTER XIV.
“A PUNITIVE EXPEDITION.”
IN spite of the boys’ efforts to conceal the failure of their first essay in knightly deeds, there was no doubt that it had a very depressing effect on their ardour.
Indeed, the grand project might quite possibly have languished and died out, if it had not been for a fresh impetus given to it from outside. This came in the form of a letter from Mrs. Durand.
Faith had sent an account of their scheme to her mother, who entered so cordially into their project, that she wrote, promising to award as her own prize one golden sovereign to the best deserving of the knights. She only stipulated that the record of the noblest deed of each should be submitted to her for consideration.
Fay and Phoena were to be responsible for the accuracy of the list, which was to be endorsed by all the other members’ signatures.
“I’m glad,” ended Mrs. Durand, “that you’ve taken little Gaston into your number. A Gaston should do doughty deeds to keep up the reputation of such a bright name in the rolls of chivalry; besides, it would have been unkind, and therefore unknightly, to have left him out.”
Fay was careful to read this last remark out, and though it was received with evident dissatisfaction, it nevertheless bore fruit.
Fired now by the prospect of winning a “golden opinion” the boys set to work to consider what enterprise they could next take in hand.