"Did they use you very bad, my dear?"
"It wasn't because of that; I wouldn't have minded how they used me. I ran away because I wanted to find the Land of Golden Dreams."
Mr. Jenkins put his hand to his mouth as if to choke what sounded very like a laugh; Sam stared with a look of the most profound amazement on his face; a faint smile even flitted across the lady's face.
"The Land of Golden Dreams," said Sam. "Never heard tell of such a place."
"You never heard tell of nothing," declared the lady. "You ain't a scholar like this young gentleman. And what's the name of the school, my dear?"
"Mecklemburg House Collegiate School."
Bertie informed them of the name and title of Mr. Fletcher's educational establishment with what he intended to be his grandest air, with a possible intention of impressing them with its splendour.
"There's a mouthful," commented Sam. "Oh my eye!"
The lady's reception of Bertie's information was more courteous.
"There's a beautiful name for a school. And where might it be?"