Through the bushes Cæsar swallowed the last mouthful of veal and ham pie and sat back with an expression of seraphic happiness, and Jumble humbly came forward to lick the dish.
"Nothin', you—you ole varlets," cried Dick the Dauntless. "An' I jolly well won't get anything, ever—till death—so there—an' you jus' clear off from outside my house, or I'll—"
He flung himself upon Sam. Sam, who was taken by surprise, rolled into the ditch. Albert and Leopold rushed upon William, Sam crawled out of the ditch to join them, and the battle began.
******
"It's gone," said Mrs. Brown. "Simply gone." The three men looked at her in bewilderment.
"The veal and ham pie," exclaimed Mrs. Brown. "The one we were going to have for supper. Cook says she put it in the larder only two minutes ago, and now it's gone—simply gone. No one's been through the kitchen. Cook's been near the larder door all the time. Some tramp must have seen it through the window and taken it and——"
"He can't have gone far," said Mr. Brown.
Mr. Beal sprang up.
"Let's catch him," he said. "He's probably eating it in the shrubbery now."
The three men went out and gazed upon the darkening garden. A faint cracking of twigs in the shrubbery reached them. In single file and on tiptoe they set out. At last they discerned a dim figure in front of them carrying something in its arms and accompanied by a dog.