"Let Darkie be the Black Prince," said Nicholas.
"When you wave your stick he'll jump for it, and then you can pretend to fight with him."
"It's not a stick, it's a sword," said Robin.
"However, Darkie may be the Black Prince."
"And what's Pax to be?" asked Dora; "for you know he will come if Darkie does, and he'll run in before everybody else too."
"Then he must be the Fool," said Robin, "and it will do very well, for the Fool comes in before the rest, and Pax can have his red coat on, and the collar with the little bells."
VI.
Robin thought that Christmas would never come. To the Captain and his wife it seemed to come too fast. They had hoped it might bring reconciliation with the old man, but it seemed they had hoped in vain.