24 FOUR-FOOTED AMElilVANS 



and sometimes perhaps I thought 1 did," said Mr. Blake, 

 looking at the Doctor, who was shaking with laughter. 



"Did you ever shoot anything just to see if you 

 could hit it? " asked Nat. 



" Yes ; I'm afraid I did often, before I had travelled 

 over the wild west country and learned for myself that 

 shooting food and fur beasts to ' see what you can hit,' 

 is making this wonderful land of ours as bare of four- 

 footed things as it will be of birds." 



" Say, Mis' Cherry, can de young uns hab a spoon o' 

 jam 'long o' dere waffles ? " asked Mammy Bun in what 

 was meant to be a whisper, popping her head in at the 

 door. 



" I'm afraid not, to-night, mammy," said Mrs. Blake, 

 Avhose girlish name of Cherry, mammy still used. 

 "We should have the children dreaming of liuff aloes 

 and Indians and rolling out of bed. Waffles are quite 

 enough." 



" But ]\Iammy Bun's waffles are such well-behaved 

 things that they never hurt anybody," said Olive. 



" Yes," echoed Dodo, " mammy says it's all in the 

 beating up ; if you beat waffles ever so hard when 

 you're making them, they'll never talk back after you 

 eat them. I knoAV something that does talk back, 

 though — it's turnips if you eat them raw like apples, 

 and chew rather quick and then drink water. Oh, it 

 was dreadful ! " 



"So, missy has been having indigestion, has she?" 

 laughed the Doctor. 



" Yes ; if that name means that inside your chest is 

 too big for your skin. What makes indigestion, Uncle 

 Roy?" 



