The victim went back to his earliest childhood, and thanked Providence that he at least had known how to behave himself, and desist from silly, idiotic, ridiculous, tom-fool tricks, which would disgrace a monkey on an organ. He projected himself into the future, and prophesied ruin and destruction for a race which produced popinjays and clowns. He announced his intention of dying that very night, so that the crime which his hearers had committed might be duly avenged, and in the same breath would have them to know that he was not the sort of man to be affected by the tricks of unmannerly cubs, and that General Terence Digby was match for a hundred such as they, gout or no gout. Gout, indeed! Toppled, forsooth! The world was coming to a pretty pass! Was it part of the plot, might he ask, to cajole him into the house and poison him with their sal-volatile tea? This was a case for the police! Betty gave a little shriek of dismay, but the twins exchanged glances of subdued admiration. They liked to hear a thing done really well, and the General's denunciation was a triumph of its kind. But when asked if he were not thoroughly ashamed of himself, Jack showed the courage of his opinion. "Sorry!" he declared. "I said so before, sir, but not ashamed. We wouldn't have been bribed to hurt you, and I'll apologise as much as you like, but we were doing nothing wrong. It was only a joke." "Joke!" screamed the old gentleman. "Joke!" He rolled his protruding eyes towards the ceiling, and gasped and spluttered in disgust. "Is that what you call a joke? I don't know what this country is coming to! Have you nothing better to do with your time, young sir, than to prowl about the streets playing monkey tricks on innocent passers-by? I am sorry for you if that is your best idea of enjoyment." "Boys will be boys!" said Jack, in his quaint, sententious fashion. "We can only be young once, sir, so we might as well make the most of it while we can." "Besides, we weren't prowling about in the street!" cried Jill, suddenly bursting into the conversation, her determination to keep silent melting away before what she was pleased to consider a slight on her dignity. "Mother wouldn't allow such a thing. The Square is private property. We have a key, and she knows we are perfectly safe when we are there."