Dick, Marjorie and Fidge: A Search for the Wonderful Dodo — John Shaqi
Dick, Marjorie and Fidge: A Search for the Wonderful DodoFarrow, G. E. (George Edward)
Science
Dick, Marjorie and Fidge: A Search for the Wonderful Dodo
Farrow, G. E. (George Edward)
Fantasy literature
"No; he means a bath bun and a glass of milk," laughed Marjorie, smiling
up at the lady's face.
There was no smile in response, however, and she replied, crossly, "Why
doesn't he say what he means, then? We've no bath buns, and no milk,"
she went on. "There's a currant bun, a box of chocolates, and a bottle
of gingerbeer. You can take them or leave them, whichever you like."
"Er--how much is the bun, please?" inquired Dick.
"Shilling," snapped the waitress.
"Dear me! that's rather expensive, isn't it?" said Dick, regarding his
two-shilling-piece ruefully. "And I'm afraid it looks a little stale,
too."
"Well, I never!" said the waitress, tossing her head scornfully, and
shaking back her little corkscrew curls. "What next, I wonder? That bun
has been here on and off for seventeen years, and I never had a
complaint about it before. Stale, indeed!" And she sniffed scornfully.
"Perhaps we had better try the chocolate," suggested Marjorie. "Can you
tell us, please, how many pieces there are in the box?" she asked.
"No, I can't!" was the ungracious reply. "It's half-a-crown," she added.
That, of course, put it out of the question, and as the gingerbeer
bottle turned out to be empty, the contents having evaporated some years
since, the children were obliged to turn, somewhat disconsolately, away
from the "refreshment room," and as they left they heard the waitress
complaining, crossly--
"I can't think what people want to come bothering for refreshments for,
when I am busy reading; some folks have _no_ consideration for others."
And she disappeared as mysteriously as she had arrived.
A little further down the platform, to their great delight, they
discovered an automatic machine, but were greatly disappointed to find
that it only professed to supply "furniture polish," "tin tacks," and
"postage stamps."
"And as we have no post-office here at all," said the Archaeopteryx, who
had by this time joined them, "the stamps are of no use whatever.
Fortunately," he went on, "the Palaeotherium brought some banana
sandwiches in his carpet bag; so, if you come back with me to his tent,
we can have a little supper before we go to bed."
The children very gratefully accepted the invitation, and were delighted
on entering the tent to find that the Eteraedarium and the Palaeotherium
had arranged quite a dainty little repast with the sandwiches, some
fresh fruit, and cocoanut milk, which was served in the shell.
While the feast was progressing it began to grow quite dark, and the
Dodo suggested asking the Porter for a light.
"There's only one candle," grumbled that individual, "and I be obligated
to use that for the signal."
So there was nothing to be done but to hurry over the supper as soon as
possible, and go to rest.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account