m he should have
a feast, and dine under the great cedar tree that stood upon the lawn,
and that his cousins should be invited to dine with him, and that he
should have whatever he chose for his dinner. So she rang the bell, and
she told the servants to take out tables and chairs and to lay the cloth
upon the table under the tree; and she ordered her two footmen to be
ready to wait upon him. She desired the butler to tell the cook to
prepare the dinner, and to get all sorts of nice dishes for the feast;
but she said to Alfred, 'What shall you like best of all, my dear boy?'
So Alfred tried to think of something that he had never had before, and
he recollected that one day he had heard a lady say, who was dining
with his papa and mamma, that the oyster patties were the best she had
ever eaten. Now Alfred had never tasted oyster patties, so he said he
would have oyster patties for dinner. 'Oyster patties, my dear boy? You
cannot have oyster patties at this time of the year, there are no
oysters to be had,' his mamma said to him; 'try, love, to think of
something else.'

But naughty Alfred said, 'No, I can think of nothing else,' so the cook
was sent for, and desired to think of something that he might like as
well. The cook proposed first a currant pie, then a barberry pie, or a
codlin pie with custard. 'No, no, no,' said Alfred, shaking his head.
'Or a strawberry tart, my sweet boy; or apricot jam?' said his mamma,
in a soothing tone of voice.

But Alfred said, 'No, mamma, no, I don't like strawberries; I don't like
apricot jam; I want oysters.'

'But you cannot have oysters, my little master,' said the cook. 'But I
will have oysters,' said the little boy, 'and you shan't say that I
can't have them, shall she, mamma?' and he began to scream and to cry.
'Do not cry, my sweet soul,' said his mamma, 'and we will see what we
can do; dry up your tears, my little man, and come with me, and the
cook, I daresay, will be able to get some oysters before dinner; it is a
long time to dinner, you know, and I have some pretty toys for you
upstairs if you will come with me till dinner is ready.' So she took the
little crying boy by the hand and led him up to her room, and she
whispered to the cook as she passed not to say anything more about it
now, and that she hoped he would forget the oyster patties by the time
dinner was ready. In the meantime she took all the pains she could to
amuse and please him, and as fast as he grew tired