w. She hasn't said a word to us about it,"
said Erebus.

"That's what looks so bad. It looks as if she'd made up her mind
already; and if she has, it's no use talking to her," said the Terror
yet more gloomily.

They were silent; and the bright eyes of Wiggins moved expectantly
backward and forward from one to the other. He preserved a decorous
sympathetic silence.

"No, it's no good talking to Mum," said Erebus presently in a
despairing tone.

"Well, we must leave her out of it and just squash the Cruncher
ourselves," said the Terror.

"But you can't squash the Cruncher!" cried Erebus.

"Why not? We've squashed other people, haven't we?" said the Terror
sharply.

"Never any one so thick-skinned as him," said Erebus.

The Terror frowned deeply again: "We can always try," he said coldly.
"And look here: I've been thinking all tea-time: if stepchildren don't
like stepfathers, there's no reason why stepfathers should like
stepchildren."

"The Cruncher likes us, though it's no fault of ours," said Erebus.

"That's just it; he doesn't really know us. If he saw the kind of
stepchildren he was in for, it might choke him off," said the Terror.

"But he can't even see we hate him," objected Erebus.

"No, and if he did, he wouldn't mind, he'd think it a joke. My idea
isn't to show him how we feel, but to show him what we can do, if we
give our minds to it," said the Terror in a somewhat sinister tone.

Erebus gazed at him, taking in his meaning. Then a dazzling smile
illumined her charming face; and she cried: "Oh, yes! Let's give him
socks! Let's begin at once!"

"Yes: I'll help! I'm a trusty ally!" cried Wiggins; and he spurned the
earth joyfully at the thought.

They were silent a while, their faces grave and intent, cudgeling their
brains for some signal exploit with which to open hostilities.

Presently Wiggins said: "You might make him an apple-pie bed. They're
very annoying when you're sleepy."

He spoke with an air of experience.

"What's an apple-pie bed?" said Erebus scornfully.

Wiggins hung his head, abashed.

"It's a beginning, anyhow," said the Terror in an approving tone; and
he added with the air of a philosopher: "Little things, and big things,
they all count."

"I was trying to think how to break his leg; but I can't," said Erebus
bitterly.

"By Jove! That cigarette-case! Come on!" cried the Terror; and he led
the way swiftly out of the garden and took the path to Littl