the challenge which he had left on the chimney-piece. She
conceived it to be her duty to take it down to Mrs. Gashly, his cook,
and while they were putting the bloodiest construction on these
inscriptions, their conference was interrupted by the return of Captain
Puffin in the highest spirits, who, after a vain search for the
challenge, was quite content, as its purport was no longer fraught with
danger and death, to suppose that he had torn it up. Mrs. Gashly,
therefore, after preparing breakfast at this unusually early hour, went
across to the back door of the Major's house, with the challenge in her
hand, to borrow a nutmeg grater, and gleaned the information that Mrs.
Dominic's employer (for master he could not be called) had gone off in a
great hurry to the station early that morning with a Gladstone bag and a
portmanteau, the latter of which had been seen no more, though the Major
had returned. So Mrs. Gashly produced the challenge, and having watched
Miss Mapp off to the High Street at half-past ten, Dominic and Gashly
went together to her house, to see if Withers could supply anything of
importance, or, if not, a nutmeg grater. They were forced to be content
with the grater, but pored over the challenge with Withers, and she
having an errand to Diva's house, told Janet, who without further
ceremony bounded upstairs to tell her mistress. Hardly had Diva heard,
than she plunged into the High Street, and, with suitable additions,
told Miss Mapp, Evie, Irene and the Padre under promise in each case, of
the strictest secrecy. Ten minutes later Irene had asked the defenceless
Mr. Hopkins, who was being Adam again, what he knew about it, and Evie,
with her mouse-like gait that looked so rapid and was so deliberate, had
the mortification of seeing Miss Mapp outdistance her and be admitted
into the Poppits' house, just as she came in view of the front-door. She
rightly conjectured that, after the affair of the store-cupboard in the
garden-room, there could be nothing of lesser importance than "the duel"
which could take that lady through those abhorred portals. Finally, at
ten minutes past eleven, Major Flint and Captain Puffin were seen by one
or two fortunate people (the morning having cleared up) walking together
to the tram, and, without exception, everybody knew that they were on
their way to fight their duel in some remote hollow of the sand-dunes.

Miss Mapp had gone straight home from her visit to the Poppits just