cks, and a great black kettle was
hanging over it. The water was boiling and bubbling.

Soon the men left their work and came to join in the meal. They all sat
round the fire on the wet grass, and shared the large, thick mugs of tea
and sugar, and stared at the little strangers.

All the children were up, too, and rubbed their eyes and tried hard not
to look sleepy, but the little ones were cross and peevish. Each child
had a large slice of bread, and a piece of cold pork, and even the
little, sore-eyed baby held a crust of bread and a piece of pork in his
hand, which he tried to stuff into his mouth.

The twins, because they were the guests, were given each a hard-boiled
egg. Dumpty was getting over her shyness now, and tried to behave as
mummie does when she is out to tea. "Eggs are very dear now," she
announced gravely, during a lull in the conversation; "how much do you
pay for yours?" How the men and women laughed! It seemed as if Bill
would never stop chuckling, and repeating to himself, "Pay for our eggs!
That's a good un"; and every time that he said "Pay for our eggs!" he
gave his leg a loud slap with his hand. When breakfast was over--and you
may be sure that the twins ate a good one, although they did not much
like the strong tea, without any milk--the woman said it was time for
them to be starting home.

"Please," begged Dumpty, summoning all her courage--"please, may the
piebald pony take us?" and in a few minutes Bill drove it up, harnessed
to an old rickety cart, and the two children were packed in.

Just as they were starting Dumpty said, with a sigh, to the kind gipsy
woman, "Thank you very, very much, and will you, please, tell the clown
how sorry I am that I have not seen him to speak to?"

"'Ere I am, young mon--'ere I am!"

It was Bill who spoke. The twins could not believe their ears.

"Are you the clown?" said Dumpty in an awestruck voice; "are you really
and truly the clown?"

Bill jerked the reins, and the piebald pony set off at a weary trot.
"Yes, missie, I am the clown," he said.

"Where's your nose?" asked Humpty suspiciously.

"One's on my face--t'other's in the dressing-up box," answered the man,
with a shout of laughter.

"Then you're not Poor Jane's brother?" said Dumpty.

"Don't know nuffun about Poor Jine--we've got only one Jine here, and
that's the monkey, and she ain't my sister, leastways it's to be hoped
as she in't."

But although it was disappointing to find tha