. But the thing, whatever it was, seemed to be
longish; longer, that is, than a pot of gold would naturally be. And as
I uncovered it I saw that it was not at all pot-of-gold-colour, but like
a bone Pincher has buried. So Oswald said--

'It IS the skeleton.'

The girls all drew back, and Alice said, 'Oswald, I wish you wouldn't.'

A moment later the discovery was unearthed, and Oswald lifted it up,
with both hands.

'It's a dragon's head,' Noel said, and it certainly looked like it.

It was long and narrowish and bony, and with great yellow teeth sticking
in the jaw.

Bill came back just then and said it was a horse's head, but H. O. and
Noel would not believe it, and Oswald owns that no horse he has ever
seen had a head at all that shape.

But Oswald did not stop to argue, because he saw a keeper who showed me
how to set snares going by, and he wanted to talk to him about ferrets,
so he went off and Dicky and Denny and Alice with him. Also Daisy and
Dora went off to finish reading Ministering Children. So H. O. and Noel
were left with the bony head. They took it away.

The incident had quite faded from the mind of Oswald next day. But just
before breakfast Noel and H. O. came in, looking hot and anxious. They
had got up early and had not washed at all--not even their hands and
faces. Noel made Oswald a secret signal. All the others saw it, and with
proper delicate feeling pretended not to have.

When Oswald had gone out with Noel and H. O. in obedience to the secret
signal, Noel said--

'You know that dragon's head yesterday?'

'Well?' Oswald said quickly, but not crossly--the two things are quite
different.

'Well, you know what happened in Greek history when some chap sowed
dragon's teeth?'

'They came up armed men,' said H. O., but Noel sternly bade him shut up,
and Oswald said 'Well,' again. If he spoke impatiently it was because he
smelt the bacon being taken in to breakfast.

'Well,' Noel went on, 'what do you suppose would have come up if we'd
sowed those dragon's teeth we found yesterday?'

'Why, nothing, you young duffer,' said Oswald, who could now smell the
coffee. 'All that isn't History it's Humbug. Come on in to brekker.'

'It's NOT humbug,' H. O. cried, 'it is history. We DID sow--'

'Shut up,' said Noel again. 'Look here, Oswald. We did sow those
dragon's teeth in Randall's ten-acre meadow, and what do you think has
come up?'

'Toadstools I should think,' was Oswald's contemptible