helpings of turkey; he just gulped it down, and
kept handing up his plate while the others were eating their first
serving, and after that he tasted every different dish on the table.
It's a great trial for the Wrights to go to parties at the Barringtons;
they never get half enough supper, though they have the most delightful
magic lanterns and conjurers. Ruth and Edna were scarcely allowed to eat
anything at tea. Mrs. Barrington picked all the raisins out of Edna's
bun, and made Ruth put back the jam tart she'd just taken. She said if
they were really hungry they might eat some plasmon biscuits she had
brought with her, but they mustn't touch pastry; and Ruth was so savage,
she filled her pocket with queen-cakes when her mother wasn't
looking--she said she didn't mean to come away without having tasted
anything nice after all."

If the Barringtons were obliged to rise with unsatisfied appetites, the
same certainly could not be said of the other guests; the piles of good
things disappeared with much rapidity, and at last even the insatiable
Eric Wright declined another bun. It was at this point that Mrs. Stuart
produced a special basket, which she had reserved for a final surprise,
and raising the lid, disclosed a row of marvellous little cakes, each
made in the exact form of a sea urchin, with spines of white sugar, and
the inside filled with vanilla cream.

"It's a delicate compliment to the Sea Urchins' Club," she said. "It was
my own idea. I sent to my confectioner at home, and asked him what he
could manage in the matter. I think he has carried it out very well. The
cakes look so natural, you could almost imagine they had been fished out
of the water."

Quite a howl of delight went up from the young guests, who had never
seen such appropriate confectionery before, and the basket was handed
round by Belle amid a chorus of thanks, the United Sea Urchins consuming
their own effigies with much appreciation, even Ruth and Edna, at the
special request of Mrs. Stuart, being allowed for once to share the
treat, though only on the distinct understanding that they submitted
peaceably to a dose of Gregory's powder if the unwonted dainties
disagreed with them.

Tea being over, the party broke up to amuse itself in various ways, most
of the children playing at hide-and-seek among the crumbling walls, or
chasing each other up the winding staircase, while a few more
adventurous spirits took the opportunity of exploring the du