r,' said Bunyip.

'Swearin' never to give in till revenge has been inflicted and our
Puddin' restored to us,' said Bill.

'In order to exacerbate our just anger,' said Bunyip Bluegum, 'let us
sing as we go--

THE PUDDIN'-OWNERS' QUEST

'On a terrible quest we run north-west,
In a terrible rage we run;
With never a rest we run north-west
Till our terrible work is done.
Without delay
Away, away,
In a terrible rage we run all day.

'By our terrible zest you've doubtless guessed
That vengeance is our work;
For we seek the nest with terrible zest
Where the puddin'-snatchers lurk.
With rage, with gloom,
With fret and fume,
We seek the puddin'-snatchers' doom.'

[Illustration]

They ran north-west for two hours without seeing a sign of the
puddin'-thieves. Benjimen ran with them to exact revenge for the theft
of his bag. It was hot work running, and having no Puddin' they couldn't
have lunch, but Benjimen very generously handed eggs all round again.

'Eggs is all very well,' said Bill, eating them in despair, 'but they
don't come up to Puddin' as a regular diet, and all I can say is, that
if that Puddin' ain't restored soon I shall go mad with grief.'

'I shall go mad with rage,' said Sam, and they both sang loudly--

'Go mad with grief or mad with rage,
It doesn't matter whether;
Our Puddin's left this earthly stage,
So in despair we must engage
To both go mad together.'

'I have a suggestion to make,' said Bunyip Bluegum, 'which will at once
restore your wonted good-humour. Observe me.'

He looked about till he found a piece of board, and wrote this notice on
it with his fountain pen--

A GRAND PROCESSION OF
THE AMALGAMATED SOCIETY OF
PUDDINGS WILL PASS HERE
AT 2.30 TO-DAY

This he hung on a tree. 'Now,' said he, 'all that remains to be done is
to hide behind this bush. The news of the procession will spread like
wildfire through the district, and the puddin'-thieves, unable to resist
such a spectacle, will come hurrying to view the procession. The rest
will be simply a matter of springing out on them like lions.'

'Superbly reasoned,' said Bill, grasping Bunyip by the hand.

[Illustration]

[Illustration]

They all hid behind the bush and a crow, who happened to be passing,
read the sign and flew off at once to spread the news through the
district.

In fifteen minutes, by Bill's watch, the p