Kitty, being the eldest, was chosen to go in and order the tea, while the others hung over the gate and sniffed in the mingled perfume of the roses, the pinks, and all the other sweet-scented flowers with which the little garden was stocked.  Across the garden, in the hedge, was another gate through which they could see a steep sunny field stretching away down to the river bank, which was steeper here and higher, with old gnarled trees growing out of it, their large roots so exposed that one wondered how they managed to draw sustenance enough from the ground to support the great trunks and spreading branches.

“I have ordered ham and eggs, and cream, and jam, and cake,” said Kitty, as she rejoined them, “and it will all be ready in an hour.  It is three o’clock now.”

“Only three!” sighed Dan in mock despair.  “One whole hour to wait!  Will it take all that time to get it ready?”

“I think it is a good thing,” said Betty, “that we have to wait, for we are not very hungry now—­at least I am not; and you see we’ve got to pay the same however little we eat, and it does seem a pity to waste our money.”

“What a mind she has!” cried Dan, pretending to be lost in admiration.  But at that same moment there once more reached their ears sounds as of an approaching earthquake.

“The train!” cried Betty, and seizing Tony’s hand, drew him carefully back close to the gate.

Dan cast a hasty look around him for handy missiles.  Kitty saw it, and knew what was in his mind.

“Don’t throw things at them, Dan, please!  Think of yesterday, and Jabez, and Aunt Pike. Don’t throw anything to hurt them.”

The “Rover” was lumbering nearer and nearer.  The two men on it had already caught sight of the quartette at the gate, and were grinning at them derisively.  It really was almost more than any human boy could be expected to endure.

“Ha, ha!” jeered the men, as they lumbered by, “be yer boots dry yet, sir?  Wonderful cooling to the brain a wet ’at is—­cooling to the feet, too, sometimes!”

Dan’s blood rose.  He felt he simply had to throw something, or do something desperate.  Betty’s basket, still well supplied, was hanging on her arm close beside him.  With one grab he seized the contents, and first an apple went flying through the air, then a paper packet.  Tonkin, the fireman, caught the apple deftly; the packet hit Dumble on the chest, and dropped to the floor.  Dumble himself was too fat to stoop, so Tonkin pounced on it.  The engine was at a little distance now, and aim was easier.  Another apple, well directed, hit Tonkin fair and square on the top of his head, while a third caught Dumble with no mean force full on his very broad nose, making him dance and shout with pain.

As the engine disappeared round the bend, with the two men grasping their spoils and their bruises, Dan felt himself avenged, and the one cloud on his day was lifted.