56 THE BOY FROM GREEN GINGER LAND

‘And, Mary, may we set the table?’ chimed in
Kitty.

They were in the midst of setting the table
when Mary’s brother George came in from work.
He was a burly, good-natured, red-faced person,
chiefly remarkable for pockets which bulged out
with apples and sweets, and for certain time-
honoured jokes which the children always greeted
with the cordiality due to such old friends.

‘George always pretends he's going to put us
in his pockets,’ Micky had remarked to Kitty
on one occasion ; ‘ it's getting a bit stale.’

‘Yes, but we must laugh,’ said Kitty : ‘he'd be
so disappointed if we didn't,’ and accordingly the
twins always laughed uproariously as soon as
George so much as mentioned his pockets.

They sat down to table after full justice had
been done to these pleasantries, and the meal
that followed might have been one grand joke
from beginning to end to judge from the continual
laughter that went on. Mary had remembered
everybody’s favourite dishes ; there was liver and
bacon to please the twins, pancakes for Emmeline,
though Shrove Tuesday was about half a year
distant, and baked potatoes for them all. When
at last everybody had eaten as much of these
good things as they could manage, and George
had gone back to work, it was high time to start

for the Fair.