"
"You might cut human ears out of rabbit-skins and hang them round
your neck," added Bobus.
"You'd be awfully cold," said Allen.
"You could mix in a little iodine," suggested Bobus. "That stings
like fun, and a coppery tinge would be more natural."
There was great acclamation, but the difficulty was that the only
time for effecting an entrance into the garden was between four and
five in the morning, and it would be needful to lurk there in this
light costume till Mr. Barnes went out. No one would be at liberty
from school but Allen, and he declined the oil and lamp-black even
though warmed up with iodine.
"Could it not be done by deputy?" said Bobus; "we might blacken the
little fat boy riding on a swan, the statue, I mean."
"What, and gild the swan, to show how far his golden goose can carry
him?" said Jock.
"Or," said Allen, "there's the statue they say is himself, though
that's all nonsense. We could make a pair of donkey's ears in Mother
Carey's clay, and clap them on him, and gild the thing in his hand."
"What would be the good of that?" asked Robert.
However, the fun was irresistible, and the only wonder was that the
secret was kept for the whole day, while Allen moulded in the studio
two things that might pass for ass's ears, and secreted cement enough
to fasten them on.
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