Should he go up now? The cap’n had said, “This is the arrange-arrangeme- arrangement!” That was it. He’d said the “arrangement” would be to meet at Sweet Lucy’s. He would give slip to the bearded giant who’d chased them on water and up the lanes and then he would come. And Dickon would be waiting.
”No, he thought, settling back down after standing to see how fast the chair moved—not very fast, was the answer. He would not leave this doorway. The cap’n would come. The cap’n was probably coming now. With nuts.
Dickon pulled out the pamphlet, its pages ripped, its ink smudged. Still, he could see some words clear. He’d learn more of ’em. That would please the cap’n when he came.
“Slaugh-ter,” he said. Now, what did that mean again?
“Mr. Palmer. Are you certain that this superfluity of lac
