I shouted out, 'Hullo! Good-afternoon!' They all stood still in a moment, and young Noaks cried, 'Why, it's a Birchite!--What do you want here, you young dog ?' I couldn't think of anything else to say, so I said, 'I want to know if this is the bear-pit or the monkey-house.' My eye, you should have seen them! I dropped down in a trice, and they all rushed to the doors; but they couldn't lift the latch, because Mug and Jack were holding fast to the stump.

We waited a moment, and then let go and ran for it.

You may judge what happened next.

It's a regular sea of mud outside those gates.

They all came rushing out together, and I saw Noaks and Hogson go head first over the rope, and two or three others fall flat on the top of them.