| Quote from the story |
| "Hubert Lane" said William, spitting the name out as if it were some noxious draught." |
| - William |
|---|
An impatient William visits the Lane's later that day to claim his knife, however it becomes obvious that Hubert has decided to keep the knife for himself, along with th e pistol that he'd been given from uncle Paul.
William turns to Mrs Lane for help, but Hubert lies through his teeth and claims uncle Paul gave both items to him. Of course, Mrs Lane believes her little Hubert and tells William he is telling a string of lies.
William is ordered to leave by Mrs Lane. He does, realising that there was no other official channel to seek justice, as while his parents may believe him, their dislike for such weapons would mean they wouldn't act.
William heads to the barn to reveal the disappointing news. The outlaws discuss ways to extricate the knife for half an hour, eventually parting ways when they realised there was nothing to do. William approached his parents, who displayed sympathy, but again nothing was done.
Upon remembering that Hubert still believed in fairies and witches and spells, William called the outlaws to the old barn and formed a plan. Hubert had also hatched a plan to try and trick the Outlaws into becoming friendly with him.
Herbert's plan involved inviting the Outlaws to an imaginary party, assuming that this would make them forget the knife. As William and Ginger approached his house he invited them. They eager to get to Hubert for their plan, agreed in a naueasously pleasant way. Told him to keep the knife and invited him to play, telling him they had a secret to tell him, then leading unsuspecting Hubert to the old barn.
William reveals that his secret involved an old woman muttering to herself near the old barn. Hubert takes the woman to be a witch, and the words to be a spell. William explains that the spell involved anyone walking over a burned patch having their home turned into a hen-coop and the people in it turned to hens. Hubert having reviously walked on the burnt patch is overcome with anxiety that his house is now a hen-coop, refuses to check if it has been so converted. Ginger checks for him from the stile and tells him that only a hen-coop remains.
Douglas and Henry turn up at different times exclaming that Hubert's house has gone and a hen-coop is all that remains, with a brown and white hen (Mrs Lane) and a hen leaving the house (his father leaving for the train station).
The Outlaws explain that when Hubert is turned into a hen, he'll have to eat grubs and worms. He becomes distressed at the thought. Conveniently, William remembers the second part of the spell: "An' nver shall be free of the spell, Till he throws into here somethin' that cuts an', somethin' that shoots as well".
William examines this part of the spell with a judicial air as Hubert pulls out the knife asking if it would do. William pretends not to know that the "somethin' that shoots as well" could refer to, leading Hubert to pull out the pistol from his other pocket.
Not surprisingly, when Ginger next checks from the stile; Hubert's house has magically returned to its former glory!
The next day, when Hubert asks them where they managed to get a clasp-knife and a pistol, William replies with "The fairies gave them us".
| Characters | Places |
|---|---|
| Hubert Lane | William's Village |
| William Brown | Hubert's house |
| Uncle Paul (Hubert Lane's uncle) | Old Barn |
| Mrs Lane | |
| Ginger | Other appearances of this story |
| Douglas | None known at present |
