The pets thought that Edgar was perhaps a bit starchy and a little too prone to reading them excerpts from Dickens and unknown 19th century American writers to them, but they were quite fond of him. However, they weren't half glad when he went away for a few days ... except that he came back unexpectedly early to find the Grey Langur Monkey dancing on his, Edgar's, special cushion on his, Edgar's, own personal armchair, the Toucan squawking bawdy limericks and being rowdily encouraged by a very merry and not-so-bashful Badger, toys left out where they fell, heffalump traps in the form of discarded banana skins, a dish of candies being vociferously enjoyed as a break from Edgar's wholemeal fibre-rich biscuits -- and oh no, they didn't have time to hide the bunch of celebratory balloons! With great presence of mind, the Magpie said they were to welcome Edgar home and they were looking forward to his rendition of Sydney Carton's “It is a far, far better thing that I do...". After all, Edgar wasn't such a bad old stick, on the whole.