"Then will you tell me a story?"
"I can't; I'm going to have my dinner. I only came up to say
Good-night."
Margery leant forward and whispered coaxingly, "Will you just tell me about Beauty and 'e Beast?"
"But I've told you that such heaps of times. And it's much too long for to-night."
"Tell me HALF of it. As much as THAT." She held her hands about nine inches apart.
"That's too much."
"As much as THAT." The hands came a little nearer together.
"Oh! Well, I'll tell you up to where the Beast died."
"FOUGHT he died," she corrected eagerly.
"Yes. Well—"