"Shall I read it aloud?" asked Laurence temptingly.

"Oh, please do."

"Sure you wouldn't like to read it aloud yourself?"

"Oh, no. I'm a terribly bad reader."

"Well, so am I."

"I'm sure you're better than I am," responded Lena.

"I'll tell you how we can settle it."

"How?"

"By each reading it separately."

"But I want to hear the story now. And don't you, too?"