"Aye," cried Jean with delight, "gie him back his ring!"
Margaret drew off her ring and handed it to me, and the girls clapped their hands gleefully.
"Very good," I said resignedly, "you girls will better cancel the orders for wedding frocks. And, Jean, just look in and tell Jim Jackson not to buy a new dickie, will you?"
The girls looked at each other doubtfully.
"Ye're just funnin'," said Jean with a forced laugh.
"Funning? My dear Jean, when a girl hands back the engagement ring, do you mean to tell me she is funning?"
Children live in two lands—the land of reality and the land of make-believe. A serious look will make them jump from the one to the other. They looked at my serious face and believed that Margaret had really given me up. Then they glanced at Margaret; she laughed, and their clouded faces cleared. I knew that they would try to make me believe that they still considered I was in earnest.
"Aw'll cry in and tell Jim aboot the dickie," said Jean.
"It's a pity ye ordered the weddin' cake," said Annie.
"Ye can gie it to the Mester to christen his bairn," suggested Janet.