"Let's stop now and go outdoors," proposed Julia, pushing back her chair. "I'm so tired of sitting still I'm getting fidgety."
"Let's go out and teach Marian to play golf," said Lucy, taking her bull by the horns.
"Yes! Will you come, Marian?" urged Julia. "We'll only play a little while until it gets dark. I know you'll like it."
"I'll come along and watch you, anyway," hedged Marian, reaching for her hat and not looking especially eager for a new effort.
"But it's no fun watching, and you'd love it so if you only once got interested," insisted Lucy, as the three got up and found their hats and sweaters. "I wish Bob had stayed long enough to teach you! He said he would and maybe you'd have let him. Come on, so we can write and tell him how much you've done—won't you?"
They had reached the foot of the stairs to the first floor by the time Lucy finished her appeal, and as they stepped outdoors Marian demanded with a sudden, fleeting smile:
"If I play this once, Lucy, will you let me alone afterward?"
"I promise," said Lucy promptly, with unshaken confidence in her favorite game. "It's you who won't let me alone then."