And Noel called out in reply:
"I will! I will! I'll come as often as you ask me."
He was very excited when he got home, telling his mother and Diana all about his visit, and rather troublesome with Nurse. She said his head was turned by the notice taken of him, and when he had defied her by coming to his supper with very dirty hands, and then screamed with anger when she dragged him off to the bathroom, Diana said very gravely:
"If Miss Trent saw you at home, she wouldn't say you were a cherub!"
"Why?" Noel demanded.
"Because cherubs never have dirty hands, and never scream like you!"
"Are cherubs angels?"
"Kind of angels. Little fat boys who look out of the clouds. I've seen them in pictures."
Noel was back in the nursery now eating his bread-and-milk. He turned his hands over and looked at them thoughtfully.
"It's weeding. I took up some grass weeds round my Chris'mas tree. What is the earth like in heaven?"