"And you eat it?"
"Tossed it over my shoulder while she bestowed one on Chappy. Robins aren't fetched up particular, as I was. Why, that's nothing!"
"Nothing?"
"No," said Magnus. "When a girl puts a lump of sugar between her teeth and comes round offering everybody a bite, that is rather steep."
"And yet, long life to the Summer Girl!
Far be it from me to flout her.
She's made in the shop, and she's not tip-top,
But what could we do without her?
There were two spoons and a single dish,
Two hearts that beat as one;
When we sat by the wall before recall,
Eating ice cream in the sun."
A general shout of derision greeted this, except from Cherry, who had grown rather quiet over these extraordinary "idles."
"Well, you must have been homesick, I should say," remarked Rose.
"Why, Magnus, I did not know you had it in you to flirt," said his mother.
"Don't think I have, mammy, to any dangerous extent. What's the row? Can't a man sing a song o' sixpence without being immediately spotted for one of the blackbirds?"