"Yes, Chérie. Say whatever comes into your heart to say."
"Then there is a little short time every now and then when the colours are really down?"
"Yes. And the harder the gale, the longer it takes to get them up again. It is often slow work, anyhow," said Magnus, with some bitterness at himself.
Cherry sat silent, looking down.
"What would happen to the other flag—the big one—if you left it flying?" she said.
"In a gale? Go to ribands, probably—the real one."
"Yes, the real one. But that is just what the bullets do to it!" said Cherry, her eyes glowing and deepening. "And everybody only loves such a flag the better."
"And you love me the less."
The girl started slightly, with the sudden transfer of the subject to herself, but she made no answer.
"Speak!" Magnus said, getting hold of her hand and giving it a little shake. "Cherry, you've got to speak. Do you?"