"I should like to, if I dared."
"Why, you dare anything!" exclaimed Tom.
"Oh, no, I don't. I splash about a good deal, but I am a coward, really."
They relapsed into silence. Presently Tom began,
"It's been awfully dull in town; nobody to speak to, except Mrs. Cormack."
"Mrs. Cormack!" cried Adela. "I thought you hated her?"
"Well, I've thought a little better of her lately."
"To think of your making friends with Mrs. Cormack!"
"I haven't made friends with her. She's not such a bad woman as you'd think, though."
"I think she's horrible," said Adela.