Peggy didn’t think that what she had said was so clever as all that, though she had had something further in her mind when she had said it. But she was pleased at being praised; most of us are; and she wanted to be as helpful as she could.
“Did you and Teddy make any plan for getting us out of prison?” she asked, turning to Colonel Jim.
“Now, I wonder what made her think of that?” said Wooden’s mother.
“Well, we did make a plan,” said Colonel Jim; “though how you guessed it I don’t know, as you couldn’t have heard us talking. Our plan was this: When I’m ready to go out, I say to Mr. Emma, ‘I should like to look at the view.’ He says, ‘With pleasure,’ and takes me up to the top story.”
“But supposing he doesn’t say ‘With pleasure,’” suggested Wooden.
Colonel Jim looked worried. “Teddy bear said he’d say ‘With pleasure,’” he said. “Never thought of asking what to do if he didn’t.”
“If Teddy said he’d say ‘With pleasure,’ I should think he would,” said Wooden. “Teddy is flighty, but I have always found his word reliable.”
Colonel Jim brightened. “Well, then, we go up to the top story,” he said. “Then I look at the view, and I say—let’s see, what is it I say? I’ve learnt it all up, but it’s difficult to remember. Oh, yes, I know. I say, ‘What’s that bird flying towards the sea?’ No, that’s wrong. I say, ‘What’s that bird over there?’ He says, ‘What bird? Where?’ I say, ‘Over there!’ pointing towards the sea. He turns to where I point, you see, and——”
“But are you sure there will be a bird to point at?” asked Lady Grace. “If not, won’t it be telling a story?”
“Do you think it will?” asked Colonel Jim. “I shouldn’t like to do that.”