She said that I began it, and of course I pointed out to her that I had done nothing of the kind.
We argued for some little time as to which of us had begun it, and then Eliza said, in her spiteful way—
"We are not talking about which of us began it; we are talking about trains!"
"It's very little use talking to you about trains. I know you're wrong! I would stake my life, cheerfully, that it is 9.53, and not 9.43. But you'd never own you're wrong; you're too obstinate for that!"
"Of course I don't own I'm wrong, because I'm not wrong! That would be silly!" she added, reflectively. "Even if it was 9.53, I shouldn't be wrong. All I said was, that we should miss the 9.43. Well, if there is no 9.43, we cannot catch it; and what you don't catch, you miss!"
"Absurd nonsense! If you do not catch scarlet fever, you do not say that you miss it!"
She replied: "We are not talking about scarlet fever; we are talking about trains!"
"Bah!" I exclaimed. I should have added more, but at this moment the clock on the dining-room mantelpiece struck ten.