"Oh, now you've aroused my curiosity!"
"I intended to."
"Aren't you going to tell me what it is?"
"Then it wouldn't be a surprise."
"But I can't wait."
"Just like a woman," chuckled Merry. "Give them a hint of a surprise in store for them, and they'll badger you to death until they spoil the surprise. Let's take flight, Bart. Let's get away before the girls coax it out of us."
He snatched a kiss and sprang down the steps, followed by Hodge.
"I think you're real mean!" cried Inza. "You just wait and see if I don't play it back on you! I'll have a secret some time and keep it from you!"
"Impossible!" said Merry. "No woman ever kept a secret."
"Especially from her husband," put in Hodge.