“But one’s friends can come in at the gate,” I pointed out, quickly suppressing the smile, “so there is no reason why they should climb the wall. No one likes one’s friends to do unnecessary things.”
“How about the lady who dropped her glove over the barrier among the lions?” he inquired.
“She was a minx,” I answered warmly.
“And the fellow who jumped after it?”
“He was a fool!”
“Thank you,” he said, with bright eyes.
“Oh, you know I didn’t mean that,” I cried. “I should be very glad to have you come down, but I really must go.”
“But it isn’t dinner-time yet.”
“I know it isn’t,” I hastened to explain, anxious not to hurt his feelings again. “But you see we’re going out to dinner this evening, and it will take a little time to get ready, and of course I don’t want to be late. Mother wouldn’t like it.”
“But what were you digging there for?” he persisted, looking at the little piles of dirt I had thrown up. “It seems a queer place to be digging. Looking for fishing-worms?”