'Than you at Vale Leston,' said Cherry, not knowing what a bolt she shot. 'It would be grand to steal a march on the enemy!'
'And safe?' asked Wilmet.
Felix demonstrated to the comprehending ears of his sisters the circulation that he could securely reckon upon.
'There would be an immense deal more to do,' said Cherry; but at that he smiled, full of vigour.
'True; but we should have a larger staff. There would be Fernan—'
'For the racing articles,' said Cherry dryly.
'And a good deal besides, which only needs application; and that he has.'
'He has great resolution,' said Cherry, 'but he always seems to me a sort of Christian panther of the wilderness; and you seem to be getting him into a cage.'
'Not such a cage as Peter Brown's office; and besides it is only when he is lashed up that the panther leaps about his den. Generally he is a quiet determined animal, with the practical Yankee element strong in him. It may be true, as Edgar says, that he does not see an inch on either side of his nose, but that only makes him go right away in the line he does see. I know he will work well.'
'If Alda—' said Cherry.