"Well, I try not to."
"But wish for this. You know it is possible to have strawberries in January."
"What a great boy you are still, Jack. Very well, I wish that two gondoliers may have been attacked by an unusual access of laziness this evening, have denied their craft to all applicants, and skulked over here away from the crowd, and that they may be waiting for us now in the shadow of the willow. Any more midsummer madness you would like me to indulge in?"
Van Tassel led her down the bank. "Behold!" he said. "Mildred, what a witch you are! This is necromancy."
The girl stood with lips parted, for the waiting gondoliers sent their graceful craft to her feet. She put her hand in Jack's and stepped within. In a moment Van Tassel was beside her, and they had glided away.
The lagoon rippled in a light breeze. Along the edge of Wooded Island the sedges dipped in the waves. Here and there on the bank a group of water-birds showed white, as a neighboring electric light touched the soft plumage beneath which their heads nestled.
Jack wanted his companion to speak first, but she kept silence long.
"Is the sorceress enjoying herself?" he asked gently, at last.
Mildred returned his gaze as she leaned back in her cushioned corner.
"I am a philosopher," she answered. "I am being kidnapped, but I might as well enjoy it."