“I don’t care. I want to go out, and if you won’t give me leave, I shall take it.”

“Take it then, by all means.”

“That man at the door won’t let me.”

“Knock him down. It will be one way of surmounting the difficulty.”

“He is such an elephant. I disliked him the very first time I saw him,” she replied with energy, and as much simplicity as the truth occasioned.

“Well, go away and fight it out with him; watch the door, and bounce out when he’s not looking.”

“I won’t do anything so undignified. I shall make friends with the kitchen people, and creep out that way.”

“The kitchen door leads into the garden, and the walls are high, and the gate is locked. I keep the key myself, to ensure no one getting to the stables.”

“Then give me leave to go out at the front.”

“Now, why should you want to go out at the front? You have as beautiful a home as you could possibly wish for. What more can you want?”