"Is it nearly time for me to come away?"
"Yes," I said, as I looked at my watch, "you may come out now."
A forlorn little figure came towards me, and crept on my knee.
"Was I very naughty?" he asked, deprecatingly.
"Yes, dear, I am afraid you were," I answered. I should have liked to speak more severely, but that was a difficult matter with Chris.
"Briggs is a nasty thing," he said, nestling his head contentedly on my shoulder.
"Granny will send you back to the corner if she hears you speak like that," I said, with more confidence than I felt upon the subject.
"She was so unkind to me; she isn't a kind Briggs," he said. "Do you like her?"
Then without waiting for an answer he went on: "I love my Granny best, and Uncle Godfrey next, and you next, and Briggs last,—the most last."
"If you were good to Briggs you would love her more," I said.