"Do you enjoy that?" he asked, incredulously.
"I'm not a star," she replied looking up with a quiet smile, "but only a planet—one of the smaller asteroids—and shine with borrowed light. These little women enjoy this hugely; and I receive a pale reflection of their pleasure."
"You are certainly happy in your answer, if not in your work," he remarked.
"Mr. Van Berg," said one of the children emphatically, "Miss Burton is the best lady that ever lived."
"I agree with you, my dear," responded the artist, with answering emphasis.
"Yes, children," said Miss Burton, her eyes dancing with mischief, "and I want you to appreciate Mr. Van Berg's genius too. He is the greatest artist that ever lived, and there never were such pictures as he paints."
"Miss Burton, I beg off," interrupted Van Berg, laughing. "You always get the better of one. No, children," he continued in answer to their looks of wonder, "I know less about painting pictures, in comparison, than you do of dressing dolls."
"But Miss Burton always tells us the truth," persisted the child.
"Now you see the result of our folly," said the young lady, shaking her head at him. "We have given this child an example of insincerity. We were jesting, my dear. Mr. Van Berg and I did not mean what we said."
"But I did mean what I said," replied the child, earnestly.