"And me too," said Nesta, who never allowed it to be forgotten that, being the same age as Eustace, she claimed the same privileges.
"Rot," said Eustace; "you're only a girl."
"And me too," chimed in Peter.
"Oh, you silly baby," said Eustace impatiently, "what good would you do?"
Peter's delicate face became scarlet.
"I could play games with mother quite as well as you," he said with an angry frown.
"Mother doesn't want amusing like that to keep her from being dull," Eustace declared. "She wants somebody who can talk sensibly like father, and be grown up."
Nesta gave a little derisive laugh.
"Like father!" she repeated; "that is funny. I suppose you think you could be just like him. Why don't you ask him to let you smoke one of his pipes at once?"
"Don't be silly, Nesta," Eustace retorted.