You couldn’t nonplus Billy that way, when he was in pursuit of his duty.
“Well,” he said, “we—that is, I didn’t thank you for bringing me up that collar this morning. I want to thank you for it.”
“Yes?” said Kitty. “Well, here I am. Thank me. You did thank me once, but I don’t care. Do it again.”
“Thank you,” said Billy.
“You’re welcome,” Kitty said, and then they both laughed.
“What do you think of this Domestic Tariff business?” asked Billy, seeking to lead her into some admission of which he could make use as proof of her smuggling.
“I think it is a simply splendid idea!” Kitty declared. “I am sure no one but Tom could have thought of it, and the very minute I heard of it I went into it body and soul. It was so clever of him to conceive such an idea, and such a simple way to build up an education fund for dear, sweet, little Bobberts! And isn’t it nice of Tom and Laura to let us be in it and pay our share of the duty. It makes us feel so much more as if we were really part of the family.”
“Doesn’t it?” said Billy. “It makes us feel as if we had a right to be here—when we pay duty and all that. I feel like bringing in a lot of stuff just so that I can pay duty on it. I was thinking about it this morning, and about that little joke of mine about not bringing in that collar last night, and I felt what I had missed by leaving it out on the porch, so I got up and went down for it. That was how you happened to meet me in the hall—I wanted to get it and bring it in so I could pay the duty, and be in the fun myself. You don’t think I was going to smuggle it in, do you?”
“Oh, no!” said Kitty, with a long-drawn o. “Nobody would be so mean as to smuggle anything into the house, when the duty all goes to dear little Bobberts. It is such fun to pay duty, just as if the house was a real nation. It is like being part of the nation, and you know we women are not that. We can’t vote, nor anything, and a chance like this is so rare that we enjoy it immensely. You didn’t think it was queer that I should go down so early in the morning to get your collar and bring it in, did you?”
“Well, of course,” said Billy, doubtfully, “it wasn’t your collar, you know. It was my collar.”