An odd impulse moved her unexpectedly. She sat up again and held out her hand. "Give it to me! I'll fill it for you."
His hand closed upon it. She saw surprise in his eyes.
"You!" he said.
She found herself smiling. He actually looked embarrassed, a fact which set her wholly at her ease. "But why not?" she said. "Is it too great a treasure to be entrusted to me?"
But he still held it back. "What do you want to do it for?"
She kept her hand outstretched. "As a small--very small--return for your goodness to Bunny," she said.
His face changed a little. He put the pipe into her hand. "I don't want any return," he said. "Don't do it for that!"
She coloured, but she still smiled. "Very well. It is a favour bestowed gratis. Where's your tobacco?"
He fetched a pouch--nearly as ancient as the pipe--out of his pocket, and laid it in her lap.
"You're not to watch me," she said, speaking with a new-found confidence that surprised herself. "Sit down and read the paper! I'll tell you when it's done."