“An’ me,” Poppet cried.
“Come on,” said Bunty, picking up his hat.
But Nellie shook her head.
“You know your cold’s bad again, Poppet; and, Peter dear, it’s after your bedtime,—you must stay,” she said. “Oh, Bunty, do stop with them.”
“I’m sure——” Bunty answered, with contradictory accent.
Nellie caught a sob.
“I shall die if I don’t go this minute,” she said passionately.
She moved to the door, but Bunty had gone before her.
“We can’t leave them,—oh, Bunty, if only you’d stay!” She held his coat sleeve and tried to force him back.
[244]
]“I want to hear as much as you do,” he said, with all his old gruffness; “here, let go.”