"Oh, he wouldn't mind. He said he didn't mind how many visits you paid him. He said little girls were worth twice as much as boys, but that's all tommy rot."
Esther's eyes opened rather wider.
"I don't know what tommy rot is," she said.
Puck burst out laughing.
"She doesn't know much, does she, Pickle?" he cried. "I wonder why Old Bobby likes girls better than boys?"
"Perhaps they're nicer to eat," suggested Pickle; and the two boys went off into fits of laughter, whilst Esther shook silently, wondering if that could have anything to do with it.
To judge by their appetites, the boys were none the worse for their morning's walk—they put away the food in a fashion that astonished Esther; but as she sat watching them at their meal, she noticed some very queer marks upon their clothes, which she did not think had been there last night—stains, and little holes, looking rather like burns; and presently she asked,—
"What have you been doing to yourselves?" and pointed to the marks.
Puck began to giggle, and Pickle answered boldly,—
"Oh, I suppose that must have been some of the stuff that smelt so nasty in the tanks."