‘Why?’ she asked, at length.
Barbara took hold of a rope and waved it backwards and forwards to give herself courage. ‘Because,’ she blurted out, ‘I want to get it too,–awfully, and so does Angela, and–and we can’t all get it, can we?’
‘No,’ said Jean, looking at her curiously. She had thought she really was beginning to understand the Babe; and here she was, showing herself in a more puzzling light than ever.
‘You see,’ Barbara went on, swarming up the rope a couple of feet and making her next remark to the black hook in the beam above, ‘I’d like awfully to win it, because I don’t want the boys to think I’ve got too much like a girl to do things now; and because it’s so–so splendid to feel you can do things.’
She slid down the rope again, and Jean saw how her eyes were glowing and shining, and she felt a little more puzzled than before.
‘Then, Angela wants to get it because she’s always bottom in everything else,’ continued Barbara. ‘That’s not much of a reason, I think, especially when she hasn’t got any brothers–only millions of sisters, who don’t count; but still, she’ll be awfully disappointed if she doesn’t get it, won’t she?’
‘Yes,’ said Jean.
Babs curled the rope round her waist, and swung herself gently to and fro. The movement seemed to aid her reflections. ‘Why do you want to get it, Jean?’ she asked softly.
It was never easy to induce Jean to talk about herself; but if any one could do it, Barbara was the person. And, this time, she succeeded.
Jean drew another long breath, and clenched her fists.