'Wait one minute, my boy,' she answered, 'and I'll come out.'
Tommy was surprised to see his companion preparing to lie, face downwards, on the mat just outside the door.
'Get up,' he said; 'you'll trip grandma up if you stay there.'
'That's what I'm doing it for, stoopid,' said the clown.
'But it will hurt her,' he cried.
'Nothing hurts old women,' said the clown; 'I've tripped up 'undreds of 'em, and I ought to know.'
'Well, you shan't trip up my granny, anyhow,' said Tommy, stoutly; for he was not a bad-hearted boy, and his grandmother had given him a splendid box of soldiers on Christmas Day. 'Don't come out, granny; it's a mistake,' he shouted.
The clown rose with a look of disgust.
'Do you call this actin' like a friend to me?' he demanded.
'Well,' said Tommy, apologetically, 'she's my granny, you see.'