'I'm so comfortable!' she answered. 'Don't make me get out of my rug!'
'If you'll take a little walk with me, I'll give you a pretty present,' said Mr. Van Torp playfully.
Margaret thought it best to laugh and shake her head at this singular offer. Little Ida had been watching them both.
'You'd better go with him,' said the child gravely. 'He makes lovely presents.'
'Does he?' Margaret laughed again.
'"A fortress that parleys, or a woman who listens, is lost,'" put in
Griggs, quoting an old French proverb.
'Then I won't listen,' Margaret said.
Mr. Van Torp planted himself more firmly on his sturdy legs, for the ship was rolling a little.
'I'll give you a book, Madame Cordova,' he said.
His habit of constantly repeating the name of the person with whom he was talking irritated her extremely. She was not smiling when she answered.