"A young puppy might," muttered Mallow, whose hot Irish temper was rapidly rising, both at Carson and at Olive.
He was enraged at the mere fact of the man calling the girl by her Christian name, and he was annoyed at the complacent way in which she seemed to listen to him and his babble. Luckily for the peace of the moment, his remark passed unheard by all save Tui, and she nodded approbation.
"What ridiculous things you say, Tui," said Olive, with pretended severity.
"Extraordinary name, 'Tui,'" called out Drabble, elegantly. "What does it mean, Miss Ostergaard?"
"It means me, in the first place, Dr. Drabble," she replied smartly; "and in the second it is the native name for the New Zealand parson bird."
"By George, parson bird!"
"Why rookery, Miss Ostergaard? or, to be more precise, why parson bird?"
"Because it is all black, Mr. Mallow--a beautiful glossy black, with two white feathers in its throat like a parson's cravat. We have christened it the parson bird; the Maoris call it the Tui."
"It is inappropriate to you, Miss Ostergaard," said Carson, smiling. "You never preach, I am sure."
"Oh yes, I do; but I keep my sermons for Olive."