"Oh, yes, do. I think it's much nicer to be a peaceful tribe. It is so like savages, fighting and fighting."
"Listen to Rosie talking good!" burst out Winnie, contemptuously. "Do you suppose Nessa means we ought to try and not fight, just to make ourselves more comfortable?"
Rosie reddened, but made some sharp reply, and then ensued one of their ordinary sparring matches, while Nessa, paying no attention to them, was busy at the fire toasting a slice of bread.
The sparring passed into a din of continuous remarks which every one made and nobody listened to; but Murtagh stood silent cutting bread, till Nessa returned from the fire, and a plate of buttered toast was laid on the table beside him, with a smiling, "After all, I believe you are hungry, Murtagh." Then he took a bit of toast, and continued in the same tone as his last remark:
"Papa knows the shape of every one of the biggest stones. He made a picture for us once, of the inside of the hut, and he used to tell us stories in the evenings when there wasn't any one there, about his adventures when he went in the river looking for stones."
"And you know that three-cornered white one, just a little bit on the right-hand side, inside the door!" cried Winnie. "Well, he was nearly drowned getting that. They thought he was drowned first, only Grannie O'Toole got him round (she's dead now, you know), and they never told papa's papa and mamma, for fear they mightn't let him go in the river for any more."
"And then," said Murtagh, his anger rising again at the remembrance, "they think they're going to get it to put in some beastly wall. But Mr. Plunkett's greatly mistaken if he supposes I'm going to let him touch a single one of papa's stones."
"Not while we have Royal to protect us," said Winnie. "I'd rather stay up there day and night."
"There's one thing," put in Bobbo, "even if he did get the stones, we could knock the wall down and take them back and hide them."
"He'll get a good many duckings from Royal before he gets a stone out of the hut," returned Murtagh, fiercely. "And if he's held under a little too long by mistake, it would be a good riddance," he added, half under his breath.