"Dicky, you are not kind to poor mummie," protested Flower, piteously. "No one could possibly know what Noah did to the animals in the Ark when the large ones trod upon the small ones, or how the elephant was kept from stepping on the grasshopper."
"An average person would know," Dicky insisted coldly.
"Dicky, you are most unkind! You imply that I am stupid."
"I am afraid you are, darling," said the quiet little voice, and then, in a sudden burst of admiration, "But you are much too lovely for it to matter." And the miniature edition of the doctor fell upon her and clasped her in his arms.
"We must say our text to you, mother, as father is away," Dicky remarked a few minutes later, when bedtime came.
Flower assented without enthusiasm. She did not approve of nurse's plan of teaching the children a daily text, and always wondered why Deryck encouraged it. But she did not wish again to present herself to her little son's mind in a disappointing light.
Dicky arranged Baby Blossom "in a row" with himself. She immediately began to say, "Do it—do it!" and had to be sternly hushed by her brother. Then, with his hands behind him and his head erect, Dicky announced impressively:
"Jesus said: 'If you shall ask anythink in my name, I will'—now, baby—"
"Do it!" chirped Baby Blossom.
"Very nice," commented Flower, perfunctorily.