Here was a lesson worth learning. He handed her the rod. She pulled gingerly at the string but only succeeded in fixing the knot more firmly than ever. She removed a pin from her hat and began to pick. It was a long process but it gave him time to admire the nimbleness of her fingers. The knot became loosened only too soon.
“There,” she exclaimed. “Now you take it so and you do like this.”
It was tied in the snap of a finger.
“Then, when you pull one end of either string, it becomes unfastened.”
She demonstrated. He took the rod and tried the same process clumsily. She came nearer and guided his fingers. He caught the perfume of her hair. It was like dying clover. He felt the electric thrill of her fingers. It only made him the clumsier.
She gave up in despair.
“You will never learn,” she declared.
“I can always try.”
“You must practice by yourself.”
“I have done so for years.”