"Oh, jolly!" cried all the children but Lionel, when I explained to them what was happening.
"It's all very well, and he's good fun and all that," said my young cousin, "but if you'd had the experience that I had with his old Magic Carpet, you'd be very careful not to have much to do with him—he's rather dangerous."
"But think of the adventures you have with him," said Dick enviously. "I wouldn't funk it if he asked me to go anywhere with him."
"Who's funking it?" demanded Lionel angrily.
"Well, you didn't seem to have much desire to repeat your experiences, my friend," laughed Shin Shira. "My head and ears just happened to arrive in time for me to gather that."
Lionel turned very red. "Oh well, sir, I did have rather a rough time on the Magic Carpet, you know."
"So you did, so you did," agreed Shin Shira, amiably beaming on us all. "And where may all you young people be off to this fine day?"
"We're having a picnic," said Lady Betty shyly.
"Going to have, you mean," corrected Fidge. "It isn't a picnic till you begin to eat, you know."
"Would you mind if I joined you?" asked the Yellow Dwarf, appealing to me.