"That's what everybody calls me."
"My name is Peter."
"Yes, I know." And then, "That's funny."
"Funny!"
"You look as if your name ought to be Algernon."
"Why?" he asked, laughing.
"Oh, I don't know. It's the name of a man in a book I read—an Englishman. You're English, you said."
"Half English," said Peter.
"What's the other half?"
"Russian." He knew that he ought to be lying to her, but somehow he couldn't.