“I did.”
“Well, then, he couldn’t have left your uncle to be your executioner when you hadn’t done nothing.”
“Executor, Punch,” said the lad, laughing.
“Well, that’s what I said, didn’t I?”
“No; that’s a very different thing. An executor is one who executes.”
“Well, I know that. Hangs people who ain’t soldiers, and shoots them as is. Court-martial, you know.”
“Punch, you are getting in a muddle.”
“Glad of it,” said the boy, “for I thought it was, and I don’t like to hear you talk like that.”
“Then let’s put it right. An executor is one who executes the commands of a person who is dead.”
“Oh, I see,” said the boy. “Dead without being executed.”