"Wonderful!" he said presently.
"What is wonderful?" she asked, not without anticipation of a compliment.
"Wonderful to find that something which is generally accepted as true—is true. To see it proved before your eyes."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean," he said, "that I never before actually saw a girl wash her face. I've seen 'em when they said they were going to. I've seen 'em when they said they just had. But now I know."
"If you weren't quite mad," said Phyllis, "you'd be very exasperating. Here am I, frightened half to death, cold and miserable, and dreadfully worried to think how worried my family must be, and there are you, almost too tired to stand, actually delighted with yourself, because you're in trouble and because for the first time in your life you've seen a girl wash her face. Can't you be serious about anything?"
"Not about a half-drowned girl taking the trouble to wash her face," he said.
"You," said she, "would look much better if you washed yours."
"But," he said, "we'll be covered with mud again before we've gone fifty yards."
"Because you are going into a coal mine to-morrow," said Phyllis, "is no reason why you shouldn't be clean to-day."