“You’re surely smart,” the child remarked. “But where was you raised?”
“I doubt if I was raised; I rather think I was allowed to grow up,” Kit replied in a sober voice. “Anyhow, I grew up at an old house by a wood in England. A river went by the wood and the trees were planted three hundred years ago. The fairies like old trees, and when the moon was full they played about and rang the bluebells for music. If you got up early in the morning, you saw the rings where they danced. Now perhaps you know why I’m a conjurer.”
“My teacher allowed the fairies and spooks and ha’ants was gone. She reckoned they couldn’t stand for locomotives and flivvers.”
“Well, I expect we have fired out the haunts and their rattling chains; but the fairies are not yet out of date. Although you can’t see them, sometimes you hear their music; in fact, when music is very good, I think the fairies play. However, we’ll try a fresh experiment with the magic shoe-string——”
A man carrying a frying-pan pushed back the door.
“You mustn’t let the kiddies bother you,” he said, and turned to Alison. “I don’t want to hustle you, but when you’re through at the stove I’ll get busy.”
“Let him use the stove; I’d sooner you didn’t roast yourself,” said Kit. “The train stops at Ottawa, and we’ll get some food at a restaurant.”
Alison smiled. “In a moment or two the water will boil, and we agreed to get our meals on board. Then we bought the kettle, the tin plates, and a quantity of groceries, and in order to get our money back the things must be used.”
“People talk about women’s extravagance!” Kit remarked. “The women I know are parsimonious.”
The passenger who carried the frying-pan grinned. “You’re young, but I guess you know them, and your dame’s plan’s all right. When you want a cheap eat, eat on the cars. If you get off at a meal-station, they hand you red-hot hash and shout ‘All aboard.’ Well, I been married some time, and my motto is: If you want to pay off your mortgage, the dame must keep the wad.”