Priscilla shook her head. She could not quite tell whether Martine was in fun or in earnest.
"It seems to me that if Massachusetts men suggested the plan to England, you could just as easily say that Boston men settled Halifax."
"That's just what 'Taps'—I beg his pardon—Lucian said when I explained my theory to him. But then, he can't be expected to share my feelings about the Acadians,—at least, not yet,—although on the whole he is pretty sensible, isn't he?"
Priscilla found it difficult to answer this question directly, so, to conceal her embarrassment, she propounded another question.
"Why do they call your brother 'Taps'?" she asked abruptly.
"For no reason whatever, that I could ever see. But you know how boys insist on nicknaming one another. Mamma just hates it; and, if you notice, I always say 'Lucian.'"
"'Lucian' is such a good name," said Priscilla.
"Yes, and don't you think that Lucian himself is a dear?"
"I like him very much," responded Priscilla, simply. She would hardly have applied Martine's term to him, but she had found Lucian helpful and entertaining during their three or four days in Halifax.
"I believe," continued Martine, "that I might have told you something about Lucian before, except that I thought you might be prejudiced."