"I haven't said a word, but I want you to know that I am deeply impressed," said Harry. "No girl has a right to be as handsome as you are and come and look into the face of a young man who has resolved to look at the new moon through a knot bole."
"Well, who would have thought it!" Bim exclaimed. "Such a wonderful compliment, and from Harry Needles!"
"Of course he didn't mean it," said Annabel, whose cheeks were now very red.
"Of course I mean it," Harry declared. "That's why I keep away from your house. I am bound to stay single."
"Did you ever see a fairy going to mill on a butterfly's back?" Bim asked, looking at Harry.
"Not as I remember," he answered.
"If you had, you wouldn't expect us to believe it," Bim asserted.
"There was a soldier in Colonel Taylor's regiment who always ran when the enemy was in sight," Abe began. "When he was brought up for discipline, he said 'My heart is as brave as Julius Cæsar's but my legs can't be trusted.' I know Harry's legs are all right, but I don't believe his heart can be trusted in a battle of this kind."
"I've heard all about his brave adventures in the war," said Bim. "He'll find that girls are worse than Indians."
"If they're as well armed as you two, I guess you're right," said Samson.