"I've not done growing yet, and I'm very strong, and I've never been ill in my life. Besides——"
"I've just had measles and whooping-cough. That's why I'm here."
He nodded, as much as to say, "Yes, that's just the kind of thing girls would have"; and went on, "And then I'm going to be an explorer."
"O-o-o-h!" with snapping eyes. "Where?"
"I don't know where. Anywhere where nobody's ever been before."
She devoured him with hungry appreciation. His face was so very clean, so radiantly bright, and the sparks in his blue eyes kindled answering sparks in her own. For she too possessed a lively imagination, and a spirit many times the size of her body.
"But will you be able to? Are you very rich?"
"Rich? No, I'm not rich, but I'm not that poor either—not just now. I bought this last week," with a touch of superior pride, as he hauled out a Latin grammar, sixth-hand, but still boasting covers. "When I've finished it I'll feel poor till I get the next. But that's not yet."
"Wouldn't you like to be very rich?"
"I d'n' know. I never tried it."