“Plenty of men are grey at thirty,” said Mr Skratdj. “I knew a man who was grey at twenty-five.”
“Well, forty or thirty-five, it doesn’t much matter,” said Mrs Skratdj, about to resume her narration.
“Five years matter a good deal to most people at thirty-five,” said Mr Skratdj, as he walked towards the door. “They would make a remarkable difference to me, I know;” and with a jocular air Mr Skratdj departed, and Mrs Skratdj had the rest of the anecdote her own way.
The Little Skratdjs.
The Spirit of Contradiction finds a place in most nurseries, though to a very varying degree in different ones. Children snap and snarl by nature, like young puppies; and most of us can remember taking part in some such spirited dialogues as the following:—
“I will.” “You daren’t.”
“You can’t.” “I dare.”
“You shall.” “I’ll tell Mamma.”