"Yes'm," said Bobby timidly, trying to breathe.
"How did you come to be wandering alone along the road?"
Bobby looked at her for a long time without moving an eyelash.
"Please, will telling be thinking about it?"
"Not if you whisper it close in my ear."
Bobby took his courage in both hands, placed his lips close to her ear, shut both eyes tight, and whispered all in a breath:
"Wanted to find my birthdays which I lost before when I was too little to know what it was."
"Your birthdays!" The lady was so surprised that the smile faded from her lips. "Have you lost that?"
"Hunted and hunted all day," said Bobby. "And I didn't think about it——Not very much."
"Why didn't you think about it? Can't you tell me?"