But Bruno was not to be puzzled. “The toof he were going to bite the Goat with, a course!”
“He couldn’t be sure about that,” I argued, “unless he wrenched out all its teeth.”
Bruno laughed merrily, and half sang, as he swung himself backwards and forwards, “He did—wrenched—out—all its teef!”
“Why did the Crocodile wait to have them wrenched out?” said Sylvie.
“It had to wait,” said Bruno.
I ventured on another question. “But what became of the Man who said ‘You may wait here till I come back’?”
“He didn’t say ‘Oo may,’” Bruno explained. “He said, ‘Oo will.’ Just like Sylvie says to me ‘Oo will do oor lessons till twelve o’clock.’ Oh, I wiss,” he added with a little sigh, “I wiss Sylvie would say ‘Oo may do oor lessons’!”
This was a dangerous subject for discussion, Sylvie seemed to think. She returned to the Story. “But what became of the Man?”
“Well, the Lion springed at him. But it came so slow, it were three weeks in the air——”
“Did the Man wait for it all that time?” I said.