“Dear me! Why didn’t you try some other sort of lie?”
“Because I was pinned down to the original statement by a ton of rock.”
“I should have thought that the noise would have waked you up.”
“That remark is a trifle too subtle for my dull wits.”
“I watched you strolling about this morning, and decided that you were walking in your sleep.”
“You shouldn’t jump at conclusions. If I judged you by your pointed style of speech, I might regard you as a new species of porcupine.”
“Good!” she said approvingly. “I was sure we’d become friends. I wish my father knew you. He would like you.”
“Taking a line through you, may I say that the liking would be mutual?”
“Are you, by any chance, thinking of visiting Patagonia?”
“No,” he said.