"What do they say?" asked Young Outram, looking puzzled.
"Prudence thought you were asking for some what's-its-name-how-much,"
Mollie explained again.
"What does he mean then?" Grizzel asked.
"He means that this is the loveliest magic that he ever heard of," said Mollie. "You shouldn't use such long words, Jerry, and they aren't true either, for this is not thingummy phenomena, it is simply common everyday magic."
"There is no such thing as common magic," said Jerry.
"There is," said Mollie.
"There isn't," said Jerry.
"What do you call it when your mother gives you a dirty little brown onion to put in the ground and you bring it back to her turned into a parrot-tulip?" asked Mollie.
"Oh—if you—"
"Stow it, Young Outram, you blighter," Dick interrupted. "Don't be such a silly old Juggins, making them ratty first go-off like that. Keep your hair on, Mollie, and don't get the hump over nothing. If you must jaw about parrots, jaw about the dossy chap we spotted in school; you are simply talking hot air, both of you."