“Well, then I will.” Alexia threw back the bedclothes with a desperate hand, and thrust one foot out.
“If you do,” said Polly, not moving from where she sat on the foot of the bed, “I shall go out of this room, and not come back to-day.”
“Shall you really?” cried Alexia, fixing her pale eyes on her.
“Yes, indeed I shall,” said Polly firmly.
“Oh, then I'm not going.” Alexia drew in her foot, and huddled all the clothes up over her head. “Polly Pepper,” she said in muffled tones, “you're a perfectly dreadful creature, and if you'd gone and sprained your arm in a horrible old railway accident and were tied in bed, I'd do just everything you said, I would.”
“Oh, I hope you wouldn't,” said Polly.
“Hope I wouldn't!” screamed Alexia, flinging all the clothes away again to stare at Polly out of very wide eyes. “Whatever do you mean, Polly Pepper?”
“I hope you wouldn't do as I wanted you to,” said Polly distinctly, “if I wanted something that was bad.”
“Well, that's a very different thing,” mumbled Alexia. “Oh dear me!” She gave a grimace at a twinge of pain in her arm. “This isn't bad; I only wanted that door shut.”
“Oh now, Alexia, you've hurt your arm!” cried Polly; “do keep still, else Papa-Doctor won't let me stay in here.”