Joy laughed aloud.
"It must take lots of spare time, hunting new spots!" she said. "I'm afraid I'd think life was too short to take all that trouble."
"I'm coming to the conclusion that there's nothing you can't do," he said irrelevantly. "But I suppose you had a very able godmother—princesses do, don't they?"
"I have a wishing ring," Joy explained, entering into the play. "It's very well trained. All I have to do is to tell it things, and it sees to them immediately."
John went on eating his soup.
"You look as if you wanted to ask it to do something," she pursued.
He looked thoughtful.
"As a matter of fact, I do; but it seems an unfair advantage to take not only of a docile wishing ring, but of you," he stated.
"Try us and see," invited Joy, ringing, with a visible satisfaction in things, for the next course.
So John took courage.