“I’ll be the goat,” said Billy. “Winnie told me a little about it. The ballad was about a girl who went off with an old fiance, and he turned out to be a real live demon.”
“Yes,” said Winona, “the tall topmast no taller was than he,” it says.
“Well, I draw the line at stilts,” said Billy sleepily. He was curled down in the bottom of the boat basking in the sunshine, for Louise had insisted on taking a paddle. “What do I have to do?”
“The first thing,” said Winona, “is to wake up enough to sit up and be consulted. How much copper wire ...”
The rest was inaudible, for Billy moved closer to Winona, who talked to him mysteriously under her breath. The others could hear scraps like “Japanese auctioneer ...” “fifty yards ...” “red paper muslin,” and such illuminating fragments.
“How much money have you got for me to spend, Tommy?” Winona broke off to inquire.
“Four whole dollars,” he said, “earned by splitting wood for a farmer.”
“I certainly am obliged,” she said, “and I’ll pay it back.”
“You’ll do no such thing!” he said. “I should hope I could give my own sister a lone four dollars once in awhile!”
“All right, you can,” said Winona soothingly. She pulled out the paper the boys had secured and given her, and began to read it aloud.