"Well, what is it, anyhow?"
"Decorum is refined and ladylike behaviour," said Miss Simpson severely.
"Must be beastly," said Merle and went on with her dinner.
"That's enough, Merle," said her father, looking annoyed. He turned back to the thin lady.
"Life in London has not many of the problems that beset small Australians," he said. "Merle found a cow bogged in a swamp once. I was away, so she had to gallop in to the homestead, collect a few rubbishy blacks, the only men about, and get them on to the job of rescue. I believe she had to wade in herself and hold up the poor brute's head while they tugged her out. Of course, it was only a very ordinary thing for a bush-bred child; no particular credit to Merle. But it wouldn't have fitted in with your ideal of decorum, would it?"
"Most certainly not," said the angular lady. "It seems a fearful thing for a little girl to do."
"But it saved the cow."
"Then you place a cow before your daughter's welfare?"
"It never did me any harm," said Merle, fiercely. "And a cow's a cow!"
Mr. Warner's crack of laughter made heads turn in his direction.