"Oh, my stars and garters! Afraid of me, and after I've been so quiet and good with her all the evening!" ejaculated Gipsy; while Archie, who was blessed with a lively sense of the ridiculous, leaned back and laughed heartily.
"Well, after that I'm never going to believe there's anything but ingratitude in this world," said Gipsy, with an emphasis on the "this" which seemed to denote she had met with gratitude in another.
But tears filled the gentle eyes of Celeste, as she looked up, and said:
"Oh, I hope you're not angry with me. I didn't mean to offend you, I'm sure. I'm so sorry."
"Oh, it's no matter. Nobody minds what they say to me. I'm used to it. But it's so funny you should be afraid. Why, I never was afraid in my life."
"That's true enough, anyway," said Archie, with an assenting nod.
"There's Guardy now. Oh! won't he be awful when I get home—but laws! who cares! I'll pay him off for it, if he makes a fuss. I sha'n't be in his debt long, that's one comfort."
"Do you remember how dolefully Jupiter looked as he came in for you, all dripping wet; and when you told him you wouldn't go, he——" and overcome by the ludicrous recollection, Master Archie again fell back in a paroxysm of laughter.
"What a fellow you are to laugh, Archie!" remarked Gipsy. "You astonish me, I declare. Do you laugh much, Celeste?"
"No, not much."