"Oh, Mark—aren't I?"
"Not always. Not when you say funny things about the Bible."
"You say funny things yourself."
"Yes; but she thinks I don't mean them, so it doesn't matter."
"She thinks I don't mean them, either."
"Well—let her go on thinking it. Do what she wants—even when it's beastly."
"It's all very well for you. She doesn't want you to learn the
Thirty-Nine Articles. What would you do if she did?"
"Learn them, of course. Lie about them, if that would please her."
She thought: "Mamma didn't want him to be a soldier."
As if he knew what she was thinking, he said, "She doesn't really mind my going into the Army. I knew she wouldn't. Besides, I had to."