let me sit still and say whatever comes into my head."
"That won't do," said the cuckoo; "we must have a plan of action."
"A what?" said Griselda.
"You see you have a great deal to learn," said the cuckoo triumphantly. "You don't understand what I say."
"But I didn't come up here to learn," said Griselda; "I can do that down there;" and she nodded her head in the direction of the ante-room table. "I want to play."
"Just so," said the cuckoo; "that's what I want to talk about. What do you call 'play'—blindman's-buff and that sort of thing?"
"No," said Griselda, considering. "I'm getting rather too big for that kind of play. Besides, cuckoo, you and I alone couldn't have much fun at blindman's-buff; there'd be only me to catch you or you to catch me."
"Oh, we could easily get more," said the cuckoo. "The mandarins would be pleased to join."
"The mandarins!" repeated Griselda. "Why, cuckoo, they're not alive! How could they play?"
The cuckoo looked at her gravely for a minute, then shook his head.