"I can't bear an old masher—a fossil that's falling to pieces!" said Ida gaily, returning over the events of the evening. "Did you see that old Caxton, that was buzzing around me all evening?"
Dodo laughed.
"He started after me, but I shook him!"
"Heavens, Do, how do you manage? I never can!"
"I gave him an awful shock," explained Dodo, continuing to laugh. "He'd been looking at me with big wolf eyes, licking his chops and telling me he'd leave his happy home for me—you know the stuff. He had me cornered at the upper table, and just as I started to slip away he caught my arm.
"'And what's your fairy name, you darling?' says he.
"And I answered:
"'Gussie!'
"You should have seen the face he made! He dropped me like a hot potato!"