The question seemed to be so odd, not to mention out of place, that both the children laughed.
"Why, Lal," chuckled Ridgwell, "how ridiculous you are. How could
Christine or myself ever possibly eat even a little bit of you?"
"No," answered the Lion, "I believe you are both little Christian children, and yet," he added with a sigh, "you might both become Pagans."
"What's a Pagan?" asked Ridgwell.
Again the Lion sighed. "My child," he said, "you have a very great deal to learn, and among the many things at present hidden from you is the fact that both you and Christine will see me once again and once only."
"Where?" asked the children.
"At your home in Balham."
"Good gracious," said Ridgwell, "will you knock at the hall door?"
"No," said the Pleasant-Faced Lion.
"Or appear sitting in the raspberry bushes in the garden?" ventured
Christine. "If so, you will spoil them, you know!"