"My grandchildren!"
"Or someone else's, it makes no odds--you'll be able to tell them tale after tale, and they'll love you for it; children always love grandmothers who tell them stories; and yours needn't be lies either, because they're such first-class ones in themselves that they'll need no embroidering. What an advantage that will be in your declining years you've no conception, or you'd be more truly grateful for what has lately happened to you than at present you are."
"I think you're the most ridiculous person I ever met; and the rudest. Are all boys like you?"
"Boys? Well! You're younger that I am."
"I shouldn't have thought it possible that anyone could be that."
"My dear Miss Gilbert, in knowledge of the world, compared to you, I'm a grandfather. You ought to treat me with respect."
"Ought I? Do the other boys with whom you associate?"
"Miss Gilbert, you misunderstand the situation. I am at the university; and so are most of the men of my acquaintance."
"Is that so? I didn't know they took them so young."
He looked at her as if he could have said a great deal; but he said nothing--he drew a long breath instead. Presently he began again to whistle. She bore it in silence for a second or two; then she asked innocently: