Soon all the Sons and Daughters of Gentlefolk were cracking nuts, and William was regaling them with a racy account of Jonah in the whale’s belly, and trying to entice Albert to show off his tricks....
“Seems to me,” said William at last thoughtfully, looking round the room, “we might get up a good game in this room ... something sort of quiet, I mean, jus’ till she comes back.”
But the room was mercifully spared one of William’s “quiet” games by the entrance of Miss Dobson, Miss Lomas’ cousin, who was staying with her. Miss Dobson was very young and very pretty. She had short golden curls and blue eyes and small white teeth and an attractive smile.
“My cousin’s not well enough to finish the lesson,” she said. “So I’m going to read to you till it’s time to go home. Now, let’s be comfortable. Come and sit on the hearthrug. That’s right. I’m going to read to you ‘Scalped by the Reds.’”
William drew a deep breath of delight.
At the end of the first chapter he had decided that he wouldn’t mind coming to this sort of Bible class every day.
At the end of the second he had decided to marry Miss Dobson as soon as he grew up....
******
When William woke up the next morning his determination to marry Miss Dobson was unchanged. He had previously agreed quite informally to marry Joan Crewe, his friend and playmate and adorer, but Joan was small and dark-haired and rather silent. She was not gloriously grown-up and tall and fair and vivacious. William was aware that marriage must be preceded by courtship, and that courtship was an arduous business. It was not for nothing that William had a sister who was acknowledged to be the beauty of the neighbourhood, and a brother who was generally involved in a passionate if short-lived affaire d’amour. William had ample opportunities of learning how it was done. So far he had wasted these opportunities or only used them in a spirit of mockery and ridicule, but now he determined to use them seriously and to the full.
He went to the garden shed directly after breakfast and discovered that he had made the holes in his cardboard boxes rather too large and the inmates had all escaped during the night. It was a blow, but William had more serious business on hand than collecting insects. And he still had Albert. He put his face down to where he imagined Albert’s ear to be and yelled “Albert” with all the force of his lungs. Albert moved—in fact scuttled wildly up the side of his box.