"And what did he say?"
"He said: 'Did they sting?'—I said: 'That was the fun of it!'"
"Better not tell your aunt."
"No, sir. I'm an obedient little girl."
"You little scamp! You were meant to be a boy. Is there anything you are afraid of?"
"Yes, algebra."
"Oh! get out," and she fled.
At dinner John said no word of the skating, to the satisfaction of Leila who conveyed to her uncle a gratified sense of victory by some of the signs which were their private property.
Leaving the cousins to their game of chess, Penhallow followed his wife and Mark Rivers into his library. "Well, Mark," he said, "you have had this boy long enough to judge; it is time I heard what you think of him. You asked me to wait. The youngster is rather reticent, and Leila is about the only person in the house who really knows much about him. He talks like a man of thirty."
"I do not find him reticent," remarked Mrs. Ann, "and his manners are charming—I wish Leila's were half as good."