"I'm not so very young," he said.
"What age are you?" she asked.
"I'm nearly seventeen," he replied.
She jumped up and stood over him. "God save us," she said, "that's the powerful age. You'd nearly bate Methusaleh!"
He stood up beside her. "Now, you're laughing at me again," he complained.
"No, I'm not," she answered.
She laid her hand on his shoulder and gripped it firmly, and stood thus, looking at him intently. Then she drew him into her arms and kissed him. "I like you quaren well," she said, holding him to her.
"Do you, Sheila?"
"Aye, of course I do, or I wouldn't be huggin' you like this, would I? Did you bring the yella male?"