'Gladly, sir, if I can.' She had been sitting in musing idleness, going over the day perhaps, for now and then her lips curled and parted, with various expressions.
'We have come, you are aware, Miss Hazel, in the course of our progress, to the Enchanted Region;—where things are not what they seem; jewels lie hid in the soil for the finding, and treasures are at the top of the hill; but the conditions of success may be the stopping of the ears, you know; and lovely ladies by the way may turn out to be deadly enchantresses. How, in this time of dangers and possibilities, can my wisdom avail for your inexperience? that is my question. Can you tell me?'
'Truly sir,' she answered with laugh, 'to get yourself out of a difficulty, you get me in! My inexperience is totally in the dark as to what your wisdom means.'
'Precisely,' said Mr. Falkirk; 'so how shall we do? How shall
I take care of you?'
'You have always known how, sir,' she answered with a grateful flash of her brown eyes.
'When I had only a little Wych Hazel to take care of, and the care depended on myself,' Mr. Falkirk said, with just an indication of a sigh stifled somewhere. 'Now I can't get along without your coöperation, my dear.'
'Am I so much harder to manage than of old, sir? That speaks ill for me.'
'My dear, I believe I remarked that we are upon Enchanted ground. It does not speak ill for you, that you may not know a bewitched pumpkin from a good honest piece of carriage maker's work.'
'No, sir. Is it the pumpkin variety for which Mr. Rollo is to find mice?'
'I have taken care of your affairs at least,' said Mr. Falkirk gravely. 'There is nothing about them that is not sound. I wish other people did not know it so well!' he muttered.