Mr. Dillwyn laughed a little, looking at this fair creature, who was talking to him, and finding it hard to imagine her among the rushes racing with a long clam.
"It is wet ground I suppose, where you find the clams?"
"O yes. One must take off shoes and stockings and go barefoot. But the mud is warm, and it is pleasant enough."
"The clams must be good, to reward the trouble?"
"We think it is as pleasant to get them as to eat them."
"I believe you remarked, this sport is your substitute for our Central
Park?"
"Yes, it is a sort of a substitute."
"And, in the comparison, you think you are the gainers?"
"You cannot compare the two things," said Lois; "only that both are ways of seeking pleasure."
"So you say; and I wanted your comparative estimate of the two ways."