"And you would have been ashamed to limp in the street, Norton?"
"For a nail in my boot. What is a man good for, that can't stand anything?"
"I should not have been ashamed at all."
"You're a girl," said Norton approvingly. "It is a different thing. What is your news, Pink?"
"But Norton, I don't see why it is a different thing. Why should not a woman be as brave as a man, and as strong,—in one way?"
"I suppose, because she is not as strong in the other way. She hasn't got it to do, Pink, that's all. But a man, or a boy, that can't bear anything without limping, is a muff; that's the whole of it."
"A muff's a nice thing," said Matilda laughing.
"Not if it's a boy," said Norton. "Go on with your news, Pink. What is it?"
"I wonder if you know. Oh Norton, do you know what your mother and Mr. Richmond have been talking about?"
"I wasn't there," said Norton. "If you were, you may tell me."