Mrs. Roberts: ‘Nonsense, Edward! How could you tell, so excited as you were?—And caught hold of the largest of the wretches—a perfect young giant—’
Roberts: ‘No, no; not a giant, my dear.’
Mrs. Roberts: ‘Well, he was young, anyway!—And flung him on the ground.’ She advances upon Mrs. Crashaw in her enthusiasm.
Mrs. Crashaw: ‘Don’t you fling me on the ground, Agnes! I won’t have it.’
Mrs. Roberts: ‘And tore his coat open, while all the rest were tugging at him, and snatched his watch, and then—and then just walked coolly away.’
Roberts: ‘No, my dear; I ran as fast as I could.’
Mrs. Roberts: ‘Well, ran. It’s quite the same thing, and I’m just as proud of you as if you had walked. Of course you were not going to throw your life away.’
Mrs. Crashaw: ‘I think he did a very silly thing in going after them at all.’
Roberts: ‘Why, of course, if I’d thought twice about it, I shouldn’t have done it.’
Mrs. Roberts: ‘Of course you wouldn’t, dear! And that’s what I want him to promise, Aunt Mary: never to do it again, no matter how much he’s provoked. I want him to promise it right here in your presence, Aunt Mary!’