with a generosity not uncommon among children, he often waives the question of payment, declaring that he really doesn’t mind it, i.e. the musical inspirations, much. But with Spartan firmness I always insist on his taking the price of his leisure, whether in the shape of copper coins of the realm or peppermint rock, as the case may be. The labourer is worthy of his hire, and Bertie is always anxious to be complimentary.
“Last Saturday I managed to keep him to tea to meet the other children. They were all very solemn at first, but presently Dulcie invited him to visit her own private cemetery in a corner of the garden, where she has two dolls, a canary, and half a goldfish (the cat ate the rest) interred in suitable mausoleums; and as they trotted away I heard her ask the inevitable introductory question of childhood, ‘How old is you?’ It’s a pity we can’t carry on this simple system in maturer life—it would clear up so many difficulties. Afterwards I heard Herbert growing quite conversational, and confiding to Dulcie that he was making up ‘a sort of a story,’ and he gave an outline in which tigers, Red Indians, elephants and the prophet Jonah seemed to play most sensational parts.
“Altogether we lead a very quiet friendly
