“But, Arthur,” said Lucy, “will not this take up too much of Mr. Dodd’s time?  I think you had better consult Uncle Fountain before you make a positive arrangement of the kind.”

“Oh, I have spoken to my guardian about it, and he was so pleased.  He said that would save him a mathematical tutor.”

“Oh, then,” said Mrs. Bazalgette, “Mr. Dodd is to teach mathematics gratis.”

“My friend is a gentleman,” was the timid reply. (Juveniles have a pomposity all their own, and exquisitely delicious.*) “We read together because we like one another, and that is why we walk together and play together; if we were to offer him money he would throw it at our heads.”  Mr. Arthur then relaxed his severity, and, condescending once more to the familiar, added:  “And he has made me a kite on mathematical principles—­such a whacker—­those in the shops are no use; and he has sent his mother’s Bath chair on to the downs, and he is going to show me the kite draw him ten knots an hour in it—­a knot means a mile, Lucy—­so I can’t stay wasting my time here; only, if you want to see some fun for once in your lives, come on the downs in about an hour—­will you?  Oh yes! do come!”

* Read the Oxford Essays.

“Certainly not,” said Mrs. Bazalgette, sharply.

“Excuse us, dear,” said Lucy in the same breath.

“Well, Lucy,” said Mrs. Bazalgette, “am I wrong about your uncle’s selfishness!  I have tried in vain ever since I came here to make you see it where you were the only sufferer.”

“Not quite in vain, aunt,” said Lucy sadly; “you have shown me defects in my poor uncle that I should never have discovered.”

Mrs. Bazalgette smiled grimly.

“Only, as you hate him, and I love him, and always mean to love him, permit me to call his defects ‘thought-lessness.’ You can apply the harsh term ‘selfish-ness’ to the most good-natured, kind, indulgent—­oh!”

“Ha! ha!  Don’t cry, you silly girl.  Thoughtless? a calculating old goose, who is eternally aiming to be a fox—­never says or does anything without meaning something a mile off.  Luckily, his veil is so thin that everybody sees through it but you.  What do you think of his thought-less-ness in getting a tutor gratis?  Poor Mr. Dodd!”

“I will answer for it, it is a pleasure to Mr. Dodd to be of service to his little friend,” said Lucy, warmly.

“How do you know a bore is a pleasure to Mr. Dodd?”

“Mr. Dodd is a new acquaintance of yours, aunt, but I have had opportunities of observing his character, and I assure you all this pity is wasted.”

“Why, Lucy, what did you say to Arthur just now.  You are contradicting yourself."

“What a love of opposition I must have.  Are you not tired of in-doors?  Shall we go into the village?”

“No; I exhausted the village yesterday.”

“The garden?”

“No.”