David hunted her out and insisted on her dancing…and sitting out in the silver bush with him afterwards…just far enough away from the dancers to make Tillytuck’s fiddling sound like fairy music. Pat liked both. David was a capital dancer and she loved to talk with him. He had such a charming voice. Sometimes he was a little bitter but there was such a stimulating pungency about his bitterness. Like choke cherries. They puckered your mouth horribly but still you hankered after them. She would far rather sit here and talk to David than dance with boys who held you closer than you liked and paid you silly compliments, most of which they had picked up from the talkies.

Then a run into the house to see the baby. It was so heavenly to watch a baby asleep, with Judy crooning over it like an old weather-beaten Madonna. Judy was a bit upset on several counts.

“Patsy darlint, there do be some couples spooning on the flat monnymints in the graveyard. Do ye be thinking that dacent now?”

“It’s not in the best of taste but we can hardly turn them out of it, Judy. Its only on Wild Dick’s and Weeping Willy’s. Wild Dick would sympathize with them and as for Weeping Willy…who cares for his feelings? We don’t count him among our glorious dead…sitting down and crying instead of going bravely to work. Is that all that’s worrying you, Judy?”

“It’s not worrying I am but there’s been a mysterious disappearance. The roll-jelly cake has gone out av the pantry and the bowl av whipped crame in the ice-house is gone. Siddy forgot to lock it. Bold-and-Bad do be licking his chops very suspicious-like but he’d have been laving the bowl at laste. Of coorse I can be whipping up more crame in a brace av shakes. But who cud have took the cake, Patsy? Niver did the like happen before.”

“I suppose some of the boys have been playing tricks. Never mind, Judy, there’s plenty of cake…you said so yourself.”

“But the impidence av thim…coming into me pantry like that. Likely enough it was Sam Binnie. Patsy darlint, Rex Miller isn’t here. Ye haven’t been quarrelling wid him, have ye now?”

“No, Judy darling. But he won’t be coming around anymore. I couldn’t help it. He was nice…I liked him but…Judy, don’t be looking like that—When I asked him a question…any question…I always knew exactly what he’d answer. And he never…really never, Judy…laughs in the right place.”

“Mebbe ye cud have taught him to laugh in the right place,” said Judy sarcastically.

“I don’t think I could. One has to be born knowing that. So I had to wave him gently away…‘symbolically speaking.’”