"He doesn't like--" I began, but Ptolemy rudely interrupted with an elaborate description of a new kind of fishing tackle he had bought. Then Beth bade Pythagoras build a fire in the cook-stove while she set the room to rights. "We'll eat out of doors," she said, "I think it would be more appetizing." "How did you get here?" Rob asked her as we were leaving. "I rowed over." "May I come over and row you back?" he asked pleadingly. She hesitated, and then, realizing that she could scarcely manage a boat and Diogenes at the same time, assented, bidding him not come, however, until five o'clock. "She'll have enough of the Polydores by that time," I said to Rob on our way home. "Do you know," he said reflectively, "I like Ptolemy. There's the making of a man in him, if he has only half a chance. I didn't suppose your sister understood children so well or was so fond of them. She looked quite the little housewife, too." "You'd discover a lot of things you don't know, if you'd cultivate the society of women," I informed him. CHAPTER XI _A Bad Means to a Good End_ When we were setting out on the proposed picnic the next day, Rob made himself extremely unpopular by announcing his intention to spend the day otherwise. The new blonde girl gave him fetching glances of entreaty which he never even saw. He made another sensation by proposing to keep Diogenes with him. To Silvia's surprise, Diogenes voiced his delight and chattered away, I suppose, about playing with the boys, but fortunately no one understood him. "Won't you change your mind and come, too?" he asked Beth. She seemed on the point of accepting and then firmly declined. When we returned at six o'clock, Rob and Diogenes were awaiting us. There was something in Rob's eyes I had not seen there before. He had the look of one in love with life. "Did you have a nice time playing solitaire?" asked Silvia. "I had a very nice time," he replied with a subtle smile, "but I didn't play solitaire. You know I had Diogenes." "Diogenes apparently had a good time, too," said Silvia, looking at the child, who was certainly a wreck in the way of garments. "What did you do all day, Rob?" "We went out on the water, played games, and had a picnic dinner outdoors." "You had huckleberry pie for one thing," she observed, with a glance at Diogenes' dress, "and jelly for another, and--" "Chicken, baked potatoes, milk, cake, and ice cream," he finished. "Where did you get ice cream?" she asked. "I went down to a dairy farm and got a gallon." "A gallon!" she exclaimed. "For you and Diogenes?" "We didn't eat it all," he said guardedly. "I gave what we didn't eat to some stray boys." "I hope Di won't be ill." "He won't," asserted Rob. "I am sure he is made of cast iron." Throughout dinner Rob remained in high spirits. He kept eyeing Beth in a way that disconcerted her, and then suddenly he would smile with the expression of one who knows something funny, but intends to keep it a secret.