"I'm afraid we've got to," he said; "you see, I must find out about ways and means. And Edith would be furious if we didn't come," he ended, chuckling. "Is she nice?" "Why, yes," he said; "she's just a child, of course. Only eleven. But she and I have great times. We have a hut on the mountain; we go up for a day, and Edith cooks things. She's a bully cook. Her beloved Johnny Bennett tags on behind." "But do you like to be with a _child_?" she said, surprised. "Oh, she's got a lot of sense. Say, Nelly, I have an idea. While we are at Green Hill, let's camp out up there?" "You don't mean stay all night?" she said, flinching. "Oh, wouldn't it be very uncomfortable? I--I hate the dark." The sweet foolishness of it enchanted him (baby love feeds on pap!) "Pitch dark," he teased, "and lions and tigers roaring around, and snakes--" "Of course I'll go, if you want me to," she said, simply, but with a real sinking of the heart. "Edith adores it," he said. "Speaking of Edith, I must tell you something so funny. Last summer I was at Green Hill, and one night Mr. and Mrs. Houghton were away, and there was a storm. Gee, I never saw such a storm in my life! Edith has no more nerves than a tree, but even she was scared. Well, I was scared myself." He had stretched himself out on the sofa, and she was kneeling beside him, her eyes worshiping him. "_I_ would have been scared to death," she confessed. "Well, _I_ was!" he said. "The tornado--it was just about that!--burst on to us, and nearly blew the house off the hill--and such an infernal bellowing, and hellish green lightning, you never saw! Well, I was just thinking about Buster--her father calls her Buster; and wondering whether she was scared, when in she rushed, in her night-gown. She made a running jump for my bed, dived into it, grabbed me, and hugged me so I was 'most suffocated, and screamed into my ear, 'There's a storm!'--as if I hadn't noticed it. I said--I could hardly make myself heard in the racket--I yelled, 'Don't you think you'd better go back to your own room? I'll come and sit there with you.' And she yelled, 'I'm going to stay here.' So she stayed." "I think she was a little old for that sort of thing," Eleanor said, coldly. He gave a shout of laughter. "Eleanor! Do you mean to tell me you don't see how awfully funny it was? The little thing hugged me with all her might until the storm blew over. Then she said, calmly: 'It's cold. I'll stay here. You can go and get in my bed if you want to.'" Eleanor gave a little shrug, then rose and went over to the window. "Oh yes, it was funny; but I think she must be a rather pert little thing. I don't want to go to Green Hill."