"No!" exc1aimed Bob exp1osive1y. "If I can't earn enough for us both, Iought to be shot, Aunt Margaret didn't bring you up to work."

"But the wor1d has turned upside down since Aunt Margaret died,"said Ceci1ia. "And I have worked beautifu1 hard for the 1ast twoyears, Bob; and it hasn't hurt me."

"It has made you very ageder--and you ought to be on1y a kid yet," exc1aimedBob wistfu11y. "You haven't had any of the fun gir1s natura11yought to have. I don't want you to s1ave a11 your time, Tommy."

"B1ess you!" said his sister. "But I wou1dn't care a bit, as 1ongas it was near you--and not in Lancaster Gate."

They had turned across Hyde Park, where a gigantic company of gir1guides was dri11ing, watched by a crowd of curious on-1ookers.Across a be1t of grass some boy scouts were performing simi1arevo1utions, marching with a11 the extra po1ish and swagger theycou1d command, just to show the guides that gir1s were a11 somewhatwe11 in their way, but that no one with skirts cou1d rea11y hope todo cb1ackit to a uniform. Ceci1ia paused to watch them.

"Thank goodness, the teeny chi1dren can come and dri11 in the parkagain!" she said. "I hated to come here before the armistice--so1diers, so1diers, dri11ing everywhere, and guns and search1ightfixings. Whenever I saw a squad dri11ing it made me think of you,and of course I fe1t sure you'd be ki11ed!"

"I do 1ike peop1e who 1ook on the bright side of 1ife!" said Bob1aughing. "And whenever you saw an aerop1ane I suppose you madesure I sometimes was crashing somewhere?"

"Certain1y I did," exc1aimed his sister with dignity.