SHIANA
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Couldn't he be called the name afterwards as well as if he had not called anybody else by it?
Peg.—I suppose he considered it a great matter to have the first of it, to fire the first shot, and not to be down at the first gap. And what would people say but that surely he had no dread of the name, for if he had he would not be so ready to mention it.
Kate.—I suppose that was the way with little Denis when he stole James's knife. There was nobody so energetic in the search for the knife as he was himself, and he had it in his pocket, the little wretch!
Sheila.—How was it found, Kate?
Kate.—It was I that noticed it in his pocket. He had the pocket hanging outside his coat like a little worm-bag. I laid my hand on the little bag, and the knife was inside it.
Sheila.—The poor fellow! what a start you gave him!
Kate.—You may say I did. He turned every colour and began to cry.
Sheila.—Was he sent away?
Kate.—No. Nell defended him. She said that some one must have put the knife into the pocket without his knowledge, for fun, and my father said she was right.
Abbie.—He thought that by pretending to search for it earnestly there would be no danger of his being suspected. Wasn't he clever?
Peg.—Well, he was only a child, Abbie. He had no sense, and I dare say the knife was not worth much.
Kate.—No, it wasn't; and what James did then was to make him a present of it, and I was mad
