"Perhaps he's a Minotaur, Aunt Liza. Do you think he is?"

"My dear, I don't know what you're talking about," said Mrs. Peck, with
a touch of acidity.

Columbine laughed a little. "Do you know, Rufus?" she said.

She did not look at him with the question; there was a quivering dimple
in her red cheek that came and went.

"I'd like to know," said Rufus with simplicity.

"Would you, really?" Columbine polished the last plate vigorously and
set it down. "The Minotaur," she said, in the tone of a schoolmistress
delivering a lecture, "was a monster, half-bull, half-man, who lived in
a place like the Spear Point Caves, and devoured young men and maidens.
You live nearer to the Caves than any one else, don't you, Rufus?"

Again she ventured a darting glance at him. His look was still upon her,
but its fiery quality was less apparent. He met the challenge with his
slow, indulgent smile.

"Yes, I live there. I don't devour anybody. I'm not--that sort of
monster."

Columbine shook her head. "I'm not so sure of that," she said. "But I
dare say you'd tame."

"P'raps you'd like to do it," suggested Rufus.