"Especially if they tremble," I added.

"Do you s'pose that boy - I mean 'yon base varlet' would have
surrendered?"

"Not a doubt of it - if he hadn't happened to push you over the
bank first"

"Oh!" murmured the Imp rather dubiously.

"By the way," I said as I filled my pipe, "where is your Auntie
Lisbeth?"

"Well, I chased her up the big apple-tree with my bow an' arrow."

"Of course," I nodded!" "Very right and proper!"

"You see," he explained, "I wanted her to be a wild elephant an'
she wouldn't."

"Extremely disobliging of her!"

"Yes, wasn't it? So when she was right up I took away the ladder
an' hid it."

"Highly strategic, my Imp."

"So then I turned into Robin Hood. I hung my cap on a bush to shoot
at, you know, an' 'the Base Varlet' came up an' ran off with it."