that he might not make a noise, and thrusting it back into his pocket
after each bite with an apprehensive glance at the gentleman in the
corner. When he had finished it and swallowed the core, he said,
suddenly:

"Mister, have you any little boys and girls?"

His companion, who had quite forgotten him, looked over the top of his
newspaper with a start. "What? What did you say? Oh--boys and girls?
Yes; I have a girl." He smiled as he spoke.

"Is she as big as me?"

Lloyd Pryor put down his paper and twitched his glasses off. "About
twice as big I should think," he said kindly.

"Twice as big! And twice as old?"

"How old are you?"

"I'm seven, going on eight."

"Well, then, let's see. Alice is--she is twice and five years more as
old. What do you make of that?"

The child began to count on his fingers, and, after looking at him a
minute or two with some amusement, Mr. Pryor returned to his paper.
After a while the boy said, suddenly, "In the flood the ducks couldn't
be drowned, could they?"