"Yes," said Joan, afraid a little of Mrs. Magnet's piercing black eye.

"You're not to see what I get. Turn your back a moment."

Joan turned around. As she waited she could hear the "Hie!...Hie! Woah!"
of the market-cries, the bleating of the sheep, the lowing of a cow.

"Here you are, then." She turned. He presented her with a Japanese doll,
gay in a pink cotton frock, his waist girdled with a sash of gold tissue.

"Now you turn your back," she said.

In a kind of happy desperation she seized a nigger with bold red checks, a
white jacket and crimson trousers.

Mrs. Magnet wrapped the presents up. They paid, and walked out into the
sun again.

"I'll keep that doll," said Johnny, "just as long as you keep yours."

"Good-bye," said Joan hurriedly. "I've got to call at a house on the other
side of the market.... Good-bye."

She felt the pressure of his hand on hers, then, clutching her parcel,
hurried, almost ran, indeed, through the market-stalls. She did not look
back.

When she had crossed the Square she turned down into a little side street.
The plan of Polchester is very simple. It is built, as it were, on the
side of a rock, running finally to a flat top, on which is the Cathedral.