Philip's most innocent beginnings frequently led into argumentative
morasses for his opponent.
"Does Johnny have complete freedom in your camp?"
"Certainly!" exclaimed Diane warmly. "Johnny is old and faithful. He
may do as he pleases."
Philip changed an angemic worm of considerable transparency for one of
more interest to his river audience and smiled.
"Johnny," said he cheerfully, "has been good enough to invite me to
stay in camp with him indefinitely. I'm his guest, in fact, until you
go home. I imagine that as Johnny's guest I ought to enjoy immunity
from sarcastic shafts, but I may be mistaken. I've washed and drained
most of these worms. Will you lend me an inch or so of that stout
invertebrate climbing out of the can by you?"
Thoroughly out of patience, Diane reeled in her line and returned to
camp, whence she presently heard Philip blithely whistling a
fisherman's hornpipe and urging Nero to retrieve certain sticks he had
thrown into the river. A little later he caught a sunfish and swung
into camp with such a smile of irresistible pride and good humor on his
sun-browned face, that Diane laughed in spite of herself.
"How ridiculous it is!" she mused uncomfortably. "Here I may not
depart for fear a happy-go-lucky young man will play a tin whistle on
the steps of the van, and I will not go home.
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