human
I think I shall be wickedly jealous of you, she said at last.
gpt
Fancy your launching the invention! I wish I were able to help as you do.
human
You, Oswyth! You're not only an Anglo-Saxon saint, but a Connecticut angel, cried Rob, somewhat inarticulately, as she held between her teeth the elastic band with which she intended to fasten her braid.
gpt
Without you we would all go--kersmash!--in one day. You do everything.
human
Do you remember how, when we reckon our resources, we put down two columns, one certainties, the other possibilities? To think you are now one of the possibilities!
gpt
And if I am, what then? demanded Rob.
human
I may be a possibility, but you are an extreme probability, Oswyth, my dear. You are at once a column and a foundation. I'll never be half as useful as you are. Put out the light, Oswyth Grey, and don't talk nonsense! Not but that I'm thankful enough to be added to the column of possible sources of income!
gpt
Here's a bit of bread for you, Rob, my son,
human
Bread? I'm not hungry, Patergrey; besides, it looks too white to be well baked. What do you mean? Something nice, by the way you're beaming at me.
gpt
It is bread--bread-on-the-waters, my girl, Mr. Grey retorted.
human
It is the first interest on the money you lent me.
gpt
The machine? cried Rob, trying to seize the letter which her father held tantalizingly above her head.
human
Oh, tell me quick if it is the machine.
gpt
It is the machine. But we mustn't expect too much, Mr. Grey hastily added.
human
It is by no means sold, nor even appraised. This letter is from a man in New York who is interested in such things, and he writes that he is coming to Fayre the day after to-morrow to look into my improvements in bricquette making. That's all, but it is a beginning, and that's something in itself.
gpt
It's a lot! cried sanguine Rob.
human
What shall we have for dinner that day? Have you told Mardy?
gpt
I have but just come in, said her father, laughing aloud.
human
What a practical girl! And how truly her instinct guides her to the wisdom of feeding well the man whom you wish to impress! Do the best you can with the dinner, Robin, and maybe he won't discover defects in the invention.
gpt
There is none,