"My royal Highness! What's that? No, no, Lootie, I will not be called
names. I don't like them. You said to me once yourself that it's only
rude children that call names; and I'm sure Curdie wouldn't be
rude.--Curdie, my name's Irene."
"Well, Irene," said Curdie, with a glance at the nurse which showed he
enjoyed teasing her, "it's very kind of you to let me call you anything.
I like your name very much."
He expected the nurse to interfere again; but he soon saw that she was
too frightened to speak. She was staring at something a few yards
before
them, in the middle of the path, where it narrowed between rocks so
that
only one could pass at a time.
"It's very much kinder of you to go out of your way to take us home,"
said Irene.
"I'm not going out of my way yet," said Curdie. "It's on the other side
those rocks the path turns off to my father's."
Madhuri Noah
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