ies, and all
that sort of thing. I may perhaps add that my mother's sitting up."

"So glad to meet you, St. George," began the dragon rather nervously,
"because you've been a great traveller, I hear, and I've always been
rather a stay-at-home. But I can show you many antiquities, many
interesting features of our country-side, if you're stopping here any
time--"

"I think," said St. George, in his frank, pleasant way, "that we'd
really better take the advice of our young friend here, and try to come
to some understanding, on a business footing, about this little affair
of ours. Now don't you think that after all the simplest plan would be
just to fight it out, according to the rules, and let the best man win?
They're betting on you, I may tell you, down in the village, but I don't
mind that!"

"Oh, yes, DO, dragon," said the Boy, delightedly; "it'll save such a lot
of bother!"

"My young friend, you shut up," said the dragon severely. "Believe me,
St. George," he went on, "there's nobody in the world I'd sooner oblige
than you and this young gentleman here. But the whole thing's nonsense,
and conventionality, and popular thick-headedness. There's absolutely
nothing to fight about, from beginning to end. And anyhow I'm not going
to, so that settles it!"

"But supposing I make you?" said St. George, rather nettled.

"You can't," said the dragon, triumphantly. "I should only go into
my cave and retire for a time down the hole I came up. You'd soon get
heartily sick of sitting outside and waiting for me to come out and
fight you. And as soon as you'd really gone away, why, I'd come up again
gaily, for I tell you frankly, I like this place, and I'm going to stay
here!"

St. George gazed for a while on the fair landscape around them.
"But this would be a beautiful place for a fight," he began again
persuasively. "These great bare rolling Downs for the arena,--and me
in my golden armour showing up against your big blue scaly coils! Think
what a picture it would make!"

"Now you're trying to get at me through my artistic sensibilities," said
the dragon. "But it won't work. Not but what it would make a very pretty
picture, as you say," he added, wavering a little.

"We seem to be getting rather nearer to BUSINESS," put in the Boy. "You
must see, dragon, that there's got to be a fight of some sort, 'cos you
can't want to have to go down that dirty old hole again and stop there
till goodness knows when."

"It might be