They would be--practically--if I'm going to pay the fines," said Sir James.
The eyes of both the Twins danced: this was a fashion of dealing tenderly with exactitude which appealed to them.

The Terror himself could not have been more tender with it.
"That's a ripping idea!" said Erebus in a tone of the warmest approval.
The peace was thus concluded.
Having thus abated their hostility, Sir James spared no pains to win their good will.

He gave the Terror a rook-rifle and Erebus boxes of chocolate.

If he chanced on them when motoring in the afternoon he would carry them off, bicycles and all, in his car and regale them with sumptuous teas at the Grange; and at Colet House he entertained them with stories of the African forest which thrilled Mrs.Dangerfield even more than they thrilled them.

But he won their hearts most by his sympathy with them in the matter of their mother's appetite, and by joining them in little plots to obtain delicacies for her.
Having discovered how grateful it was to her, he lost no opportunity of taking the short cut to her heart by praising them.