Heaven help me, I have found that mainstay of sentimental rhetoric, the innocent child. Two of them! Unspoiled by corrupt society. And as I always suspected, they're unholy little brats when you come down to it. Innocent is also ignorant; unspoiled is also unwashed.

Damn me if I'm not fond of them.

For there is a charm in innocence. There's something charming in a boy who expects the people whose pockets he picks to like him. There's something to be said for a little girl who settles on the simplest explanation for everything.

I almost feel sorry for civilizing them.