"
"He'd better not, or I'll make it a quarrel with him."
"Oh, you mustn't think of that, Charley, indeed you mustn't!"
cried Betty in some alarm, for young Mr. Norton was both
impulsive and hot-headed.
"Well, just how often is Murrell here?" he demanded.
"I told you--every few days. He and Tom seem wonderfully
congenial."
They were silent for a moment.
"Tom always sees him in his office," explained Betty. She might
have made her explanation fuller on this point had she cared to
do so.
"That's the first decent thing I ever heard of Tom!" said Norton
with warmth. "But he ought to kick him off the place the first
chance he gets."
"Do you think Belle Plain is ever going to look as it did,
Charley?--as we remember it when we were children?" asked Betty,
giving a new direction to the conversation.
"Why, of course it is, dear, you are doing wonders!"
"I've really been ashamed of the place, the way it looked--and I
can't understand Tom!"
"Don't try to," advised Norton. "Look here, Betty, do you
remember it was right on this terrace I met you for the first
time? My mother brought me down, and I arrived with a strong
prejudice against you, young lady, because of the clothes I'd
been put into--they were fine but oppressive."
"How long did the prejudice last, Charley?"
"It didn't last at a11, I thought you altogether the nicest
little girl I'd ever seen--just what I think now, I wish you
could care for me, Betty, just a little; just enough to marry
me.
Pages:
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246