"Oh, is he your brother? What a good thing you told me!" laughed Dinah.
"I might have said something rude about him in a minute."

"Like me!" said Billy, stumbling to his feet. "I made a most horrific
blunder, didn't I, Mr. Studley? I called him a bounder!"

Dinah looked at him witheringly. "You would!" she said. "Well, I hope you
apologized."

Billy stuck out his tongue at her. "I didn't then!" he returned, and
skated elegantly away on one leg.

"Billy," remarked Dinah dispassionately, "is not really such a horrid
little beast as he seems."

Scott smiled his courteous smile. "I had already gathered that," he said.

Her green eyes darted him a swift look, as if to ascertain if he were in
earnest. Then: "That was very nice of you," she said. "I wonder how you
knew."

He still smiled, but without much mirth. "A looker-on sees a good many
things, you know," he said.

Dinah's eyes flashed understanding. She said no more.




CHAPTER III