She raised her lips to his. "Thank you for not laughing at me, Jack," she
said. "Don't--ever--tell Adela, will you? I'm sure she would."

He smiled a little. "Yes, I think she would. She'd say you were old
enough to know better."

Dot nodded. "And very sensible, too. I am."

He patted her shoulder. "Good girl! Then that chapter is closed.
And--you're going to give poor Fletcher his chance?"

She drew a sharp breath. "Oh, I don't know. I can't promise that.
Don't--don't hustle me, Jack!"

He gave her a hard squeeze and let her go. "There, she shan't be teased
by her horrid bully of a brother! She's going to play the game off her
own bat, and I wish her luck with all my heart."

He turned to the job of feeding his horse, and Dot, after a few
inconsequent remarks, sauntered away in the direction of the barn,
"to be alone with herself," as she put it.




CHAPTER II

NUMBER THREE