Another wait. Then a real bite in the right place. In another moment
Loraine landed a wriggling little fish in the grass. She did not squeal
nor shudder, but sat regarding it with gentle pride.

"Poor little thing! I suppose I ought to put you back, but you're my
first and only fish, and I've _got_ to carry you home for the girls
to see. You'll have to forgive me this time!" She turned to the boy.
"I suppose he ought to be dressed, or undressed, or something, before
he's fried, oughtn't he? I thought I'd like to fry him for breakfast,
to surprise the girls--"

"I'll dress him for you," Jane Cotton's Sam said eagerly, "and bring
him over in the morning in plenty o' time."

"Thank you," Loraine said heartily. "Now you'll have to let me do
something for you. 'Turn about is fair play.' Couldn't I--" She
hesitated, looking out over the still reddened water rather than at the
boy's face. "Couldn't I help you in some way with your studies? That's
my business, you know. It would really be doing me a kindness, for I may
get all out of practice unless I teach somebody something!" Had Loraine,
too, forgotten the Compact on the screen door?

The boy fidgeted, then burst out angrily: "I s'pose they've all been
telling you I failed up in my exams? They have, haven't they? You
_knew_ it, didn't you?"

"Yes," Loraine answered quietly. "But I've heard a good many worse
things in my life. I've heard of boys that smoked and drank and--and
_stole_. What does missing a few examinations amount to beside