as though Gertie had dared with shrewish shrillness to
intrude upon his beautiful hour. But pity came to him again. Stroking
her hair, he went urgently on: "Don't you see? Why, blessed, I
wouldn't hurt you for anything! Just to-night--why, you remember,
first thing, I wanted us to plan for some walks; reason I didn't say
more about it was, I didn't know as you'd want to, much. Why, Gertie,
_anybody_ would be proud to play with you. You know so much about
concerts and all sorts of stuff. Anybody'd be proud to!" He wound up
with a fictitious cheerfulness. "We'll have some good long hikes
together, heh?... It's better now, isn't it, kiddy? You're just tired
to-night. Has something been worrying you? Tell old Carl all about---"

She wiped her tears away with the adorable gesture of a child trying
to be good, and like a child's was her glance, bewildered, hurt, yet
trusting, as she said in a small, shy voice: "Would folks really be
proud to play with me?... We did use to have some dear times, didn't
we! Do you remember how we found some fool's gold, and we thought it
was gold and hid it on the shore of the lake, and we were going to buy
a ship? Do you remember? You haven't forgotten all our good times,
while you've been so famous, have you?"

"Oh no, no!"

"But why don't--Carl, why don't you--why can't you care more now?"

"Why, I do care! You're one of the bulliest pals I have, you and
Ray."

"And Ray!"

She flung his hand away and sat bolt up, angry.

Carl retired to a chair beside the Morris chair, fidgeting. "Can you
beat it! Is this Gertie and me?" he inquired in a parenthesis in his
heart. For a second, as she stared haughtily at him, he spitefully
recalled the fact that Gertie had once discarded him for a glee-club
dentist. But he submerged the thought and listened with a rather
forced big-brother air as she repented of her anger and went on:

"Carl, don't you understand how hard it is for a woman to forget her
pride this way?" The hauteur of being one of the elite of Joralemon
again flashed out. "Maybe if you'll think real hard you'll remember I
used to could get you to be so kind and talk to me without having to
beg you so hard. Why, I'd been to New York and known the _nicest_
people before you'd ever stirred a foot out of Joralemon! You
were----Oh, please forgive me, Carl; I didn't mean to be snippy; I
just don't know what to think of myself--and I did used to think I was
a lady, and here I am practicall