Chess Copley had not won his commission in the war and wore only a sergeant’s chevrons. But the war was over and he could tell his captain just what he thought of him. And he did.
“Do you know what you are, Tom Cameron?” he drawled, smiling a hard little smile. “You are a regular dog in the manger, and I’m frank to tell you so!”
CHAPTER III
RICE AND OLD SHOES
“It is the greatest day in a girl’s life,” declared Helen Cameron, sitting on the edge of one of the twin beds in the room she and Ruth occupied while they were at the Stone house. She buckled her fingers around her knee to hold one limb crossed over the other—a very mannish and independent position. “I don’t know that I ever envied Heavy before in my life. But she has got something now that we haven’t, Ruth.”
“Cat’s foot!” exclaimed Ann Hicks from her chair. “Who’d want a Frenchman for a husband?”
Ruth laughed. “Not to say that Major Marchand is not a fine fellow, I agree with Ann that I don’t want a husband. Not—right—now!”
“Oh! Very well,” said Helen complacently. “But if you thought you’d never be able to get one——”