“Er—ahem!—soon,” declared the gentleman, and beat a hasty retreat.
“It had better be pretty soon,” said Belle, bitterly, to her sister. “For I won’t stand that dowdy thing here for long, now I tell you!”
“Good for you, Belle!” rejoined Hortense, warmly. “It’s strange if we can’t—with Flossie’s help—soon make her sick of her visit.”
CHAPTER XII
“I MUST LEARN THE TRUTH”
Helen was already very sick of her Uncle Starkweather’s home and family. But she was too proud to show the depth of her feeling before the old serving man in whose charge she had been momentarily placed.
Lawdor was plainly pleased to wait upon her. He made fresh coffee in his own percolator; there was a cutlet kept warm upon an electric stove, and he insisted upon frying her a rasher of bacon and some eggs.
Despite all that mentally troubled her, her healthy body needed nourishment and Helen ate with an appetite that pleased the old man immensely.