“Up beyond Meade’s Forge,” said the strange girl.
“Oh, my! On Lake Honotonka?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Please don’t ma’am me!” cried the captain of the Go-Ahead Club. “My name is Wynifred Mallory. My friends all call me Wyn. Now, I want you to be my friend, so you must commence calling me Wyn right away.”
“But–but you don’t know me,” said the other girl, hesitatingly.
“I am going to; am I not?” demanded Wyn, with her frank smile. “Surely, now that I have confided in you, you will confide in me to the same extent? Or, don’t you like me?”
“Of course I like you!” exclaimed the still sobbing girl. “But–but I do not know that I have any right to allow you to be my friend.”
“Goodness me! why not?” exclaimed Wyn.
“Why–why, we have a bad name in this town, it seems,” said the other.
“Who have?” snapped Wyn, hating Mr. Erad harder than ever now.