"I don't think he is so dreadful."
"He must be or his wife's family wouldn't have objected to him. I am afraid, Mary Lee, he really must have been very bad."
"But that was so long ago. Maybe he isn't now."
"That wouldn't help it any. You wouldn't like the señorita to go up there and live in a little hut on the mountains away off from everybody."
"No, of course not. He said he should never make himself known to his daughter even if he knew where she was."
"Then that proves he isn't a decent somebody, and that he is ashamed of what he is. He knows he wouldn't be any credit to her."
Mary Lee felt the force of this argument and was silent before it for a moment, but she soon returned to battle for her theory. "Well, suppose he wasn't very nice once, maybe he has a nice family who would be glad to take Miss Dolores."
"It seems to me you're mighty eager to get rid of her," said Nan slyly.
"Oh, Nan!" There was indignant protest in Mary Lee's tones. "You know I'm not anxious to do that. It is only for her sake I want to find some real blood kin for her."
"They might turn out to be people she would loathe," said Nan.