“Oh, but then Annis would have been cheated out of her rights.”
“What’s the odds, so long as no one knew it?” continued Porter.
Basil spoke up. “Look here, young man; that’s no way to talk. Wrong is wrong, whether any one knows it or not.”
It was Porter’s turn to look uneasy, and he glanced quickly at Mellicent, who blushed and seemed to be giving close attention to the game.
“I’m going out on my wheel,” Porter announced, as if anxious to change the subject, and, springing up, he left the room, Mellicent following.
Basil began to turn over the leaves of a book absently, while Persis sat watching him. Presently he looked up. “Say, Perse,” he said, “does Porter talk to you much about the boys and—and things?”
“No,” she replied; “he used to more than he does now, but he told me some tricks the boys played, and I suppose I was too plain-spoken for him, for he said I was ‘a chump,’ and since then we haven’t been quite so confidential.”
Basil looked thoughtful. “I wish he were confidential with you. I know you are up and down straightforward enough not to let him impose on you. I wish I didn’t have to say it, but Porter is awfully plausible.”
“Yes he is,” agreed Persis. “He is very agreeable when he wants to be, and he knows just how to get around one. Is—is anything wrong, Basil?”
“I hope not, but I thought I’d just ask.” And Basil began to walk around the room, his hands in his pockets and an occupied look upon his face.