"Becca says it's not proper to talk to strange gentlemen without an introduction." And she turned her back upon him and walked in at the open door.
Half vexed, half amused, Rufus went on to his work, muttering as he did so, "I am not going to take my dismissal so easily."
[CHAPTER II]
HIS STORY TOLD
THE following day was Saturday, when as a rule Rufus went off in the afternoon for a long tramp with one of his fellow-clerks. But he declined all such proposals made to him before he left the bank, and after an early dinner at his lodgings, he arrayed himself in his best suit of clothes, and marched boldly across to call on his opposite neighbors.
A sharp knock at the door brought a slatternly maidservant.
"Is Mrs. Clay at home? I should like to see her. Will you take in my card?"
The girl looked bewildered, and then showed him into the front sitting-room, where Greta was seated by her mother's couch reading aloud.
Her little face at once brightened with smiles.
"Mother, here is the gentleman who was so good to me and held the umbrella."