“So much the worse. She has no one to look out for her and restrain her. She can easily be influenced in the wrong direction. No man who is a man will mislead such a girl.”
Dunton was restless.
“Oh, you’re putting it too strong, Mr. Merriwell,” he said. “There is no harm in a little flirtation with a pretty girl. Don’t be jealous because I happened to catch on to her before you came along.”
He tried to turn this remark with a laugh, but Frank said:
“You know very well that is not why I am speaking to you. There was something about that girl’s innocent face that made me sorry for her. She is trembling on the brink of a downward path, I am sure of it. She is a girl not naturally bad, but she has her head filled with false notions, and she needs somebody to look out for her till she gets old enough to become aware that those ideas are false.”
“Oh, you are making too much of this, Mr. Merriwell. Don’t worry about girls like that. There are thousands of them. They are everywhere.”
“All the more reason why a man should take an interest in them. If one of them can be prevented from making the fatal mistake, it is a great thing.”
“If they are bound to be gay, they’ll be so, and you may lecture to them all you like.”
“But I hope no one in my company will help any girl to become ‘gay,’ as you call it. That is all I have to say, Dunton. I trust you will understand me. I don’t wish to meddle with your business.”
Frank knew it was useless to say anything more or talk plainer. Dunton understood him, and all he might add to what he had said would make no deeper impression.