“Well, I have a right!”
“I hardly think so.”
“But I have! Why not?”
“Because you do not trust her, Starbright. When you cease to trust Inza, you forfeited your rights to demand anything of her.”
Dick gasped.
“What are you talking about? If I still trusted her, there would be no need for me to ask her to explain.”
“Exactly,” nodded Merry. “As you do not, you have no right to ask her. That puts you out of it. I hope she is not badly smitten with you, my boy, for I hardly think you deserve to win her.”
This was plain talk, and it struck home. Starbright felt the wound rankle in his heart, and again he bitterly resolved to convince Merry that Inza Burrage was not all she had been fancied to be.
The man in advance was moving briskly. Frank and Dick kept a certain distance behind him.
“You’ll find out!” said the freshman. “Don’t take your eyes off him! You’ll find you have been fooled by her!”