“Don’t let’s pretend. You know what I mean, or,—if you want it in plain English,—help you to be one of the most popular girls in Berwick, which is what you ought to be, and can be as well as not.”
“No, I can’t. I’ve tried—”
“Excuse me, you haven’t tried. At least, not in the right way.”
“What is the right way?”
“Ah, you ask that. Then, you are willing to let me help you?”
“Of course I am, if you can do it.”
“Then, first of all, you must remove that chip from your shoulder.”
Bert spoke so earnestly, that Bernice involuntarily glanced at her shoulder.
“Yes, it’s there,” said Bert gravely. “You see, Bernie, you think the world owes you a living, and the world is not sure that it does. So you’ve got to earn that living.”
“Earn my own living! Why, my father—”