"Oh!" said Alice, laughing. "You thought I was very ungenerous to leave you out of the question entirely."
"Honestly I did think so," remarked Quincy.
"Well, now," said Alice, "I did it from the most generous of motives. I thought you knew about the surprise party as well as I did. I knew 'Zekiel would go with me and I thought that perhaps you had some other young lady in view for your companion."
"What?" asked Quincy. "Whom could I have had in view?"
"Shall I tell you whom I think?" asked Alice.
"I wish you would," Quincy replied.
"Well," said Alice, "I thought it might be Lindy Putnam."
Quincy bit his lip and gave the reins a savage jerk, as he turned up the short road that led to the Pettengill house. "What could make you think that, Miss Pettengill?"
"Well, I have only one reason to give," Alice replied, "for that opinion, but the fact is, when we made our call on Mrs. Putnam she pounded on the floor three times with her crutch before you came upstairs. Am I justified, Mr. Sawyer?"