"Then—then I'll try. I would rather stay with Mr. Blake when you go away, but if you want me to, I'll live with the young man."
"You will like him. He is only twenty years old, and he wants to go to college when he gets money enough. So he is glad to do tutoring now. That means helping a younger boy to learn."
"He will laugh at me," remarked Bert, looking off moodily. "I would rather stay with Mr. Blake and paint the snow on the evergreens."
"Oh, no, dear," said Mrs. Lowell. "That wouldn't please your grandfather. Besides, wouldn't you miss me?"
"I don't like Mr. Lowell," remarked the boy.
His friend laughed and took his hand between both her own. "We shall all love each other," she said, "and I shall hope to see you every day."
Bert thoughtfully visualized the boat carrying her away without him, and decided to be glad of the other horn of the dilemma. He had learned to smile, and he did so now, looking at her so trustfully that she patted his hand as she laid it down.
"That's a good boy," she said.
On the morning after the concert, Mrs. Wilbur regarded her child rather anxiously.