“I found it, just like I told you,” Melissa insisted.
“Come, now, Melissa, that’s hard to believe. But don’t let me stop you from having your sail. I’d be glad to have someone row me for a change. I’m always giving other people a ride.”
“Well, I ought to be gettin’ home. Pa will wonder about me,” Melissa said.
“Don’t forget that piece of cake I just gave you. And you left before I got back to you. Why? Is anything worrying you?”
“No, I just thought I’d better go,” Melissa murmured sulkily. “Thanks for the cake.”
“That’s all right, I’d give you something a lot better than that if you could help me,” Terry said. Perhaps if Melissa thought she could be of some definite use she would tell where she really got the pin.
“What? What would you give me?” Melissa asked craftily.
“What would you like—jewelry?” Terry questioned with a quiet sort of emphasis on the last word.
“Jewelry?” Melissa’s eyes lit up greedily. “I got some jewelry now that’d be better than any you could give me. No, you better not come along. I got to be goin’ home.”
“How could you have?” Terry asked, deliberately trying to antagonize the girl. “The only jewelry you ever got was that old bracelet Sim gave you weeks ago and that your father made you give back.”