He laughed.
"One can't tell what one will do," he said. "I hated and loathed that dog, but I couldn't run over it, when it came to. Hope I didn't give you an awful shaking, Jessie."
After lunch Archie proposed a campaign against a certain great pike which he had seen, and, while he went to his room to change his clothes, Jessie paid a visit to Blessington. The old lady was delighted to see her, and dusted a perfectly speckless chair for her.
"And it's jolly for you, isn't it, Blessington, having Archie here so long?" said Jessie.
Blessington made no answer for a moment.
"I make no complaints," she said, "and I daresay Master Archie is very busy."
"Why, what do you mean?" asked the girl.
Blessington's wrinkled old face began to work, and she looked piteously at Jessie.
"It's a week since Master Archie set foot in my room," she said. "Why does he never come to see me now, Miss Jessie? And when I meet him about the house, he's never got a word to give me. Me, who has looked after him and loved him since he was born."
At this moment Archie's step was heard outside, and he came in.