BLIGH MAKES A FRIEND
"Well, Robert Drake, I'm glad to see you; I was hoping you might come over this afternoon," exclaimed Helen Blunt as Robert appeared on the porch of her home; "suppose we go out for a walk. I want to do an errand for mother in Conduit Street; and then suppose we walk over the bridge and go through Eastport; there are some gorgeous woods beyond there. Come along."
"That's just what I wanted to do," replied Robert as they started off. "But did you really expect me to-day? To tell you the truth, Stonewell and I first intended to spend the afternoon in the woods across the river, but he found he had to write some letters, so he decided not to go out to-day."
"So I come next after Stonewell, do I, Robert?" queried Helen.
"I'll tell you where you stand—as one of the best friends a fellow ever had," replied Robert earnestly. "It is not a question of standing next to Stonewell; he's just like a big brother to me; do you know, Helen, he is one of the most remarkable characters alive; why, if he had studied law I believe he would some day be President of the United States. He excels in everything, and besides all that he is just the best fellow imaginable."
"He is indeed a splendid, a most superior man, Robert, but I believe Mr. Stonewell isn't really as ambitious as you are, that he is more influenced by your extravagant opinion of him than he is by the abstract desire to excel as a naval officer. You see it is so easy for him to excel if he only half tries. But, Robert, as much as I admire him, I do not feel that I really know him. And come now, after rooming with him for four years, do you feel you know his intimate thoughts? Are you really certain that you know Mr. Stonewell just as he knows you?"
"Indeed I do," Robert stoutly maintained. "I know all about him. I know he's one of the finest fellows that ever lived."
"And you know all about him, do you?"
"Of course I do."