"Oh no, thank you. I won't trouble you to go back to the house. I've only brought some of my sketches to show your father; they wouldn't interest you."
The lame boy, sensitive on the subject of his work, had no desire to exhibit it to Gerald. "You were going out, weren't you?" he asked.
"Yes, presently; I'm going to meet Reginald Hope."
"Reginald Hope!" Gilbert echoed in a surprised tone. "I didn't know you knew him. He goes to the Grammar School, and is in my form."
"Then you know him well?" Gerald questioned eagerly. "He's a jolly fellow, isn't he?"
"Humph! I dare say he may be in some people's estimation. I never found him so."
"Don't you like him?"
"No."
"Perhaps he doesn't like you?" Gerald suggested, with a knowing smile.
"Very likely not."