“A two-family house, isn’t it? Well, my dear, we’re the second family, then!” said the woman, very much pleased, and she called out joyously: “Tom Tench! Alan! I’ve found the place!”
The two men approached. They also seemed surprised and pleased.
“As if she’d done something very clever,” thought Bess. “Didn’t they ever expect to find their house?”
“My dear,” said the woman, “I’m Angelina Smith. This is my brother Alan, and my cousin, Tom Tench. Boys, im[Pg 496]agine! This is the young lady who lives in the house!”
Both the men took off their hats and smiled at her.
“Shall we move the things in now?” asked the cousin, a somewhat portly young man, in horn-rimmed spectacles.
“Or will it bother you?” asked Miss Smith.
Bess was disconcerted to see that they regarded her as a sort of hostess.
“Just as you like, of course,” she said. “I—can’t I help you?”
“No!” replied the brother, promptly. “We can get along all right.”