"I wonder," he said at length, a slow light dawning in his eyes, "if Ada Irvine can have been putting the mother up to this? It would be quite in keeping with some of her low dodges."
Winnie shook her head. "I thought so myself at first, but mamma led me to believe otherwise. She says Ada is such a sweet, amiable girl, and much more suitable in every way than Nellie for a friend. I fired up at that, however, and declared I hated Ada, adding she was a sneak, and did horrible things at school."
"Oh, you would give her true character to the mother, I have no doubt," put in Dick with twinkling eyes; "but the question is, 'What was the effect?'"
"'I was prejudiced—and no one is faultless in this world.'"
A short period of silence followed, during which Winnie wept copiously, and Dick sat beating a tattoo on the table.
"You'll soon have no eyes left," he observed practically, as the little drenched handkerchief was again brought into use to wipe away the flowing tears. "Cheer up, Win, old girl, and don't look as if your grandmother had died half an hour ago."
"But you do not know the worst of it yet, Dick," cried the girl, raising her tear-stained face and speaking in heart-breaking tones. "I promised Nellie I would come and spend one afternoon with her during the holidays, and now I can't get. Oh! I wish so much to go."
"Then do so," replied Dick doggedly. "There's no great harm in that; and after all, what reward does one receive for being conscientious and obedient?"
His sister looked aghast. "I dare not," she whispered; "mamma would be so angry. And yet—if I might go only this once."
Dick being in anything but a filial mood said decidedly, "There's no use in whining and moaning, Win. You can spend Wednesday afternoon at Dingle Cottage if you wish, without any one in the house finding that out. Edith and Clare are away from home; Algy and Tom never trouble about us; and both the mother and governor will be spending that entire day with the Harveys at Springfield. As for nurse and the servants, I'll manage them."