“I don’t know why I should tell you anything,” returned the boy, grumpily enough. “You think I’m a thief. I won’t stay here.”
“Oh, Neale!” shrieked Agnes, seeing how serious this difference was. “Don’t get mad.”
“Let him return the book,” said Ruth, insistently. “This isn’t any foolish matter, I assure you. He has no right to keep it.”
“Did I say I was going to keep it?” flared out Neale O’Neil.
“Well, you have kept it. You carried it away to Tiverton, you say,” went on Ruth, accusingly.
“Well, so I did,” admitted Neale.
“What for, I’d like to know?” demanded the oldest Corner House girl in exasperation.
“I lugged it along to show to somebody.”
“What for—if you didn’t think it was good money?”
“Oh, Ruth!” begged Agnes again. “Don’t!”