Jinnie nodded.
“Then I got to know! Tell me!” he directed.
His insistence drew forth a tearful confession. 209
“Before Mr. King spoke about the school, he asked me to go a day in the country with my fiddle, and I couldn’t.”
After the telling, she caught her breath and hid her face.
“Why?” Lafe demanded. “Why couldn’t you?”
Jinnie raised startled eyes to the cobbler’s for the better part of a minute. What did he mean? Was it possible––
“I thought you wouldn’t let me––”
“You didn’t ask me, did you, Jinnie?”
“No, because—because––”