“Huh! you stay right here,” said her cousin. “They don’t want no girl-folks down there, I bet you!”
“I know, Marty! But, oh! if something should happen to Daddy!” and Janice’s face showed her deep anxiety.
In those early days of winter her time was so fully occupied that it did not seem to Janice as though she had a waking minute to herself. But she found time for frequent visits to Hopewell Drugg and Miss ’Rill. Little Lottie was often her companion in the car after school hours and on Saturdays. The child was increasing in knowledge very rapidly, for Miss ’Rill took great pains with her improvement.
Lottie was a very observant child and it was not long before she made a discovery. Before she had gone away to be treated for her blindness and other deficiencies, Nelson Haley was one of her greatest friends. Now Lottie discovered that Nelson did not appear when Janice was at the store. Even if he was at his boarding house across the street, he did not come over to the store until Janice had gone away.
“What’s the matter with Mr. Haley?” she asked Janice, point-blank.
“I guess there is nothing the matter, my dear,” said the older girl. “I haven’t heard that there was.”
“But he used to be here so much,” declared Lottie, “and now he’s never here when you come.”
“I expect he’s too busy with his school to bother with girls,” laughed Janice.
“But he didn’t used to be,” said the child, very thoughtfully. “If you came to see me he was almost sure to come, too.”
“And doesn’t he come to see you now?” asked Janice quietly.