“Perhaps sometime we may,” was all the satisfaction the little one gained from Janice. But when she had gone away Lottie proceeded to put her suggestion into execution. She went over to see Nelson in his study.
“Hullo, Lottie Drugg!” cried the school teacher jovially. “Are you ready to take up algebra and the higher mathematics yet? You know, I’m going to be your schoolmaster when Miss ’Rill graduates you.”
“I can say the multiplication table pretty good,” Lottie confessed. “Guess that isn’t very far along the way to higher math’matics, is it?”
“Not very, I am afraid. But it’s a beginning,” Nelson assured her gravely.
Lottie was standing directly in front of his desk now, and fixed him seriously with her blue-eyed gaze.
“Say, Mr. Haley!” she exclaimed, “have you got a mad on at Janice?”
“‘A mad on’? And at Janice?” he murmured, rather begging the question. She had taken him by surprise, and Nelson Haley blushed.
“You don’t ever come to the store when she’s there no more,” declared the child, shaking her head. “You used to take her to walk and I used to go with you; don’t you ’member? I used to hold your hands and walk between you, ’cause I couldn’t see; you ’member? And we used to go down to try if my echo was there. And you and Janice used to talk a lot.”
“So we did—so we did,” agreed Nelson, in a low voice, looking away from her.
“Then why don’t we go to walk any more?” pleaded the child. “Can’t you come to see me when Janice is there?”