“No, she will not!” exclaimed Larry, entering the room at that moment. “Who are you, to come here making offers for land?”
“I don’t know that it concerns you,” replied the stranger, in no gentle tones. “What right have you to interfere when I am talking to this lady?” He evidently took Larry for a stranger.
“This is my son,” said Mrs. Dexter, for she did not like the man’s manner.
“Oh, I beg your pardon,” said the stranger, who seemed at a loss what to say. “I did not know him. You are Larry, are you?”
“That’s my name. What is your business with my mother?”
The man appeared ill at ease. He twisted about on the chair, and said:
“Did you decide to take that offer a friend of mine in the real estate business made? I called to see if you had, and I was talking to your mother about it. Incidentally I mentioned that I could sell some property I hear she owns up in the Bronx. It is a small matter, hardly worth my while to bother with.”
“Then I’d advise you not to bother with it,” spoke Larry, shortly. “We can look after our own affairs, I guess.”
The man’s face flushed, and he seemed very angry. Then Larry remembered Mr. Newton’s advice to be careful of what he did or said in connection with the land.
“Of course it’s very good of you to think of my mother and myself,” said Larry, a little more politely. “But we have not decided what to do about that land, and I have made up my mind to stay on the Leader, so you may tell your friend I cannot accept his offer.”