"You go to a private school because you are a little devil," he said.
"Why don't you be a little devil too?" inquired Elinor, her bright eyes mocking him. "Can't you be a little devil too?"
He jerked the strap tighter around his battered books:
"If you were in the public schools, they wouldn't put up with you. They'd send you home or they'd break you in."
"Oh, I don't know," said Elinor, with an encouraging smile, "they seem to get along with you very well."
Webster knew that Elinor's teasing, ridiculing eyes followed him as he walked away. They became part of the things that cheapened him in his life. When he had passed through the front gate, he started off in a direction which was not the direction to school.
Elinor sang out shrilly:
"I know where you are going. But it's of no use. Jenny's sweetheart goes to a private school and he stands well in his classes."
He walked on, but turned his face toward her:
"It's none of your meddlesome business, you little black scorpion," he said quietly.