"He didn't say that word," replied Cephas. "I think he said you detested him, and I told him he didn't know what he was talking about. But he did; he knew a great deal better than I did, because I didn't really know until just now."
"But, Cephas!" cried Nan; "what could have put such an idea in his head?" Cephas's mother was now busy about the house.
"I didn't know then, but I know now," remarked the boy stolidly.
"Don't be unkind, Cephas. If you knew me better, you'd be sorry for me. You and Gabriel are terribly mistaken. I'm very fond of both of you."
"Oh, I don't count in this game," Cephas declared.
"Oh, yes, you do," said Nan. "You are one of my dearest friends, and so is Gabriel."
"All right," said Cephas. "If you treat all your dearest friends as you do Gabriel, I'm very sorry for them."
"Cephas, if you tell Gabriel what I said while Eugenia Claiborne was standing there, all ears, I'll never forgive you." Nan was at her wit's end.
"Tell him that!" cried Cephas; "why, I wouldn't tell him that, not for all the world. I'll tell him nothing."
"Please, Cephas," said Nan. "Tell him"—she paused, and threw her hair away from her pale face—"tell him that if he doesn't come home soon, I shall die!" Then her face turned from pale to red, and she laughed loudly.