“I won’t bother you any more,” smiled Mr. Curtis, as he turned away. “I had an idea that was about how it happened, though.”
A pleasant glow crept over the boy, continuing even after he had got into his clothes and was making his way along the shore toward the bridge. It was still present to a certain extent next day, and, combined with a touch of remorse that lingered in the back of his mind, brought him in the afternoon to the Trexler house to inquire for Paul, who had not appeared at school. He did not expect to see the boy, and when Mrs. Trexler asked him to come in, he was seized with a mild sort of panic.
“I was afraid of a cold, so I kept him home to-day. I know he’ll want to see you,” she said as Frank stepped into the hall and closed the door reluctantly behind him. “I want to–”
She broke off abruptly, and Frank, flashing a single startled glance at her, saw that her eyes were full of tears. Instantly he dropped his own and stood awkwardly twisting his cap and wishing he hadn’t come.
“I know boys hate being thanked,” Mrs. Trexler went on presently in a voice which wasn’t quite steady, “so I won’t pester you with–with a mother’s gratitude. I just want you to let me–”
She bent over suddenly and kissed him on the forehead. The boy flushed crimson and mumbled something about its being only what any fellow would have done. Would Paul go on this way, too, he wondered apprehensively as he followed her down the hall. He supposed it was natural for a woman to get all worked up, but if a fellow–
“Some one to see you, Paul,” said Mrs. Trexler, cheerfully, pausing beside an open doorway.
She motioned for Frank to enter and then, to his relief, departed, leaving the two boys alone. Paul had been reading beside a window, but as Sanson appeared he stood up slowly. Though looking much better than he had the afternoon before, his face was still a little pale, and the visitor perceived, with a sudden sense of returning composure, that he, too, was overcome with embarrassment. Somehow the discovery made things a lot easier.
“I–I’m awfully glad you came in,” Trexler stammered. He put out his hand awkwardly, but there was a vigor in his lingering grip that told something of the feelings words refused to express.
“You–weren’t in school, so I thought maybe you were–sick, or something,” Sanson returned. “Gee! What a dandy room!”