“To make money,” he answered gaily. “I made six dollars to-day and I expect to earn almost twice that much to-morrow. At this rate, I’ll be earning a real salary, soon.”
“Good,” cried Billie, clapping her hands.
“And you are really beginning to like the work, then?” asked Elinor.
“Well, rather. I find machinery almost as interesting as the piano. The climate of this place agrees with me, too. I don’t have those attacks of indigestion any more. My eyes are lots stronger and I sleep seven hours a night and eat everything in sight. But what are your plans for to-morrow? There is a man waiting to see me, now.”
“We are going to the Duffy’s in the Firefly at four o’clock for a tea.”
The two girls hadn’t the heart to tell him the unwelcome news that night.
CHAPTER XIX.—A PASSAGE AT ARMS.
Mr. and Mrs. Duffy’s teas were quite different from other people’s afternoon affairs. There was always lots to eat for one thing; long buffet tables piled with salads and sandwiches; great bowls of fruit drinks and ices and cakes. There was dancing, too, in the big parlors, and who ever heard of dancing at a tea before?
“Young people like to dance no matter what the hour of the day,” Mrs. Duffy had said in explanation to Miss Campbell.
“But this is a very beautiful entertainment, my dear,” replied Miss Campbell. “We had expected simple tea and you are giving us an elaborate lawn party. You must have gone to no end of trouble, and what a good time they all seem to be having. My girls are everywhere. Billie is on the tennis court, and Mary is playing croquet, and Nancy is dancing, and here is Elinor hovering over me like a guardian angel.”