“I’m sure it is,” said Billie stoutly. “Because—because——,” she went on lamely, “he couldn’t do anything that wasn’t fair.”
“But think what it will mean to him,” Elinor persisted. “He will have plenty of money and he can go to school and travel——”
“I know,” said Billie, “but he told me he was coming back and I believe him.”
“And Edward Paxton, what will he be doing? He will have to work for a living.”
“It will do him good.”
“You are not fussing, I trust,” called Mary, who had run back up the steps to look for them.
“No, no, only arguing,” replied Elinor.
Edward Paxton now appeared, his hands in his pockets, whistling the same air he had been singing only a moment before. His eyes met Elinor’s and he stopped in the middle of a bar. This double identity was awfully mixing. He was always forgetting that as engineer of the boat, Firefly, he was not supposed to know about music.
“What are your orders this morning, Miss Campbell?” he asked, with just a suspicion of mockery in his voice.
“Get the Comet, please, Edward,” she said, flushing. “We are going to motor out to see Virginia. Can you go with us?”