“At your service,” replied the boy, smiling broadly.
He really seemed so happy that Billie thought, after all, the news she had to tell him would not be so unwelcome.
“How do you like the life?” she asked him presently, following him to the garage, while the other three girls returned to the hotel for mail, motor veils and a last word to Miss Campbell.
“Wonderful,” he replied with enthusiasm. “If I only had a piano it would be perfect. I have just finished composing a song and I want to try it.”
“You don’t mind the work, then?”
“Not specially. You see I don’t do very much. I’ve got it down to the Firefly and the Comet, and let everything else slide.”
“But——” began Billie with a tone of protest in her voice. “After all,” she thought, “it isn’t any of my business.”
“But what?” he asked.
“I have something to tell you, Edward. What would you say if you really had to work for a living for awhile?”
“Is that what you had to tell me?” he asked smiling. “I should say I would rather study music.”