Till lately he had only known Walter Brooke enough to dislike him vaguely. Since his interview with Mrs. Trent this feeling had intensified to such an extent as surprised himself. At the present moment he was seething with rage, but all the same he went and helped to get the car up the bank, jacking it up, and setting his great shoulders against it to start it again.
All this Tony watched with deepest interest, and Meg waited, fuming, a little way down the road, for she knew it was hopeless to get Tony to come till the car had once started. Once on the hard road again, it bowled swiftly away and to her immense relief passed her without stopping.
She saw that Miles was bringing Tony, and started on again with little Fay.
Fury was in her heart at Tony's disobedience, and behind it all a dull ache that Miles should
have heard, and doubtless misunderstood, Walter Brooke's last remark.
Tony was talking eagerly as he followed, but she was too upset to listen till suddenly she heard Miles say in a tone of the deepest satisfaction, "Good old William."
This was too much.
She stopped and called over her shoulder: "He isn't good at all; he's a thoroughly tiresome, disobedient, badly-trained dog."
They came up with her at that, and William rolled over on his back, for he knew those tones portended further punishment.
"He's an ass in lots of ways," Miles allowed, "but he is an excellent judge of character."