"Ah, you are Kenneth Forbes, I suppose," she began, pleasantly. "I am very glad to make your acquaintance. I am Louise Merrick, Miss Merrick's niece, and have come to visit her."
The boy shrank back as fur as possible, staring her full in the face, but made no reply.
"You needn't be afraid of me," continued Louise. "I'm very fond of boys, and you must be nearly my own age."
Still no reply.
"I suppose you don't know much of girls and are rather shy," she persisted. "But I want to be friendly and I hope you'll let me. There's so much about this interesting old place that you can tell me, having lived here so many years. Come, I'll sit beside you on this bench, and we'll have a good talk together."
"Go away!" cried the boy, hoarsely, raising his hands as if to ward off her approach.
Louise looked surprised and pained.
"Why, we are almost cousins," she said. "Cannot we become friends and comrades?"
With a sudden bound he dashed her aside, so rudely that she almost fell, and an instant later he had left the summer house and disappear among the hedges.
Louise laughed at her own discomfiture and gave up the attempt to make the boy's acquaintance.