“Oh, thanks so much!” replied Betty; “but I really would rather be alone. I have a good deal to think over.”
“I am afraid, my dear child, you are not very well.”
“On the contrary, I never was better,” was Betty’s response.
“Your headache quite gone?”
“Quite,” said Betty with an emphatic nod.
“Well, dear, I am sorry you have had to undergo this unpleasant time of solitary confinement. But our dear Mrs. Haddo is not really angry; she knows quite well that you did not consider. She takes the deepest interest in you, Betty, my child.”
“Oh, don’t speak of her now, please!” said Betty with a sort of groan. “I would rather be alone.”
“Haven’t you a book of any sort? I will go and fetch one for you; and you can turn on the electric light when it gets dark.”
“If you have something really interesting—that will make me forget everything in the world except what I am reading—I should like it.”
Miss Symes went away, and returned in a few minutes with “Treasure Island.” Strange as it may seem, Betty had not yet read this wonderful book.