"And so can I," said Kathleen. "May I come with you, Dave?"
"Some day," he replied, looking at her kindly, "but not to-day. I'll be back as soon as I can."
David did not notice her disappointed face; he went out immediately, without even going upstairs first. Ben and Kathleen were now alone. Kathleen looked at him attentively.
"I wonder—" she said slowly.
"What are you staring at me for?" said Ben.
"I have been wondering what sort you are. I have got cousins at home, and they do anything in the world I like. I wonder if you would."
Ben had been very cross with Kathleen when she had knocked to him and David from the dining-room window, but he was not cross now. He was only thirteen, and up
to the present no pretty girl had ever taken the slightest notice of him. He was a plain, sandy-haired boy, with a freckled face, a wide mouth, and good-humored blue eyes.
"You make me laugh whenever I look at you," was Kathleen's next candid remark.
"I didn't know that I was so comical," was his answer.