CHAPTER VII
MR. LAGG'S OFFER
With a broad smile on her face, the maid came back, escorting Mr. Lagg, who, at the sight of the girls, bowed low, and declaimed:
| "I'm glad to see you, |
| I hope we'll agree, |
| That you are as happy |
| Now to see me!" |
"Good!" cried Betty, clapping her hands until the palms were rosy. "We are indeed glad to see you."
"Of course," added Mollie. "How could you leave your store long enough to run down here, Mr. Lagg?"
"Well, it is running a risk," he answered, as he took a chair Amy set out for him. "But I have important business down here, so I though I'd call. I worked out that little verse on the way down," he confided to the girls.
"You are extending your range," remarked Grace, who was languidly eating chocolates. "That is, your poetry is getting more elaborate."
"It is indeed!" exclaimed Mr. Lagg, brightening up on hearing this praise. "I am glad you noticed that. Yes, I am gradually getting it better, and on a higher plane. That is what worried me about leaving my store alone."