"You flatter yourself," retorted Grace, and Amy shivered.
"I don't know how you girls can joke about such a thing," she said. "I was about frightened to death."
"I suppose you think the rest of us enjoyed it," said Mollie, and at this point Betty thought it was about time to interfere.
"Wasn't it odd—Meggy's speaking of our friend the musician and calling him the Hermit of Gold Run?" she said. "I'm glad the poor lonely fellow has a nice girl like Meggy to befriend him."
"Huh, he didn't seem to want befriending very much when we saw him," said Mollie. "We couldn't have been frozen more completely if we had dropped on an iceberg."
"Oh, well, he has 'ze temperament,'" said Grace, with an elaborate gesture.
"Seems kind of strange, his living up there all alone," said Amy thoughtfully. "You would think any one who could play the way he can would hate to bury himself in the wilderness. Unless——" she paused, and Mollie jumped joyfully into the opening.
"Unless there is some reason why he has to," said the latter, adding with an I-told-you-so air, "I thought there was some mystery about that man, and now you are beginning to think so yourselves. You just keep your eyes open and watch for a surprise!"