“Oh, I didn’t exactly mean that,” went on Miss Harrison. “It’s the company I object to.”
“You mean Bascome? Why he’s all right. Maybe he’s a little too——”
“I mean you!” burst out the girl, flashing a look of scorn on him from her blue eyes. “I don’t care to ride with a person who seeks to take unfair advantage of another in a ball game.”
“You mean that mirror? That was all an accident—I assure you it was. I didn’t intend anything—honestly.”
“You will favor me by not speaking to me again!” came in snapping tones from the indignant girl. “I shall refuse to recognize you after this, Mr. Langridge.”
“Oh, but I say now——” protested the bully, as he took a step forward. But Mabel linked her arm in that of Ruth, and, as Tom and Phil came along just then, Langridge, who was aware that they had heard the foregoing conversation, slipped hastily away, with a very red face.
“Sorry to have kept you waiting,” began Tom, unconsciously repeating the remark of Langridge. Miss Harrison seemed a little ill at ease, and Phil blurted out:
“Oh, come on! Let’s hurry, or there won’t be any ice cream left at Anderson’s. It’s a hot day and the crowd must be dry as a bone. I know I am. Come on, girls.”
They had a merry little time, until it was necessary for the girls to return to Fairview, whither Tom and Phil escorted them.