I couldn't help liking the boy, though his anxiety to save his sister from unpleasant comment was somewhat inconsistent with his action in bringing this greater anxiety to her.
"I don't believe I could keep her away," I said. "You will have to stand that as a part--of it all."
He flushed in instant comprehension. I should have been ashamed of prodding him, if I hadn't felt that it was necessary to make him as uncomfortable as possible in order to get him out of his heroics and make him confess more ingenuously than he had done up to this time.
I joined Jean, and walked to the car with her. "Well?" I asked.
"He didn't say anything," she answered gravely. "Of course I told him that I thought he had done exactly right, and that I was proud of him, and that you were going to take care of all the law business and make it all right, and he wasn't to worry and I would come and see him. Of course I am not going back to school."
"You will live with your uncle, Mr. Ellison?"
"Yes."
"I'm afraid it will be a lonely and trying time for you. I wish I might do something to make things easier for you. Will you let me know if there ever is anything I can do?"
"You can come and tell me how things are going," she said wistfully. "I don't understand about law, you know, and--it's lonesome waiting. If I could do something,--"
"You promised to leave that to me, you know," I said, anxious to keep her from forgetting what an important person I was in this affair!