"And will you never try me again—and never give me music lessons?" asked Amy fearfully.
"I do not seem to teach you successfully," said Polly very slowly, "so it would be no use to continue the lessons." And she put aside the clinging hands. "You may stay here, Amy; I am coming, Ben," looking over at him.
"I'll play," cried Amy Loughead desperately. "I'd rather, oh, dear me, if they were bears and gorillas looking on—and I just know I shall die—but I'd rather, Miss Pepper, than to have you give me up."
Charlotte Chatterton drew a long breath.
"What's the matter?" asked Ben in dismay.
"Miss Loughead was a little scared, I believe," said Charlotte, with a touch of scorn in her manner.
Ben gave an uneasy exclamation. "Everything seems to be all right now," he said, in a relieved way, looking off at Polly and Amy.
"Oh, yes; a scare don't amount to much if one has a mind to put it down," said Charlotte.
"I should think you'd be scared," said Ben, looking at her admiringly, "to stand up and sing before all those people. But I suppose you never are; you don't seem to mind things like the rest of us."
Charlotte shrugged her shoulders, but said nothing.