"I didn't mean to be cross," she said quickly, "but you mustn't say such things, Pickering."
"I must tell you the truth," said Pickering doggedly, "and that is that
I've broken friendship with Jasper, and I can't speak to him."
"Pickering," said Polly, whirling abruptly to get a good look at his face, "you must speak to Jasper," and she drew a long breath.
"I tell you I can't," said Pickering, his face paling with the effort to control himself.
"Then," said Polly, very deliberately, yet with a glow of determination, "you can't speak to me; so good-night, Pickering," and she ran out of the room.
Pickering stared after her a moment in a dazed way, then picked up his hat, and darted out of the house, shutting the door hard behind him.
Polly, hurrying over the stairs to her own room, kept saying to herself over and over, "Oh! how could I have said that—how could I? when I want to help him—and now I have made everything worse."
"Polly," called Mrs. Fisher, as Polly sped by her door, "you are going to take the noon train, you know, to-morrow, Mr. King says; so you can pack in the morning easily."
"I'm not going, Mamsie; that is—I hope we are not any of us going," said Polly incoherently, as she tried to hurry by.
"Not going! Polly, child, what do you mean?" cried Mrs. Fisher aghast.