His voice dropped to a whisper, he crossed his feet in front of him, then drew them under his chair, twirled his hat, smoothed down the back of his head vigorously, and looked in dismay at the floor.
"I hope I can do something for you," said Rod encouragingly, feeling sorry for his evident distress.
"Thank you so much!" cried the young man gratefully. "It's about—that is—I think, an old acquaintance of yours—Miss Murray, the new teacher in the East Ward. She is an old acquaintance, isn't she?"
It was Roderick's turn to feel hot and look embarrassed. He answered his first client very shortly.
"No, she isn't."
"Oh! I thought—you went and spoke to her on the boat!"
"So I did."
"But you met her before surely?" asked the young man, aghast at the notion of Roderick's boldness.
"Yes."
"In Toronto?"