"Maybe I'm presuming too far on old acquaintance!" he said gloomily.
"I still have that copy of Aldrich you gave me once,—you remember that they
'Met as acquaintances meet,
Smiling, tranquil-eyed—
Not even the least little beat
Of the heart, upon either side!'
But,—should old acquaintance be forgot?" she hummed. He was still a spoilt boy who had to be coaxed into good humor.
"You know what I mean, Evelyn. I feel a particular interest in having you start right here, now that you've come home to stay. People will be surprised to hear of your taking a part like that; they want to take you seriously. You've been to college—"
"Oh, Warry!" she cried appealingly. "And are you to throw this at me? A few minutes ago you were complaining that people wouldn't take you seriously, but I'm afraid they want to take me much too seriously. I don't like it! In fact, I don't intend to have it!"
"But you don't mean to get down to a level with these girls who've been ground out of boarding schools, and who don't know anything? The kind that play badly on the piano, or sing worse, and come home to mix Fifth Avenue boarding school with Missouri River every-day life!"