“Miss Mead, the little girl to whom I have been governess over ten years.”
The little girl bowed demurely, and said she was glad to meet Miss Tuttle’s friend, and then she turned carelessly away, and was particular not to interrupt his chat with the spinster until by his assiduity he got the coveted invitation to call.
CHAPTER VI.
LOVE’S ENTANGLEMENTS.
“Isn’t he perfectly charming, Leola? As handsome as a picture, and the prettiest manners I ever saw—so courteous, so kind, altogether different from some of the country bumpkins about here, who don’t seem to appreciate ladies as they ought. But really, for the life of me, I cannot tell which one of us he is courting, for he is so nice to us both. Sometimes I think it’s you, and then, again, I may be the object of his affection. I cannot deny there may be a little disparity in our years, but I do not believe he would mind that, do you, dear?”
This was two weeks later than the picnic, from which it may be inferred that Ray Chester’s courtship was progressing finely, without let or hindrance from Wizard Hermann.
Fortune had favored our daring hero, for Leola’s guardian had been absent from home nearly two weeks, and on returning he had resumed his laboratory work with such zeal that he remained quite in ignorance of the fact that a handsome young man, a stranger from the city, was a daily and welcome caller on the ladies of his family.
His first news of the fact came from Mr. Bennett, his rich and rotund neighbor, who, perhaps growing jealous over Miss Tuttle, desired to know if Mr. Hermann had any knowledge of the stranger’s intentions.
“In a word, sir, is the fellow sparking Miss Tuttle or Leola?” he said, brusquely.
Mr. Hermann, startled, denied any knowledge of the young man.