“Me? Bless you, no. I’m a humble gleaner in the field of knowledge. That’s why I brought a Toronto professor with me. I want to learn something. Won’t you teach me how to make soap?”
“I’m very busy just now. When I said that we were preparing for washing, I should perhaps have told you there was something else we are not prepared for to-day.”
“What is that?”
“A visitor.”
“Oh, I say, Miss Bartlett, you are a little hard on me. I’m not a visitor. I’m a friend of the family. I want to help. You will find me a most diligent student. Won’t you give me a chance?”
“All the hard work’s done. But perhaps you knew that before you came.”
Yates looked at her reproachfully, and sighed deeply.
“That’s what it is to be a misunderstood man. So you think, among other bad qualities, I have the habit of shirking work? Let me tell you, Miss Bartlett, that the reason I am here is because I have worked too hard. Now, confess that you are sorry for what you said—trampling on an already downtrodden man.”
Kitty laughed merrily at this, and Yates laughed also, for his sense of comradeship was strong.
“You don’t look as if you had ever worked in your life; I don’t believe you know what work is.”