“Walking! You surely do not intend to walk home with all these parcels?”
“They are not heavy, and besides, I am to walk only as far as Mrs. Delt’s. Harry will meet me there later in the evening. They are very busy on the farm at present, and I told them it was quite unnecessary to drive me to town.”
Burton wrestled with his thoughts. Here, surely, was an opportunity to offer a service which could be construed only as a business courtesy.
“If you can wait until I close the store—it will be only a minute—I should be very glad to carry your parcels.”
“Oh, that is too much—I could not expect you to do that.”
“It is not too much—unless you say it is.”
Miss Vane laughed. Hers was a quiet, mirthful laugh, like a vocal smile.
“If your offer is made as a kindness to me, I cannot accept it; if it is your own desire, I cannot refuse.”
“It is my desire,” said Burton. There was no other answer, although he felt that the reply shattered his theory about a business courtesy.
Soon they were walking gaily along the road leading out of the village. This ran by the amusement grounds, where the young men of the town were gathering for an evening’s baseball practice. Burton and his companion were not unnoticed.