“To South America! Oh, Jack, why?”
“The firm want me to go, and they will pay me well for my services. I am to look after some machinery that is to be shipped.”
“But you will come back?” questioned Jenny, anxiously.
“Sure, as soon as my task is done. But now tell me about Fret Offut.”
“Oh, there is not much to tell. He--he wanted to be sweet on me and--and I wouldn’t have it. That made him angry, and he followed me to this place, and--you saw the rest.”
“I hope he won’t bother you again.”
“I don’t think he will,” said Jenny. “Anyway, I’ll keep my eyes open for him.”
After that Jack spent a pleasant hour in the company of the girl who was his dearest friend, and then went home to prepare for his trip of so many thousand miles.
His parents already knew something about the proposed journey, so they were not much surprised. They had seen Mr. Fowler and talked it over with the manufacturer. Mrs. North did what she could to get Jack’s outfit ready for him.
“I’ll be glad to leave such fellows as Fret Offut behind,” said Jack, to his father.