“If you are going out,” he said, “I will walk along with you and say what I have to say.”
“Humph! I can’t stop you from walking up Mulligan Lane. It’s free,” returned the girl most ungraciously and walked ahead of him out of the house.
CHAPTER XIV—THE GREAT DAY ARRIVES
Hunt caught up with Nell Blossom when she had passed through the gap in the barrelstave picket-fence, and his length of stride easily kept him beside the girl. Unless Nell broke into a run she could scarcely leave the parson out of earshot.
“Miss Blossom,” he began, “my interference in your affairs calls for no excuse. I have no vulgar curiosity. You tell me to mind my own business. But when I see another in trouble it is my business to offer aid.”
“I am not in trouble,” she answered sharply. Then, with scorn: “And if I was, I wouldn’t want a parson’s help.”
“No. But a friend’s help? I assure you I am your friend.”
She now looked at him rather curiously, but her expression did not soften in the least. Doubt, scorn, a real dislike of the man who sought to gain her confidence struggled to gain the mastery of her pretty features.
“I don’t know you, I’ve only seen you a few times. I don’t make friends so easy——”
“We don’t make friends in this world, Miss Blossom. We win them whether we would or not. You have won my friendly feeling because I know that you are troubled. I know what your trouble is, and I believe I can help you.”