“Not when visitors call so informally,” returned Ray, with a smile.
There was a silence. Miss Nettie had taken off her sunbonnet, and was swinging it by the strings. She evidently wished to say something, but was in some doubt how to begin. Surmising what the subject might be, I asked:
“Is Professor Fuller in, Miss Nettie?”
“Oh, yes,” she answered, looking up quickly. Then, continuing her gaze, she said slowly, “I think I know what you want to see him for.”
“No doubt of it,” answered Ray gravely. “The whole town will know it by to-night.”
“I can’t tell you how awfully sorry I am,” went on Miss Nettie, with an accent of genuine sympathy. “I heard all about it at breakfast this morning, and I think you are having a great deal more trouble than you deserve.”
We looked at her gratefully.
“It wasn’t your fault if the other boys didn’t behave,” she continued earnestly. “You did all you could to keep them quiet, and it was very mean of them to get you into such trouble.”
“The boys didn’t intend to, Miss Nettie,” I said, laughing. Notwithstanding her injustice to the other boys, I was pleased to have her take our part so warmly.
“I don’t care,” she said emphatically. “They should have done as you said.”