He
never says so."
"You never say so either, do you?" suggested the girl naively.
The two looked at each other for a minute without speaking.
"Miss Ruth," said her companion at length, lowering his eyes to the
floor and speaking thoughtfully, "I believe, to tell the truth, I'm a
selfish beast. You've put a totally new idea into my head--more shame to
me that it should be new. It strikes me that I'll try a new way of
spending Christmas; I'll see to it that whoever is lonely grandfather
isn't--if I can keep him from it."
"You can!" cried Ruth, beaming at him. "He thinks the world of you;
anybody can see that. And you won't be lonely yourself!"
"Won't I? I'm not so sure of that--after to-night. But I admit it's
worth trying. May I report to you how it works?" he asked, smiling.
Ruth agreed delightedly, and, when they separated, watched with interest
to see that the new idea had already begun to work, as indicated by the
way the younger Kendrick approached the elder, who was making his
farewells.
"Going now, grandfather?" said he, with his hand on old Matthew
Kendrick's arm. "We'll go together. I'll call James.
Pages:
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140