Page:Lefty o' the Bush.djvu/243

 Mike Riley raisin' high jinks an' claimin' he's got a holt on the boy, and even settin' the newspapers to buzzin'? I'm ruther sorry for Hazelton, but I s'pose he knew he was takin' a chance when he come here."

"That's all," said the girl; "thank you. Now, I hope you'll not tell anybody that I came to you to inquire about him?"

"Not a peep, little girl. He's a mighty nice feller, I'll say that fer him. Don't seem to have no bad habits, an' goes t' church, an'—"

But she did not wait to hear him enumerate the virtues of the man who had looked straight into her eyes and lied without a tremor; the man who was proud of his conquests with the fair sex, and had boasted that he would amuse himself with her while in Kingsbridge. What a despicable creature the fellow was! She left the store.

On the way back home, Janet passed several persons without noticing them at all, but she kept her face set with the fixed purpose of preventing any one who saw her from imagining that she was fighting back a flood of tears. Glad that her father was out for a morning walk, she avoided the maid, hurried to her room, locked the door, and permitted the flood to burst the restraining gates.