Page:Our Little Girl (1923).pdf/148

 His manner captured her attention.

“Why—I’m practising.”

“No—I mean coaching.”

“No—ought I?”

“Tt wouldn’t be a bad idea. We can let this program ride. But it’ll help you a lot to go over it with some competent coach.”

“Won’t Madame Graaberg do?”

“She might. I’d take somebody bigger. Say Soedlich.”

“But they say-"

The suggestion was grateful, but Tommy mustn’t command her!

“They say a lot. Listen, my dear young woman: You're old enough to take care of yourself. If you feel timid about going to Soedlich’s studio alone, you might take brother Arnold with you.”

Dorothy had nothing to say for a moment. Tommy never had addressed her as “my dear young woman” in the old days. He had been almost obsequious. His present attitude was hardly nice. Probably the influence of Harper. And the reference to Arnold was anything but nice.

Tommy handed the program to Miss Gray.

“Get out a leaflet,” he said. “Make it pretty. You've got a good subject this time.”

“Ought I to see Mr. Maxwell?” inquired Dorothy.

Tommy took up his telephone.

“The boss,” he said. “Say, Mr. Maxwell, you don’t want to see Miss Reitz now, do you?”

He replaced the receiver.

“You needn’t see him,” he concluded. “Now you'd better get hold of Soedlich and go over the program with him. Harper’s made arrangements with Goldstein to ac- company you. You'll hear from him. Your recital starts at three. And now you know everything.”