Page:War; or, What happens when one loves one's enemy, John Luther Long, 1913.djvu/94

WAR Dave put his hand on my mouth so that it hurt.

"Yes, I'm that poor beggar," says Evelyn. "If they hadn't given me your room and things, you'd have found me at the poor-house, cousin Did-Dave. Would you have liked that, cousin Did-Dave?"

She stumbled twice on the "Dave". But Dave had no trouble with "Evelyn"! It seemed sweet in his mouth.

"No," says Dave, "I wouldn't have liked that. But, now, if you don't take me in partnership, I'll have to go—to the haymow—a—and you won't like that!"

"Hi—how can I, Did-Dave?" asks Evelyn. "Partnership?"

Dave just breathes his answer:

"I don't know. It is all so sudden—and wonderful. Some day I will tell you. May I?"

"Yes," says Evelyn.

"We'll be comrades, Evelyn! We'll ride and swim and hunt and fish—always together! Will you like that?" 78