She'll get over it, Samuel."
"Master Albert," exclaimed the boy, "you've not treated her fairly."
The other stared at him. "The devil!" he exclaimed.
"You must not desert her, sir! It would be a terrible thing to have on
your conscience. You have ruined and betrayed her."
"WHAT!" cried the other, and gazed at him in amazement. "Did she give
you that kind of a jolly?"
"She didn't go into particulars"--said the boy.
"My dear fellow!" laughed Bertie. "Why, I've been the making of that
girl. She was an eighteen-dollar-a-week chorus girl when I took her
up."
"That might be, Master Albert. But if she was an honest girl--"
"Nonsense, Samuel--forget it. She'd had three or four lovers before
she ever laid eyes on me."
There was a pause, while the boy strove to get these facts into his
mind. "Even so," he said, "you can't desert her and let her starve,
Master Albert."
"Oh, stuff!" said the other. "What put that into your head? I'll give
her all the money she needs, if that's what's troubling her. Did she
say that?"
"N--no," admitted Samuel disconcerted. "But, Master Albert, she loves
you."
"Yes, I know," said Bertie, "and that's where the trouble comes in.
She wants to keep me in a glass case, and I've got tired of it."
He paused for a moment; and then a sudden idea flashed over him.
"Samuel!" he exclaimed "Why don't you marry her?"
Samuel started in amazement.
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