Patty hesitated a moment, and then gave in, and laughed too.
"You must be AWFULLY fond of your horse," she said at last.
"I am; Kitty Clive is a wonder, and last summer we rode thousands of miles over the prairies. There NEVER was such a horse as my Kitty! And I remember I DID rave about her to Adele. But Adele MUST have known what I was talking about."
"No, she didn"t. She thought it was a girl, and she told me not to--not to--" Patty floundered a little, and then concluded her sentence, "not to interfere."
"And, so, Apple Blossom, you were cool to me,--you were cruel to me,--you had no more use for me whatever; because you thought I liked another girl?"
"Well--I didn"t want to interfere."
"You BLESSED Posy-Face! do you know what this MEANS to me? It means that you CARE--"
"No, I DON"T, Bill! I don"t care if you like all the girls in the world. Only, you mustn"t like them better than you do me."
"As if I COULD like anybody better than I do you!"
"And then we"re friends again?"
"Friends!"
"Yes, friends. Don"t you want to be friends with me, Little Billee?"
"Apple Blossom, I want to be to you anything and everything that you will let me be."
"Then we will be friends. Chums and comrades and good, GOOD friends."
Patty put a little pink hand out from the big coat sleeve and Bill clasped it in his great warm hand.
"Chums,--Apple Blossom,--and comrades, and good, GOOD friends!"