"Not wholly. It was the treatment I received from Miss Ferguson that affected me most."
"Miss Ferguson! Do you know Miss Ferguson?" Lindsay asked quickly.
"I met her for the first time yesterday afternoon."
"Where--may I ask?"
"In the Erie train. I entered the cars at Port Jervis. She was already on board, but I do not know from what point she had come."
"I think I know. She had been visiting a school friend at Binghamton."
"You know her, then?"
"Yes. I met her at a party about a year since."
"If she is a friend of yours I will not say anything to her disadvantage."
"But I want you to tell me all there is to tell. I have a special reason for learning all I can about her. You say she treated you ill?"
"She treated me cruelly. She took offense in the cars because the conductor removed her dog from a seat in order to make room for me."
"Was there no other seat in the car?"
"None, or I would not have disturbed her. I did not like to stand all the way from Port Jervis to New York."
"Of course not. Please favor me with the particulars."
The young man listened attentively while Ruth in simple language--not exaggerating in any respect--told her story. Young Lindsay"s brow contracted, for he felt indignant at the cold selfishness shown by the young lady who had hitherto attracted him. He felt that, if it were all true, he could never again look upon her even with ordinary friendship.
"She feigned to look upon me as a servant," Ruth concluded, "and sharply rebuked me for thrusting myself upon her. I would gladly have taken another seat had any been unoccupied, but the car was full. I heard from the train boy that it was on account of an excursion to Shohola Glen."
"I confess, Miss Patton" (Ruth had told her name), "I am surprised and pained by what you have told me. I never knew that Luella--Miss Ferguson--had such unlovely traits. To me she has always seemed kind and considerate."
Looking in the young man"s expressive face, Ruth Patton felt that she understood better than he why Miss Ferguson had a.s.sumed to be what she was not. She was not surprised that Luella should desire to make a favorable impression upon one who seemed to her the most attractive young man she had ever met. But of course she could not give utterance to the thought that was in her mind, and remained silent.
"To change the subject," said Lindsay, after a pause, "may I ask what are your plans if you have any?"
"I must try to earn some money. If--if you would advise me."
"With pleasure. Let me ask, first, what you can do."
"I used to do some copying for a lawyer at Port Jervis."
"You are used, then, to copying legal doc.u.ments?"
"I have done considerable of it."
"You do not use the typewriter?"
"No, I have never learned."
Alfred Lindsay paused, and his expressive face showed that he was busy thinking.
"I am a lawyer," he said at length, "and I have copying to do, of course. Would you mind calling upon me at my office to-morrow morning?"
"I shall be very glad to do so," answered Ruth, her eyes lighting up with new-born hopes.
"I think I can promise you something to do."
"Oh, sir, you don"t know how your words cheer me. This is where I live.
Thank you very much for your kind escort."
"Don"t mention it. I will expect you to-morrow," and the young man took off his hat as respectfully as if Ruth, instead of being a poor girl in search of work, were a lady in his own set.
CHAPTER XXI.
LUELLA"S PAINFUL DISCOVERY.
"What business had that girl with you, papa?" asked Luella Ferguson, when, stung by her insolence, Ruth had left the house.
"She told you," answered the father evasively.
"Is it true that you were trustee of any property belonging to her?"
"Well, there is some truth in it. Her father was an old schoolmate of mine, though we were never intimate, and when he died, considerably to my surprise, he asked me to settle his estate."
"How much did it amount to?"
"After paying all bills, including funeral expenses, there was seventy-five dollars left."
"A fine estate, upon my word!" said Luella with a scornful laugh.
"Really, the girl is a great heiress."
"She thought she ought to have been. What do you think she and her mother expected?"
"Something amusing, no doubt."
"They thought that they would realize ten thousand dollars, and be completely provided for."
"They must be fools!"
"We won"t use so harsh an expression. Women know very little about business."
"Some women, papa. You will please make an exception in my case."