"Yes," answered the girl, glancing toward Paul, leaning against the
window reading his letters. "Yes, always gay. Why not?"
Karl Steinmetz saw the glance. It was one of the little daily incidents
that one sees and half forgets. He only half forgot it.
"Why not, indeed?" he answered. "And you will be glad to hear that
Ivanovitch is as ready as yourself this morning to treat the matter as a
joke. He is none the worse for his freezing, and all the better for his
experience. You have added another friend, my dear young lady, to a list
which is, doubtless, a very long one."
"He is a nice man," answered Maggie. "How is it," she asked, after a
little pause, "that there are more men in the lower classes whom one can
call nice than among their betters?"
Paul paused between two letters, hearing the question. He looked up as
if interested in the answer, but did not join in the conversation.
"Because dealing with animals and with nature is more conducive to
niceness than too much trafficking with human beings," replied Steinmetz
promptly.
"I suppose that is it," said Maggie, lifting the tea-pot lid and looking
in. "At all events, it is the sort of answer one might expect from you.
You are always hard on human nature."
"I take it as I find it," replied Steinmetz, with a laugh, "but I do not
worry about it like some people.
Pages:
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256