“Not I. But it’s a bargain, Mr. Winthrop. I won’t keep you for life, though; when you leave here I’ll give you your ‘freedance,’ as the negroes say. But while you are here you are to do just as I tell you. Will you?” she added, sternly. “I obey implicitly,” answered Winthrop. “And now?” “Why, you may stay, of course. Besides, it was all arranged last evening. Uncle Major and Auntie fixed it all up between them after he came down from seeing you. You are to have the room you are in and the one back of it, if you want it, and you are to pay three dollars and a-half a week; one dollar for your room and two dollars and a-half for your board.” “But――isn’t that――――?” “Please don’t!” begged Holly. “I don’t know anything about it. If it’s too much, you must speak to Aunt India or Major Cass.” “I was about to suggest that it seemed ridiculously little,” said Winthrop. “But――――” “Gracious!” exclaimed Holly. “Uncle Major thought it ought to be more, but Auntie wouldn’t hear of it. Do you think it should be?” “Well, I’m scarcely a disinterested party,” laughed Winthrop, “but it doesn’t sound much, does it?” “Three dollars and a-half!” said Holly, slowly and thoughtfully. Then she nodded her head vigorously. “Yes, it sounds a whole lot.” She laughed softly. “It’s very funny, though, isn’t it?” “What?” he asked, smiling in sympathy. “Why, that you should be paying three dollars and a-half a week for the privilege of being a slave!” “Ah, but that’s it,” answered Winthrop. “It is a privilege, as you say.” “Oh!” cried Holly, in simulated alarm. “You’re at it again, Mr. Winthrop!” “At it? At what?” “Compliments, compliments, sir! You’ll have none left for this evening if you don’t take care. Just think; you might meet a beautiful young lady this evening and not have any compliments for her! Wouldn’t that be dreadful?” “Horrible,” answered Winthrop. “I shudder.” “Are you hungry?” asked Holly, suddenly. “Hungry? No――yes――I hardly know.” “You’re probably starving, then,” said Holly, jumping up and sweeping the roses into her arms. “I’ll see if breakfast isn’t nearly ready. Auntie doesn’t come down to breakfast very often, and it’s my place to see that it’s on time. But I never do, and it never is. Do you love punctuality, Mr. Winthrop?” “Can’t bear it, Miss Holly.” She stood a little way off, smiling down at him, a soft flush in her cheeks. “You always say just the right thing, don’t you?” She laughed. “How do you manage it?” “Long practice, my dear young lady. When you’ve lived as long as I have you will have discovered that it is much better to say the right thing than the wrong――even when the right thing isn’t altogether right.” “Yes, I reckon so, but――sometimes it’s an awful temptation to say the wrong, isn’t it? Are you awfully old? May I guess?” “I shall be flattered.” “Then――forty?” Winthrop sighed loudly. “Too much? Wait! Thirty――thirty-seven?” “Thirty-eight.” “Is that very old? I shall be eighteen in a few days.”