"School's closed!
Teacher's dead!
Hooray!"
and deliberately put his arm about Margery and kissed her. Margery
gave a little shriek but blushed and looked pleased and Gustus settled
down with his head in her lap. Margery sat looking into the fire, and
smoothing Gustus' hair.
Olga, who was sitting with Charlie on the opposite side of the blaze,
her back against a log, arranged her skirts. "Come on, Charlie," she
said, with a glance at Kent. And Charlie ensconced himself comfortably
with his head on Olga's knee.
Lydia, who was sitting with Kent, eyed this grouping with interest, and
mingled with a little sense of shock and disapproval was just the least
little feeling of regret that the boys didn't feel "crazy" about her.
She was sitting bolt upright, with her cheeks flaming a little when she
felt Kent's arm stealing round her. She did not resist when he pulled
her softly against him. She was utterly surprised at the pleasurable
sensation she experienced at having Kent's arm about her. The others
were singing but for once Lydia's throaty contralto did not join in.
So this was spooning! Of course, she wouldn't let anybody but Kent do
this. And what did it amount to, anyhow! If this was all there was to
spooning, why did people think it was wrong?
Under cover of the singing, Kent giving her a little squeeze said,
"Didn't think you were such a flirt, Lydia! Let me put my head in your
lap, will you?"
"All right," said Lydia nonchalantly. And presently she was smoothing
Kent's hair, and he was holding her unoccupied hand. It was the same
crisp black hair Lydia had pulled in many a childish quarrel and Kent
had held her hands many a time to keep her from slapping his face. And
yet there was a thrill about this!
Kent evidently called this flirting. Flirting! Lydia began going back
over the conversation with Kent that the eavesdropping episode had
crowded from her thoughts. Kent didn't respect girls that flirted and
he told her he'd slap her if she flirted and yet, here he was! Lydia
went on smoothing the crisp hair, with the thin hand that had the
callouses of hard work across the palm.
The others were singing one of Lydia's favorite airs and she joined in.
"The thirst that from the soul doth rise
Doth ask a drink divine."
She sang the words unthinkingly--and stopped. John Levine was helping
her in her search for God, and robbing and betraying the Indians as he
did so! And here was Kent, warning her against doing that which he was
persuading her to do. What was the matter with men! Was there no
trusting them? And yet, she liked to "spoon" with Kent!
"Oh," she thought, "I wish I knew more about men. I wish I could ask
Mother."
And memory, like a gentle alarm clock rang its warning. "Lydia," her
father had said, "don't do anything you'd be ashamed to have your
mother know."
Lydia yawned and gave Kent's hair a little tweak. "Get up, Kent, my
foot's asleep," she said.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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