"It's--it's your coat," explained Jeanne, turning very crimson under her
dusky skin.
"My coat! What's the matter with my coat?"
"The--the style."
"What! Isn't it stylish enough to suit you?"
"It's the _seams_. I'm--I'm using them for a pattern."
"Ah, I see. Behold the lady tailor, planning a suit of clothes for her
husband."
"I _haven't_ any husband," denied Jeanne, indignantly. "I'm too young
to be married. But I'm awfully glad to see the _front_ of your coat.
I've seen a great many backs; but it's harder to get a good look at
fronts. Good-by."
"Queer little kid!" said the young man, pausing to watch Jeanne's sudden
flight down the street. "Pretty, too, with those big black eyes. Looks
like a French child."
In her flight, Jeanne overtook a boy of about her own height, but far
from her own size. He was stout and he puffed as he toiled up the hill.
Where had she seen that plump boy? Was it--yes, it _was_ the very boy
she had pulled out of the lake, that pleasant day in May, when the lake
was still cold. What _should_ she do if that grateful boy were to thank
her, right there in the street! Having passed him, she paused
irresolutely to look at him. After all, if he wished to thank her, he
might as well have a chance to get it over.
But Jeanne needn't have been alarmed. Roger glanced at her, turned
bright scarlet, and dashed into the nearest shop. Jeanne, eying the
window, wondered what business a boy could possibly have in that
particular place. So did Roger after he got inside. It was a
hair-dresser's shop for ladies. He bolted out, tore past a bright pink
dress, and plunged into a tobacco shop. That at least was a safe harbor
for a _man_.
"I guess," said Jeanne, surprised at Roger's sudden agility, "he didn't
know me in these clothes. Next time I'll speak to him."
That night, Jeanne asked her father to try on the old coat, in order
that she might compare it with those she had seen. He slipped it on and
turned so that she might view it from all sides.
"I'm afraid, Daddy," said she, sorrowfully, "that none of the _best_
coats are quite like yours. You have _more_ seams, closer together and
not so straight. And your tails are longer. And you fold back
differently in front."
"I feared so," said Mr. Duval. "This coat was not new when I laid it
away and the styles have changed perhaps more than I suspected."
"I am sorry," apologized Jeanne.
"I fear I am not," said Mr. Duval, with one of his rare smiles. "You
have put off an evil day--for _me_. It is too warm for lessons. Let us
pay Old Captain a visit. You must see the big trout that Barney brought
in today."
Not only Barney's big trout but Barney himself was at Old Captain's.
Jeanne liked Barney. He was younger than either of his partners and so
exceedingly shy that he blushed whenever anybody looked at him. But he
sometimes brought candy to the Duval children and he whittled wonderful
boats. He never said anything, but he did a great deal of listening with
his large red ears.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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