Part 18 (1/2)
”Not all of them, only the prettiest!” laughed young Denton, gayly.
”Surely a man can flirt a little without doing any harm, and the girls all like it--why shouldn't they, Miss Marvin?”
”But do you ever think what this flirting means?” persisted Faith, who had lost all her timidity and was plunging into the subject in earnest.
”It means a good time and a lot of money spent,” said the young fellow, still laughing. ”But why not spend it on the girls? Don't they help the governor to make it?”
”Oh, Mr. Denton!” cried Faith, who was now thoroughly shocked. ”Is it possible that you are speaking now of your own father?”
”I certainly was,” was the unabashed answer. ”I did not mean to be disrespectful; that is only a habit.”
”A very bad habit,” said Faith, reprovingly, ”but to return to the subject of poor Mary's funeral. Do you think if we asked for a day we would get it? You know, the store is closed to-day; they might not like to lose another.”
”Of course, they wouldn't like it, but that don't make any difference,”
said young Denton, grandly. ”What was Jack Forbes's funeral to you clerks, anyway? The closing to-day was only a bluff--one of the bluffs that all stores put up to keep the good opinion of the public. Now, this affair is entirely different. This girl was one of you, and you ought to be allowed to attend her funeral!”
”Have you spoken to your father?” asked Faith, after a minute.
”Not yet, but I'm going to. Now this is my plan: You get up a pet.i.tion and get the clerks to sign it and then you go yourself to old Forbes to-morrow. He'll be worse than a brute if he dares to refuse you!
Meanwhile I'll see my father at home to-night. He's a little soft on me yet, even if he is a hard-headed old sinner!”
”Oh, Mr. Denton, don't say such things!” cried Faith, ”I will never talk to you again if you persist in speaking so of your father!”
The young man threw back his head and had a hearty laugh.
”You're the most innocent little kitten I ever saw,” he said softly; ”it's a deuced shame that you have to work for a living!”
Faith's eyes blazed angrily before he had hardly spoken the words.
”I am glad to be able to earn my living!” she said sternly; ”it is ever so much n.o.bler than to be living on one's parents!”
The flush that mantled the young man's brow showed that her words had struck home, but he tried to turn it off with a neatly put compliment.
”I'm a sad beggar, I know, Miss Marvin, but I'm going to reform! I never wanted to be different until, well, until now--to be honest.”
”You are not serious, Mr. Denton; I see laughter in your eyes,” said Faith, smiling. ”But I will get up the pet.i.tion at once, as you suggest, and I shall pray that our appeal may not be in vain.”
She had paused at a street corner and was extending her hand to say good-by to the young man when a woman pa.s.sed them and jostled Faith rudely.
It was Maggie Brady, the girl who loved Jim Denton. As she faced them for a second both saw that her eyes gleamed dangerously. Without even stopping she made a remark to Faith--the words were hissed between her teeth with the venom of a serpent.
”You'll be sorry for this, you little hypocrite! I thought you were too pious to be altogether healthy!”
Faith turned as pale as death as the woman strode on; James Denton was smiling in a half-hearted manner.
”That is the result of your flirting,” Faith managed to say at last.
”Oh, Mr. Denton, can't you see what you've done? You've made that woman love you, and now she is going straight to destruction!”