He was ugly and vindictive.
He was not only glad he had put Dan in the way of temptation, but he
wanted me to know that he had done it. He seemed to be setting his back
to the wall and daring the world."
"Well, well," said Mrs. Owen. "Morton has seemed a little uneasy lately.
But there don't seem to be any reason why he should have picked you out
to jump on. You never did anything to Morton."
"Yes," said Sylvia, smiling; "I laughed at him once! I laughed at him
about the way he had treated Mr. Thatcher. We stopped right there, with
the laugh; he laughed too, you know. And he took that up again at the
party--and I had to explain what my laugh meant."
"Oh, you explained it, did you?"
And Sylvia recounted the interview.
"I guess Morton hasn't been laughed at much, and that was why he
remembered it and wanted to talk to you again. I suspect that Hallie
scolds him when she doesn't pet him. Most folks are afraid of Morton;
that's why he could take care of that corporation bill with the
'Advertiser' jumping him the way it did. Well, well! That must have been
quite a day for Morton. You laughed at him, and when the rest of you
went off in Allen's automobile that night I ran the harrow over him a
few times myself. Well, well!"
Mrs. Owen smiled as though recalling an agreeable experience. "As long
as there are old stumps in a field that you must plough around I haven't
got much use for the land.
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