"Bah! they were only girls, and it don't amount to anything among us
young folks; but Bopp is a grown man, and you ought to respect him
too much to play such pranks with him. Besides, he's a German, and
more tender-hearted than we rough Yankees, as any one can see by the
way he acts when you snub him. He is proud, too, for all his
meekness, and waits till he's sure you like him before he says
anything; and he'll need the patience of a family of Jobs at the
rate you're going on,--a honey-pot one day and a pickle-jar the
next. Do make up your mind, and say yes or no, right off, Dolly."
"Would you have me meet him at the door with a meek courtesy, and
say, 'Oh, if you please, I'm ready to say Yes, thank you, if you'll
be good enough to say, Will you'?"
"Don't be a goose, child; you know I mean nothing of the kind; only
you girls never will do anything straight ahead if you can dodge and
fuss and make a mess of it. Just tell me one thing: Do you, or don't
you, like old Bopp?"
"What an elegant way to put it! Of course I like him well enough as
a leader; he is clever, and sort of cunning, and I enjoy his funny
ways; but what in the world should I do with a great yellow-haired
laddie who could put me in his pocket, and yet is so meek that I
should never find the heart to henpeck him? You are welcome to him;
and since you love him so much, there's no need of my troubling
myself on his account; for with you for a friend, be can have no
earthly wish ungratified.
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