Not for a moment did he think that Miss Bostwick might not jump at
the chance to change her place of residence from a South End lodging
house to the Ball homestead overlooking Big Wreck Cove and the sea.
He had seen that she was afraid of her boss in the store. The rules
there must be very strict. He had noted that everything about the
girl, her apparel and her ornaments, was cheap and tawdry. She must
be both poor and unhappy. Why should she not jump at the chance of
bettering herself?
What would Cap'n Ira say when he caught his first glimpse of that
painted and powdered face? How could good Aunt Prue take to her
heart the bold, jeering shopgirl, evidently born and bred as far
from the old standards of Cape Cod breeding as could be imagined? No
matter how fine a girl Sarah Honey was, her daughter was of a cheap
city type.
But Tunis Latham did not stand in the position of a judge. He had
not been told to use his powers of observation before placing the
Balls' offer before Ida May Bostwick. He had no discretion in the
matter at all.
So he went around to the street behind Hoskin & Marl's at the
required time and spent five or ten minutes backed up against a
blank wall under the sharp scrutiny of every girl who hurried out of
the big store on her way to lunch.
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