"Mrs. Duke is over at the Main Building, but will be back very soon.
Will you come in and wait?"
She came in without speaking, pulled a chair from the corner of the
porch, and flounced down among the cushions. David could not restrain
a smile. She looked so babyishly young, and so furiously cross. To
David, youth and crossness were incongruous.
"I am Nancy Tucker," said the girl at last.
"And I am Mr. Duke, as you probably surmise from seeing me on Mrs.
Duke's porch. She will be back directly. I hope you are not in a
hurry."
"Hurry! What's the use of hurrying? I am twenty years old. I've got
a whole lifetime to do nothing in, haven't I?"
"You've got a lifetime ahead of you all right, but whether you are
going to do nothing or not depends largely on you."
"It doesn't depend on me at all. It depends on God, and He said,
'Nothing doing. Just get out and rust the rest of your life. We don't
need you.'"
"That does not sound like God," said David quietly.
"Well, He gave me the bugs, didn't He?"
"Oh, the bugs,--you've got them, have you? You don't look like it. I
didn't know it was your health. I thought maybe it was just your
disposition."
David smiled winningly as he spoke, and the smile took the sting from
the words.
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