"
It was Dirk Colson. He had forgotten for the moment that anybody was
listening to him, save the two readers. He was looking directly at
Gracie, and the nods were evidently intended for her.
"Of course it is!" she said, eagerly, her face flushing with a triumph
that had nothing to do with the right emphasis; "you read it, won't you,
and show these people that we are right?"
Afterward Mrs. Roberts confessed that she involuntarily placed her hand
on her heart with a dim idea of hushing its beating lest others would
hear, so important to her did the moment seem. Dr. Everett looked
dismayed. The least hopeful one of the seven seemed Dirk. None of them
knew of his dangerous talent for imitation. None of them believed that
he would make any attempt at reading, but thought he would shrink into
deeper sullenness. All of them were mistaken. He reached for the book,
glanced for a moment over the lines, and then read the verse, with so
complete an imitation of Gracie Dennis, and yet with a voice and manner
that so fitted the homely words and the homely scene described that the
effect was actually better than when Gracie read.
Instinctively the cultured portion of his audience greeted the effort
with a clapping of hands.
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