From your knowledge of him, Miss Dennis, could you
suppose him to be honest and earnest in his attentions to that girl?"
It was a very plain question. It meant more to Dr. Everett than even
Gracie saw, but she saw enough to know that she was admitting an
intimacy that made her blush; however, she answered steadily,--
"No, I cannot think that he is honest or honorable."
"So I fear. Witness this afternoon. Gentlemen do not parade their
friendships before the public gaze, and that man knows it."
The doctor's voice was _very_ stern. He was sure now that there was a
wound, and that it was being probed; he believed in making thorough
work, even with wounds; there would be more hope of genuine healing
afterward.
Gracie's next question--if her companion had but known it--was a
singular one: "Why have not people who are her friends warned her
against him, and held her back from making such a false step, if she
does it in ignorance?"
Oh, Gracie Dennis! How are warnings sometimes received, even by
carefully-trained girls, who have every reason to trust the love that
would shield them?
"Some people are very hard to warn," said the doctor. "I have tried it,
and I have a friend who has tried to help her; but the poor girl, you
must remember, has not been brought up in a Christian atmosphere--has
never had a Christian friend who came with the authority of
relationship.
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