ced; if you will try your best not to be provoking, I won't say
a single disagreeable thing."

"Polly, shall I tell you the truth?"

"You might try; it would be good practice even if you did n't
accomplish anything."

"How does that remark conform with your late promises? However, I 'll
be forgiving and see if I receive any reward; I 've tried every other
line of action. What I was going to say when you fired that last shot
was this: I agree with Jack Howard, who used to say that he would
rather quarrel with you than be friends with any other girl."

"It is nice," said Polly complacently. "I feel a sort of pleasant glow
myself, whenever I 've talked to you a few minutes; but the trouble is
that you used to fan that pleasant glow into a raging heat, and then we
both got angry."

"If the present 'raging heat' has faded into the 'pleasant glow,' I
don't mind telling you that you are very much improved," said Edgar
encouragingly. "Your temper seems much the same, but no one who knew
you at fourteen could have foreseen that you would turn out so
exceedingly well."

"Do you mean that I am better looking?" asked Polly, with the excited
frankness of sixteen years.

"Exactly."

"Oh, thank you, thank you, Edgar. I 'm a thousand times obliged. I
've thought so myself, lately; but it's worth everything to have your
grown-up, college opinion. Of course red hair has come into vogue,
that's one point in my favor, though I fear mine is a little vivid even
for the fashion; Margery has done a water color of my head which Phil
says looks like the explosion of a tomato. Then my freckles are almost
gone, and that is a great help; if you examine me carefully in this
strong light you can only count seven, and two of those are getting
faint-hearted. Nothing can be done with my aspiring nose. I 've tried
in vain to push it down, and now I 'm simply living it down."

Edgar examined her in the strong light mischievously. "Turn your
profile," he said. "That's right; now, do you know, I rather like your
nose, and it's a very valuable index to your disposition. I don't know
whether, if it were removed from your face, it would mean so much; but
taken in connection with its surroundings, it's a very expressive
feature; it warns the stranger to be careful. In fact, most of your
features are danger signals, Polly; I 'm rather glad I 've been taking
a course of popular medical lectures on First Aid to the Injured!"

And so, wit