CORNELLI
“With me, too,” said Cornelli hoarsely.
“Please come to-morrow and every day, the way you used to,” Martha begged.
“No, I won’t come,” Cornelli answered.
“Why not, Cornelli?” Martha asked, full of dismay.
“Because the boy is there. I don’t like him and he does not like me,” Cornelli stated.
Martha now eagerly told Cornelli of the falsehood of this assertion. She told her how Dino had asked after her every day and had hoped that she would come again. It was awfully dull for him to be alone all day without a playmate. Martha was quite sure that it had not been Dino’s fault that she did not like him. The boy had nothing at all against her, for he was asking every day that she come back.
“Tell me, Cornelli,” Martha said finally, “why don’t you like the boy? He is so nice!”
“I’ll come to see you to-morrow,” was Cornelli’s answer, and it sufficed. Quite happily Martha said good-bye, making Cornelli repeat her promise that she would spend some time next day with her old friend and the new boarder.
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