I Face Flannigan

"What did he say?"

"Well, he said it was the picture of an empty-faced society girl."

"Oh!" I exclaimed.

"I--I maintained there were possibilities in the face." He put both
hands on the table, and, bending forward, looked down at me. "Well, I
was a fool, I admit. I said your eyes were kind and candid, in spite of
that haughty mouth. You see, I said I was a fool."

"I think you are exceedingly rude," I managed finally. "If you want to
know where I found your watch, it was down in the coal cellar. And
if you admit you are an idiot, I am not. I--I know all about Bella's
bracelet--and the board on the roof, and--oh, if you would only
leave--Anne's necklace--on the coal, or somewhere--and get away--"

My voice got beyond me then, and I dropped into a chair and covered my
face. I could feel him staring at the back of my head.

"Well, I'll be--" something or other, he said finally, and then he
turned on his heel and went out. By the time I got my eyes dry (yes, I
was crying; I always do when I am angry) I heard Jim coming downstairs,
and I tucked the watch out of sight. Would anyone have foreseen the
trouble that watch would make!

Jim was sulky. He dropped into a chair and stretched out his legs,
looking gloomily at nothing. Then he got up and ambled into his den,
closing the door behind him without having spoken a word. It was more
than human nature could stand.