"What?" cried Agnes, turning in a fury. "_Me_ kiss _you_?"
"Sure. Why not?" asked the showman. "You don't suppose that man sitting there is the only generous man in the world, do you? Why, bless your heart! I want Neale back bad enough. And he _does_ make us a tidy bit of money each season--and some of _that's_ to his credit in the bank--I've seen to it myself.
"He's my own sister's boy. I--I used to play with him when he was a little bit of a feller--don't you remember them times, Neale?"
"Yes, sir," said the boy, with hanging head. "But I'm too big for play now. I want to learn--I want to know."
Mr. Sorber looked at him a long time. He had stopped eating, and had dropped the napkin which he had tucked under his chin. Finally he blew a big sigh.
"Well, Mr. Murphy," he said. "Put up your money. You've not enough to _buy_ the boy, no matter how much you have laid away. But if he feels that way----
"Well, what the Old Scratch I'll say to Twomley I don't know. But I'll leave the boy in your care. I'm stickin' by my rights, though. If he's a big success in this world, part of it'll be due to the way I trained him when he was little. There's no doubt of that."
So, that is the way it came about that Neale O'Neil remained at school in Milton and lost the "black dog of trouble" that had for months haunted his footsteps.
The Corner House girls were delighted at the outcome of the affair.
"If we grow to be as old as Mrs. Methuselah," declared Agnes, "we'll never be so happy as we are over this thing."
But, of course, that is an overstatement of the case. It was only a few weeks ahead that Agnes would declare herself surfeited with happiness again--and my readers may learn the reason why if they read the next volume of this series, entitled "The Corner House Girls Under Canvas."
But this settlement of Neale's present affairs was really a very great occasion. Mr. Sorber and Mr. Con Murphy shook hands on the agreement. Mrs. MacCall wiped her eyes, declaring that "such goings-on wrung the tears out o' her jest like water out of a dishclout!"
What Aunt Sarah said was to the point, and typical: "For the marcy's sake! I never did see thet boys was either useful enough, or ornamental enough, to make such a fuss over 'em!"