OR, CLARENCE MORTIMER. 113

 

‘* But the boys treated me kindly enough,”
said Clare. ‘“*Do you really. think they
meant to do me any harm?”

‘¢ Yes, indeed; I saw through that famous
plan of theirs the very moment I entered
that cellar. They wanted to get you to take
too much wine, and make a fool of you. I
got there just in time; if you had taken a
little more you would not have been able to
walk home alone.” |

es Oh, Hal,” said Clare. ‘Could Ben
and Dick really be so mean as that?” .

J ust as mean as that, I am pretty sure,”
said Hal. «But I ei aeonted them, and
you need not go with them any more, so it
is all right.”

: ‘‘T am afraid it is not right,” said Clare.
TT dread to meet my mother. Was she

very angry, Hal?”