Whenever they could avoid Mrs. Chichester's
watchful eyes they would chat and laugh and play like children. She
could not understand him--he was always discovering new traits in
her. They became great friends.
Her letters to her father were, at first, very bitter, regarding her
treatment by the family. Indeed so resentful did they become that
her father wrote to her in reply urging her, if she was so unhappy,
to at once return to him on the next steamer. But she did NOT.
Little by little the letters softened. Occasionally, toward the end
of that first month they seemed almost contented. Her father
marvelled at the cause.
The month she had promised to stay was drawing to an end. But one
more day remained. It was to be a memorable one for Peg.
Jerry had endeavoured at various times to encourage her to study. He
would question her, and chide her and try to stimulate her. One day
he gave her a large, handsomely-bound volume and asked her to read
it at odd times and he would examine her in it when she had mastered
its contents. She opened it wonderingly and found it to be "Love
Stories of the World."
It became Peg's treasure. She kept it hidden from every one in the
house. She made a cover for it out of a piece of cloth so that no
one could see the ornate binding.
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