``Oh--please--no,'' she urged. ``I'd not like to have my name
mentioned. That would look as if I had done it to seem
charitable. Besides, it's such a trifle.''
Selma was calm and apparently unsuspicious. ``Very well,'' said
she. ``We'll write, telling what we did with the money, so that
you can investigate.''
``But I trust you entirely,'' cried Jane.
Selma shook her head. ``But we don't wish to be trusted,'' said
she. ``Only dishonest people wish to be trusted when it's
possible to avoid trusting. And we all need watching. It helps
us to keep straight.''
``Oh, I don't agree with you,'' protested Miss Hastings. ``Lots
of the time I'd hate to be watched. I don't want everybody to
know all I do.''
Selma's eyes opened. ``Why not?'' she said.
Jane cast about for a way to explain what seemed to her a
self-evident truth. ``I mean--privacy,'' she said. ``For
instance, if you were in love, you'd not want everybody to know
about it?''
``Yes, indeed,'' declared Selma. ``I'd be tremendously proud of
it. It must be wonderful to be in love.''
In one of those curious twists of feminine nature, Miss Hastings
suddenly felt the glow of a strong, unreserved liking for this
strange, candid girl.
Selma went on: ``But I'm afraid I never shall be. I get no time
to think about myself. From rising till bed time my work pushes
at me.'' She glanced uneasily at her desk, apologetically at
Miss Hastings.
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