“Wearenotstrangers，weareneighbors，andyouneedn’tthinkyou’dbeabother。Wewanttoknowyou，andI’vebeentryingtodoitthiseversolong。Wehaven’tbeenhereagreatwhile，youknow，butwehavegotacquaintedwithallourneighborsbutyou。“
“Yousee，Grandpalivesamonghisbooks，anddoesn’tmindmuchwhathappensoutside。Mr。Brooke，mytutor，doesn’tstayhere，youknow，andIhavenoonetogoaboutwithme，soIjuststopathomeandgetonasIcan。“
“That’sbad。Yououghttomakeaneffortandgovisitingeverywhereyouareasked，thenyou’llhaveplentyoffriends，andpleasantplacestogoto。Nevermindbeingbashful。Itwon’tlastlongifyoukeepgoing。“
Laurieturnedredagain，butwasn’toffendedatbeingaccusedofbashfulness，fortherewassomuchgoodwillinJoitwasimpossiblenottotakeherbluntspeechesaskindlyastheyweremeant。
“Doyoulikeyourschool？“askedtheboy，changingthesubject，afteralittlepause，duringwhichhestaredatthefireandJolookedabouther，wellpleased。