Mayhew, laughing.
"Anything but an ostrich, then. Come, I'll read the evening paper
to you on condition you tell me the leading questions of the day.
What is just now the leading question of the day?"
"Well," said Mr. Mayhew, demurely, but with a sparkle of humor
in his eye, "one of the leading questions of this day with me has
been whether Mr. Van Berg would not enjoy dining with us to-morrow
evening now that he is here alone in the city?"
Ida instantly held the newspaper before her crimson face and said:
"Father, you ought to be ashamed thus to divert my mind from the
pursuit of useful knowledge."
Her father came to her side and said very kindly: "Ida, darling,
you are a little bit like an ostrich now."
She sprang up, and, hiding her face on his shoulder, trembled like
a leaf. "Oh, father," she whispered, "I would not have him know
for the world. Is it so very plain?"
"Not to him, my child, but the eyes of a love like mine are very
keen. So you needn't be on your guard before your old father as
you must be before him and the world. You shall have only rest and
sympathy at home as far as I can give them. Indeed, if you will
let me, I'll become a very unobtrusive, but perhaps, useful ally.
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