"Wait till to-morrow. Meanwhile, let that be a secret.
"I guess I haven't the polish that those Eastern fellows put on, or that is put on them, but out here in the mountains I amount to somebody--you must let me brag a little, Sylvia--and if a man doesn't bow pretty low to Mrs. William Plummer, I'll have to get out my old six-shooter--I haven't carried one now for ten years--and shoot all the hair off the top of his head."
It may be mentioned here that Peter Slade had been one of Tad Sobber's cronies, and now that Sobber was gone he took it on his shoulders to fill the bully's place in the particular set to which he belonged. He was a quick-tempered youth, and had been in more than one fight since his arrival at Putnam Hall.
So much the better for you; it will give it a faint flavour of romance. Perhaps I will tell you to-morrow, and perhaps not....
I will talk to you a little more beforehand; we will get to know each other better...."