Zack's reply to his question startled him into instant and
anxious attention.
"Mary!" he repeated in a tone of surprise. "What else, besides Mary?"
"How should I know? Didn't I try and beat it into your muddled old
head, half-an-hour ago, that Blyth won't tell his friends anything
about her?" There was another pause. The secrecy in which Mr. Blyth
chose to conceal Madonna's history, and the sequestered place in the
innermost drawer of his bureau where he kept the Hair Bracelet, began
vaguely to connect themselves together in Mat's mind. A curious smile
hovered about his lips, and the cunning look brightened in his eyes.
"The Painter-Man won't tell anything about her, won't he? Perhaps that
thing in his drawer will." He muttered the words to himself, putting
his hands in his pockets, and mechanically kicking away a stone which
happened to lie at his feet on the pavement.
"What are you grumbling about now?" asked Zack. "Do you think I'm going
to stop here all day for the pleasure of hearing you talk to yourself?"
As he spoke, he vivaciously rapped his friend on the shoulder with his
stick. "Trust me to pave the way for you with Madonna!" he called out
mischievously, as he turned back in the direction of Mr.
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