"No, not now--to-morrow."
"Oh, no, now. Please, Becky--I'll whisper it, I'll whisper it ever so
easy."
Becky hesitating, Tom took silence for consent, and passed his arm about
her waist and whispered the tale ever so softly, with his mouth close to
her ear. And then he added:
"Now you whisper it to me--just the same."
She resisted, for a while, and then said:
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"You turn your face away so you can't see, and then I will. But you
mustn't ever tell anybody--will you, Tom? Now you won't, will you?"
"No, indeed, indeed I won't. Now, Becky."
He turned his face away. She bent timidly around till her breath stirred
his curls and whispered, "I--love--you!"
Then she sprang away and ran around and around the desks and benches,
with Tom after her, and took refuge in a corner at last, with her little
white apron to her face. Tom clasped her about her neck and pleaded:
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