In Pawn. Butler Ellis Parker

      “What?” he asked, looking up suddenly.

      “Do you think Lem ought to wait until fall to start schooling?”

      “What do I know about it?” he asked. “It’s nothing to me.”

      There was an unpleasant pause. Rudeness, even when coming from a man as evidently out of sorts as Freeman was, kills lively spirits. Henrietta came to the rescue.

      “Did you ever see a lovelier day?” she asked. “Just see the sun on that vase of syringas! This is the sort of day I wish I was a Maud Muller. Lem, it is a crime to be in school a day like this, isn’t it?”