CHAPTER VII.
MAKING ACQUAINTANCE.
Phil was better than his word.

He was never uncivil to Mrs.Watson, and his distant manners, which really signified distaste, were set down by that lady to boyish shyness.
"They often are like that when they are young," she told Clover; "but they get bravely over it after a while.

He'll outgrow it, dear, and you mustn't let it worry you a bit." Meanwhile, Mrs.Watson's own flow of conversation was so ample that there was never any danger of awkward silences when she was present, which was a comfort.

She had taken Clover into high favor now, and Clover deserved it,--for though she protected herself against encroachments, and resolutely kept the greater part of her time free for Phil, she was always considerate, and sweet in manner to the older lady, and she found spare half-hours every day in which to sit and go out with her, so that she should not feel neglected.

Mrs.Watson grew quite fond of her "young friend," though she stood a little in awe of her too, and was disposed to be jealous if any one showed more attention to Clover than to herself.
An early outburst of this feeling came on the third day after their arrival, when Mrs.Hope asked Phil and Clover to dinner, and did _not_ ask Mrs.Watson.She had discussed the point with her husband, but the doctor "jumped on" the idea forcibly, and protested that if that old thing was to come too, he would "have a consultation in Pueblo, and be off in the five thirty train, sure as fate." "It's not that I care," Mrs.Watson assured Clover plaintively.