Time for Andrew by Mary Downing Hahn Read Free Book Online Page B

accomplished it. As a hero, he was just a little too good to be interesting.
    "
There was excitement at Yale,
" Hannah began. "
The sensation of the winter season had been the result of the glove fight between Bart Hodge and Buck Badger. No one had seemed to dream that Hodge could whip Badger, for the Kansan had shown that he was a great fighter, and Bart had been defeated by him in a bare fistfight the previous fall.
"
    As Hannah warmed to the story, her voice rose and grew more animated. "7
owe it all to Merriwell,'
" she read, giving the speaker an appropriate southern accent. "
'He taught me, gentlemen, that a man can be a man without always carrying a chip on his shoulder. He taught me that a man can preserve his dignity without compelling every weaker man to bow to him in humbleness. But I know that he can fight when pushed to it'
"
    Looking up from the page, Hannah sighed. "Isn't that
grand, Andrew? What a gentleman Frank is, what a lofty mind he has. Someday I hope to marry someone just like him. Trouble is, most boys around here just don't amount to shucks."

    She was interrupted by a shout. Theo was running up the hill toward the house. With him was another boy, a head taller, long-legged as a greyhound.
    "Oh, Jove," Hannah muttered. "Here comes Edward, the very antithesis of Frank Merriwell."
    I opened my mouth to ask who Edward was, but Buster stopped me just in time. Racing ahead of Theo and Edward, the big black dog bounded eagerly up the steps. When he was close enough to smell me, he froze. Slowly, his hackles rose. Curling his lip to expose big, sharp teeth, he growled.
    Sure he was going to bite me, I scooted to a corner of the swing and crouched there, taking care to keep my feet out of his reach. "Get him away from me," I yelled, "get him away!"
    "Buster!" Hannah swatted him with
Tip Top Weekly.
"Bad dog!"
    Theo grabbed Buster's collar. "What's wrong?" he cried. "I brought him to see you, Andrew, I thought you'd be glad."
    "He doesn't look very glad." Edward leaned against the bannister grinning as if Buster's behavior amused him. "Neither does the dog for that matter."
    Ignoring Edward Theo murmured in Buster's ear, petted him, coaxed him to be quiet, but the dog continued to growl and then to bark. Unlike everybody else, he wasn't fooled by appearances. He knew an imposter when he smelled one.
    Exasperated, Hannah told Theo to take Buster away. "I
don't know what ails that stupid dog. You'd think he never saw Andrew before."

    When Theo was out of sight, Hannah scowled at Edward. "To what do we owe the honor of your company?"
    Her voice was cold enough to freeze Niagara Falls, but Edward simply shrugged. "Since when is it a crime to visit the sick?"
    Turning to me, he said, "From the way people talked, I thought you'd be dead and buried by now. I should've known it was too good to be true."
    Although Edward made the remark sound like a joke, it was obvious he didn't like me any more than my old enemy Martin did. It was disappointing to realize you weren't safe from bullies no matter where—or when—you were.
    I glanced at Hannah, but she was twisting a tendril of wisteria around one finger, giving it all her attention. Behind her, the purple flowers buzzed with bees.
    Edward leaned toward me, waiting for me to say something. Instead, I inched closer to Hannah. I was onstage, the curtain was up, the audience was watching, but I was speechless. Just as I'd feared, I'd have to bluff my way through the entire performance.
    Theo came back then and broke the silence. Wedging himself into the swing between his sister and me, he said, "I hope Buster doesn't have distemper."
    "Maybe he's caught whatever Andrew has." Edward stared at me from under lowered eyelids. "You seem a little strange too. Not quite yourself yet."
    Hannah put her arm around me. "Andrew's fine. The fever left him a little weak, that's all."
    "Weak in the head," Edward added. "Like poor old George Foster."
    "If you're going to insult my