He looked upon John Osborne as a mere fortune-hunter , and it was a thorn in the flesh to see him talking to Nan while he , old Abe , was too far away to hear what they were saying . He had a good deal of confidence in Nan , she was a sensible , level-headed girl . Still , there was no knowing what freak even a sensible girl might take into her head , and Nan was so determined when she did make up her mind . She was his own daughter in that . However , old Abe need not have worried himself . It could not be said that Nan was helping John Osborne on in his wooing at all . Instead , she was teasing and snubbing him by turns . Nan was very pretty . Moreover , Nan was well aware of the fact . She knew that the way her dark hair curled around her ears and forehead was bewitching ; that her complexion was the envy of every girl in Granville ; that her long lashes had a trick of drooping over very soft , dark eyes in a fashion calculated to turn masculine heads hopelessly . John Osborne knew all this too , to his cost . He had called to ask Nan to go with him to the Lone Lake picnic the next day . At this request Nan dropped her eyes and murmured that she was sorry , but he was too late -- she had promised to go with somebody else . There was no need of Nan 's making such a mystery about it . The somebody else was her only cousin , Ned Bennett , who had had a quarrel with his own girl ; the latter lived at Lone Lake , and Ned had coaxed Nan to go over with him and try her hand at patching matters up between him and his offended lady-love . And Nan , who was an amiable creature and tender-hearted where anybody 's lover except her own was concerned , had agreed to go . But John Osborne at once jumped to the conclusion -- as Nan had very possibly meant him to do -- that the mysterious somebody was Bryan Lee , and the thought was gall and wormwood to him . `` Whom are you going with ? '' he asked . `` That would be telling , '' Nan said , with maddening indifference .
`` Is it Bryan XXXXX ? ''
Bennett Lake Lee Nan Ned Osborne fortune-hunter lady-love patching wormwood