Never seemed to have no notion of it . I ca n't recollect of Jeff Miller 's ever courting anybody . That 's another unnatural thing about him . '' `` I 've always thought that Jeff thought himself a cut or two above the rest of us , '' said Tom Scovel with a sneer . `` Maybe he thinks the Bayside girls ai n't good enough for him . '' `` There ai n't no such dirty pride about Jeff , '' pronounced Christopher conclusively . `` And the Millers are the best family hereabouts , leaving the kunnel 's out . And Jeff 's well off -- nobody knows how well , I reckon , but I can guess , being his land neighbour . Jeff ai n't no fool nor loafer , if he is a bit queer . '' Meanwhile , the object of these remarks was striding homeward and thinking , not of the men behind him , but of Sara Stuart . He must go to her at once . He had not intruded on her since her father 's death , thinking her sorrow too great for him to meddle with . But this was different . Perhaps she needed the advice or assistance only he could give . To whom else in Bayside could she turn for it but to him , her old friend ? Was it possible that she must leave Pinehurst ? The thought struck cold dismay to his soul . How could he bear his life if she went away ? He had loved Sara Stuart from childhood . He remembered vividly the day he had first seen her -- a spring day , much like this one had been ; he , a boy of eight , had gone with his father to the big , sunshiny hill field and he had searched for birds ' nests in the little fir copses along the crest while his father plowed .
He had so come upon her , sitting on the fence under the pines at the back XXXXX Pinehurst -- a child of six in a dress of purple cloth .
To along at behind if in like of since while