Mother says he is a perfect hermit . '' `` I 'll manage it somehow , '' said the Story Girl -- and we had no doubt that she would . `` But I must wait until I 'm a little older , for he would n't tell the secret of the west room to a little girl . And I must n't wait till I 'm TOO old , for he is frightened of grown-up girls , because he thinks they laugh at his awkwardness . I know I will like him . He has such a nice face , even if he is awkward . He looks like a man you could tell things to . '' `` Well , I 'd like a man who could move around without falling over his own feet , '' said Felicity . `` And then the look of him ! Uncle Roger says he is long , lank , lean , narrow , and contracted . '' `` Things always sound worse than they are when Uncle Roger says them , '' said the Story Girl . `` Uncle Edward says Jasper Dale is a very clever man and it 's a great pity he was n't able to finish his college course . He went to college two years , you know . Then his father died , and he stayed home with his mother because she was very delicate . I call him a hero . I wonder if it is true that he writes poetry . Mrs. Griggs says it is . She says she has seen him writing it in a brown book . She said she could n't get near enough to read it , but she knew it was poetry by the shape of it . '' `` Very likely .
If that blue silk dress story is true , I 'd believe ANYTHING XXXXX him , '' said Felicity .
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