That is, he said he didn't.

He bore himself with a supreme indifference that was maddening, and that took (apparently) no notice of the fact that every girl in school was a willing slave to the mere nodding of his head or the beckoning of his hand.
This was the condition of things when I entered school that fall, and perhaps for a week thereafter.

Then one day, very suddenly, and without apparent reason, he awoke to the fact of my existence.

Candy, flowers, books--some one of these he brought to me every morning.

All during the school day he was my devoted gallant, dancing attendance every possible minute outside of session hours, and walking home with me in the afternoon, proudly carrying my books.