He was accustomed to Nan and all her ways.
He pounded after her along the bank and joined her as a matter of course.
A straight, good-looking youth was Jerry, as wild and headstrong as Nan herself.

He was the grand-nephew of old Squire Grimshaw, Colonel Everard's special crony, and he and Nan had been chums from their childhood.

He was only a year older than she, and in many respects he was her junior.

"I say, you are all right again ?" was his first question, when the otter allowed them a little breathing-space.

"I was awfully sorry to hear about your accident, you know, but awfully glad, too, in a way.